Publications

L’amélioration de la performance environnementale de l’agriculture est une priorité dans les pays de l’OCDE. Mais la mesure et l’évaluation de l’impact des politiques agroenvironnementales sur l’environnement peuvent représenter un défi puisqu’elles nécessitent de lier des modèles économiques et biophysiques dans le contexte propre à chaque pays.  L’OCDE a développé le modèle simplifié d’impact des politiques agroenvironnementales (Stylised Agri-environmental Policy Impact Model - SAPIM), qui peut être adapté et appliqué par les chercheurs et les décideurs pour mieux comprendre les répercussions des mesures de politique sur la situation agroenvironnementale de leur pays.  Ce rapport applique le modèle à des exploitations agricoles représentatives aux États-Unis, en Finlande, au Japon et en Suisse. Ces pays se caractérisent par une large gamme d’objectifs, de mesures de politique et de situations agroenvironnementales. Les résultats mettent en évidence que lorsque les externalités environnementales positives ou négatives ne sont pas prises en compte par les exploitants agricoles, alors les choix de production par les exploitants agricoles reflètent les coûts et avantages privés. Les politiques sont susceptibles d’accroître le bien-être social en prenant en compte ces externalités. Ce rapport observe que, d’une manière générale, la diversité des situations d’un secteur à l’autre et d’un pays à l’autre rend difficile la généralisation de l’impact des politiques agroenvironnementales au-delà des situations modélisées. Cependant, il en ressort des messages plus généraux pour l’action des pouvoirs publics. En s’appuyant sur les quatre études de cas examinées, ce rapport recommande que les activités polluantes qui ne sont pas réglementées soient prises en considération lors de la conception des mesures ; il préconise de prendre en compte le contexte général de l’action des pouvoirs publics lors de l’évaluation des politiques agroenvironnementales ; et de reconnaître leurs co-avantages et leurs inconvénients pour l’environnement.  Les politiques en faveur de la croissance verte peuvent stimuler la croissance économique tout en empêchant la dégradation de l’environnement, la perte de biodiversité et la surexploitation des ressources naturelles. Les conclusions de ce rapport contribueront à la Stratégie pour une croissance verte élaborée par l’OCDE, qui servira de guide pratique pour les pouvoirs publics désireux d’exploiter tout le potentiel d’une croissance plus respectueuse de l’environnement.  www.oecd.org/croissanceverte

Export restrictions on raw materials are applied to achieve a number of policy objectives. However, they can have a significant and negative impact on the efficient allocation of resources, international trade, and the competitiveness and development of industries in both exporting and importing countries.  By diverting exports to domestic markets, export restrictions raise prices for foreign consumers and importers. At the same time, by reducing domestic prices in the applying countries and increasing global uncertainty concerning future prices, export restrictions negatively affect investment, thus potentially reducing the overall supply of raw materials in the long term. In view of existing alternative policy tools that have a different impact on trade, the effectiveness of export restrictions to achieve stated policy objectives should be carefully reviewed.  This publication presents a selection of papers discussed at the OECD Workshop on Raw Materials, held in Paris in October 2009. This workshop was organised in response to the growing concern on the use of export restrictions on raw materials, particularly by emerging economies.

Cet ouvrage est le troisième examen effectué par l'OCDE des performances environnementales du Japon. Les précédents examens ont été publiés en 2002 et 1994. Le programme d’examens environnementaux de l'OCDE propose des évaluations indépendantes des progrès accomplis par les pays eu égard à leurs engagements nationaux et internationaux en matière d’environnement, ainsi que des recommandations orientées vers l’action des pouvoirs publics. Ces examens ont pour objectif de promouvoir l’apprentissage entre pairs, d’encourager les pays à rendre compte de leur action aux autres pays et à leur opinion publique, ainsi que d’améliorer les performances environnementales des gouvernements, individuellement et collectivement. Les analyses s’appuient sur un large éventail de données économiques et environnementales.

Si l’on se cantonne aux technologies existantes, résoudre les problèmes environnementaux de la planète pourrait peser très lourd sur la croissance économique. Nous savons que l’innovation – création et adoption de technologies et méthodes nouvelles – offre le moyen d’atteindre des objectifs écologiques locaux et mondiaux à un coût beaucoup plus faible. L’innovation est également un des principaux moteurs de la croissance économique. Les pays de l’OCDE utilisent de plus en plus les taxes liées à l’environnement parce qu’elles constituent l’un des instruments d’action les plus efficaces. Il est essentiel d’analyser la relation entre fiscalité environnementale et innovation pour bien comprendre les effets de cet instrument, qui pourrait être un axe de la « croissance verte ». En attribuant un prix à la pollution, les taxes environnementales stimulent‑elles l’innovation ? Quels sont les types d’innovations induits ? La conception de la taxe joue‑t‑elle un rôle ? Quel est l’impact de cette innovation ? Pour analyser ces questions, ce rapport s’appuie sur des études de cas qui couvrent la Corée, l’Espagne, Israël, le Japon, le Royaume‑Uni, la Suède, la Suisse et d’autres pays, et aborde un large éventail de questions et de technologies environnementales ainsi que de situations économiques et stratégiques. Les méthodes de recherche employées vont de l’analyse économétrique aux entretiens avec des chefs d’entreprise et cadres dirigeants. Ce rapport étudie également l’utilisation des taxes écologiques dans les pays de l’OCDE et formule un certain nombre de remarques à l’intention des responsables chargés de les mettre en œuvre. Les politiques en faveur de la croissance verte peuvent stimuler la croissance économique tout en empêchant la dégradation de l’environnement, la perte de biodiversité et la surexploitation des ressources naturelles. Les conclusions de ce rapport contribueront à la Stratégie pour une croissance verte élaborée par l’OCDE, qui servira de guide pratique pour les pouvoirs publics désireux d’exploiter tout le potentiel d’une croissance plus respectueuse de l’environnement. www.oecd.org/croissanceverte Pour en savoir plusL’économie politique des taxes liées à l’environnement (2006)

Located on the southern coast of China, Guangdong is the country’s most populous and rich province. It has 95.4 million inhabitants and provides one-eighth of the national GDP. A key development feature of Guangdong has been 'processing trade', which has allowed companies to profit from importing materials, assembling goods and exporting them via Hong Kong, China. The recent economic crisis has had a strong impact on the province, although Guangdong also faces in-depth structural problems. Growing labour costs and strain on land availability have increasingly challenged the province’s traditional model of development, as have new competitors in China and abroad. Meanwhile, regional disparities within the province have increased, with a high concentration of economic activities and foreign direct investment in the Pearl River Delta area, an agglomeration of nine prefectures of 47.7 million inhabitants that represents 79.4% of the province’s total GDP. This review assesses Guangdong’s current approach to economic development. The province is focusing on industrial policies primarily aimed at heavy manufacturing industries (e.g. automobile, shipbuilding, petrochemicals) and supported by investment in hard infrastructure transport projects and energy supply, along with the implementation of the 'Double Relocation' policies intended to move lower value-added factories to lagging regions through incentive mechanisms like industrial parks. The review discusses how some principles of the OECD regional paradigm could help Guangdong. It also addresses the huge environmental challenges that the province is facing and explores the opportunity for developing a green growth strategy. Strategies to improve Guangdong’s governance are analysed as well, with particular attention paid to co-ordination issues within the Pearl River Delta.The Territorial Review of Guangdong is integrated into a series of thematic reviews on regions undertaken by the OECD Territorial Development Policy Committee. The overall aim of these case studies is to draw and disseminate horizontal policy recommendations for regional and national governments.  

In the wake of the recent financial and economic crisis, many OECD countries face the challenge of restoring public finances while still supporting growth. This report investigates how tax structures can best be designed to support GDP per capita growth.  The analysis suggests a tax and economic growth ranking order according to which corporate taxes are the most harmful type of tax for economic growth, followed by personal income taxes and then consumption taxes, with recurrent taxes on immovable property being the least harmful tax. Growth-oriented tax reform measures include tax base broadening and a reduction in the top marginal personal income tax rates. Some degree of support for R&D through the tax system may help to increase private spending on innovation. But implementing pro-growth tax reforms may not be easy. This report identifies those public and political economy tax reform strategies that will allow policy makers to reconcile differing tax policy objectives and overcome obstacles to reform. It stresses that with clear vision, strong leadership and solid tax policy analysis, growth-oriented tax reform can indeed be realised.

The spectacular success of several well-known new ventures in technological fields, which in little more than a decade have jumped from the state of start-ups to that of top international businesses, has pointed to innovation as a key factor in the high growth of firms.  These high-growth enterprises often drive job creation and innovation, so policy makers are increasingly making such companies a key focus. Specifically, how can government policy foster the creation of more high-growth enterprises; what are the growth factors, and how can they be leveraged; what are the appropriate ways to provide such support?To help answer these questions, this report presents findings from two new research studies: (1) reports from 15 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Tunisia) that provide interesting insights into the operations of and challenges faced by high-growth enterprises; (2) a policy survey by the OECD Working Party on SMEs and Entrepreneurship, which reviewed more than 340 programmes that policy makers in 24 countries have put in place to support the growth of enterprises.  Some of this report’s findings may surprise: any firm can be a growth company; growth is almost always a temporary phase; high-growth small firms are funded mostly by debt, not equity. These and many more insights are summarised and analysed, providing policy makers with ideas on how to power growth at the firm level.

In the context of the economic recovery and public budget cuts, policy silos and fragmented short-term policy interventions have become luxuries that our economies can no longer afford. Government intervenes in a myriad of ways at the local level, and rarely are these interventions co-ordinated effectively. Most of us are familiar with policy 'silos'. Such divisions are often taken for granted, blamed on historical working relationships ('it has always been like that') and organisational cultures ('they don’t work like we do').  However these divisions come at a cost. The issues and challenges facing local communities are often complex, and require a holistic approach to be resolved. This book provides concrete advice to policy makers at both national and local levels on how to better align policies, reduce duplication and waste, and 'do more with less'. It is based on comparative analysis of 11 countries in Australisia, Europe and North America and combines rankings on where countries stand in terms of the integration of employment, skills and economic development policies, with concrete examples of successful policy integration on the ground.

Many countries will likely face the need to increase tax revenues, as part of fiscal consolidation, during the next few years. But how is this best done? And what are the considerations when choosing between raising tax rates and broadening the tax base by scaling back or abolishing targeted tax provisions (such as allowances, exemptions and preferential rates)? This report aims to answer such questions by taking a close look at the economic and political factors that influence governments’ tax decisions. Although many countries have broadened their tax bases over the past 30 years, targeted tax provisions, notably tax expenditures, continue to be significant.  Like public expenditure, targeted tax reliefs mean that (other) tax rates need to be higher in order to finance these reliefs. This report therefore discusses whether such tax provisions continue to be worthwhile. It includes an annex covering country-specific revenue forgone estimates of tax expenditures for selected OECD countries.  This report also identifies political factors, including the lobbying of influential interest groups, as the main obstacles to base-broadening reforms, and it considers how reforms can be best packaged and presented to overcome such obstacles.

This publication provides comments and illustrations of standards in force regarding the classification, presentation and marking of citrus fruit in international trade under the Scheme for the Application of International Standards for Fruit and Vegetables set up by OECD in 1962. It is a valuable tool for both the Inspection Authorities and professional bodies responsible for the application of standards or interested in trade in citrus fruit. The book includes a USB key with the electronic version of the publication.