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Whilst overall productivity growth is stalling, firms at the frontier are still able to capture the benefits of the newest technologies and business practices. This paper uses linked employer-employee data covering all Belgian firms over a period of almost 20 years and investigates the differences in human capital between highly productive firms and less productive firms. We find a clear positive correlation between the share of high-skilled and STEM workers in a firm's workforce and its productivity. We obtain elasticities of 0.20 to 0.70 for a firm's productivity as a function of the share of high-skilled workers. For STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) workers, of all skill levels, we find elasticities of 0.20 to 0.45. More importantly, the elasticity of STEM workers is increasing over time, whereas the elasticity of high-skilled workers is decreasing. This is possibly linked with the increasing number of tertiary education graduates and at the same time increased difficulties in filling STEM-related vacancies. Specifically, for high-skilled STEM workers in the manufacturing sector, the productivity gain can be as much as 4 times higher than the gain from hiring additional high-skilled non-STEM workers. To ensure that government efforts to increase the adoption of the latest technologies and business practices within firms lead to sustainable productivity gains, such actions should be accompanied by measures to increase the supply and mobility of human (STEM) capital. Without a proper supply of skills, firms will not be able to reap the full benefits of the digital revolution.

This policy brief discusses recent international policy experiences in developing e-learning and digital business diagnostic tools for entrepreneurs. E-learning tools can develop entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and competences among users and increase their confidence and success in business creation. Business diagnostic tools offer entrepreneurs ways to assess their business management practices against peer companies or good practices, building competence and diffusing good practice. This brief sets out considerations for the successful development and implementation of these tools. It presents eight international cases of tools and discusses the public policy lessons from these international experiences.

The Flemish Government asked the OECD to undertake a targeted diagnostic study of the Flemish system for teachers’ Continuing Professional Learning (CPL). Drawing on findings from interviews with Flemish stakeholders and schools, as well as document review, the study team identified strengths and weaknesses of the continuing professional learning system in the Flemish Community of Belgium, as well as opportunities and threats in going forward.

La Belgique a progressé en découplant plusieurs pressions environnementales de la croissance économique, en améliorant l’épuration des eaux usées et en étendant les zones protégées. Les régions ont atteint des niveaux élevés de récupération et de recyclage et ont été les pionnières des politiques d'économie circulaire. Toutefois, des efforts supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour progresser vers la neutralité carbone, réduire la pollution de l'air et de l'eau, enrayer la perte de biodiversité et consolider les résultats des initiatives d'économie circulaire. Le renforcement de la coordination entre le gouvernement fédéral et les régions, et entre les régions, ainsi que l'amélioration de la cohérence des politiques seront des facteurs clés de progrès. À mesure que l'urgence COVID-19 se fait moins pressante, les efforts de redressement devraient viser à remettre le pays sur la bonne voie pour atteindre les objectifs de développement durable. Investir dans les infrastructures vertes et à faible émission de carbone, promouvoir l'économie circulaire, renforcer le prix du carbone et supprimer progressivement les subventions néfastes à l'environnement devraient être des priorités. Ce rapport est le troisième Examen environnemental de la Belgique. Il évalue les progrès réalisés vers le développement durable et la croissance verte, avec des chapitres spéciaux sur la biodiversité, la gestion des déchets et des matières et l'économie circulaire. Cette version abrégée contient le résumé, ainsi que l’évaluation et les recommandations officielles du rapport, qui reposent sur les trois chapitres consacrés aux évolutions et faits récents, à la gouvernance et à la croissance verte, ainsi que sur les deux chapitres qui examinent en détail la problématique de la biodiversité, et celle de la gestion des déchets et des matières et l'économie circulaire. La version intégrale du rapport est disponible en anglais sur le site de l’OCDE.

Social protection systems use a range of entitlement criteria. First-tier support typically requires contributions or past employment in many countries, while safety net benefits are granted on the basis of need. In a context of volatile and uncertain labour markets, careful and continuous monitoring of the effectiveness of income support is a key input into an evidence-based policy process. This paper proposes a novel empirical method for monitoring the accessibility and levels of safety net benefits. It focusses on minimum-income benefits (MIB) and other non-contributory transfers and relies on data on the amounts of cash support that individuals in need receive in practice. Results show that accessibility and benefit levels differ enormously across countries – for instance, in 2015/16, more than four out of five low-income workless one-person households received MIB in Australia, France and the United Kingdom, compared to only one in five in Greece, Italy and Korea, three countries that have since sought to strengthen aspects of safety-net provisions.