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Can you imagine a pile of 150 million tons of waste paper? That is approximately the quantity the OECD countries generated in 1990, the largest amount ever. Compressed into bales, [...]

Agriculture and food Income Risk Management in Agriculture OECD Code: 51 2000 12 1P1 ISBN: 92-64-18534-8 December 2000, 152 pages, 29 tables, 23 charts FF300 US$42 DM89 28 £ ¥ [...]

OECD members have embarked on an 'e-government revolution', using new technologies to provide more convenient access to public information, improve the quality of public services and make it easier for [...]

Hana Barqawi realised her dream of opening her own children's furniture store two years ago in the Jordanian capital of Amman. Ms Barqawi is part of a wave of female entrepreneurs that has swept across the Middle East and North Africa area over the past decade or more. She is not surprised: "Arab women are well-educated, open-minded, open to new ideas, new cultures, new challenges," she says. Nor has she found cultural attitudes to be a major problem, with Jordanian men accepting the new female business presence. But Ms Barqawi notes that while servants and nannies are available to help with childcare, balancing work and family life has now become a daily juggle for many women like her. But to what extent do Ms Barqawi's experiences reflect those of other women across the Middle East and North Africa region? This is a key policy question. Sure enough, women have started to emerge in business and government in several MENA countries, with some countries moving faster than others, but overall they represent a small minority. Nor are all women in the region well-educated or indeed able to enter the work force. Social attitudes and legal norms diverge greatly in the MENA area, as does the pace of change and development. The tide has moved on somewhat since the days when girls in Gulf countries were not expected to go to school, but female illiteracy nevertheless remains widespread. Geography matters, as women in more remote and conservative rural areas have less opportunity to find work or create businesses than women based in cities such as Amman or Marrakech. Social class also matters: the servants that allow some women to run their businesses do not tend to have the same access to education and job prospects as their bosses. In short, despite evidence of progress, more needs to be done to help all women in the MENA area reach their potential and unleash the economic and social benefits they can bring. International initiatives are starting to flourish. For instance, the OECD has been working with MENA countries to help make personnel policies in public administration and government more gender-sensitive by examining the likes of legal rules, merit-based selection and promotion, budgetary policies and capacity building, as well as procedures to help parents balance work and family life. The aim is to increase female representation within the public sector, including in decision-making posts. Such public policies and reform can promote the social and economic development of women, but the real sea change appears to be happening in private business, with commercial exchange transforming the role women play in their economies. Despite diverse social norms and cultures, it is in setting up and running businesses that women across MENA, from Jordan to Morocco, report similar types of problems that policy should address. Take credit. Even Jordan's Ms Barqawi used her own savings to start her business, and believes that high interest rates and collateral requirements continue to prevent women entrepreneurs in Jordan from taking out bank loans. Micro-credit at very low interest is available in several countries, but compared with, say, France, where a third of entrepreneurs are female, business support for women is still underdeveloped. Efforts are now under way to address such issues in the MENA area, and since the late 1990s, non-profit organisations to help businesswomen have flourished. From international bodies like the Council of Arab Businesswomen and MENA Businesswomen's Network to national "hubs" like the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Tunisia and active local organisations, including the Dubai Businesswomen's Council, such resources are vital to the MENA area. They not only assist women in setting up a business, but help to build the networks that are vital to drive business creation across the region. The OECD's own focus on women at Marrakech aims to encourage these efforts further. A "Declaration on Fostering Women's Entrepreneurship" was issued at the MENA-OECD Women Business Leaders Forum in Cairo two years ago. It invited governments to support women's entrepreneurship with concrete policies, such as removing gender-related deterrents to entrepreneurship; helping women create business networks at local, national and international levels; developing training programmes; and encouraging the exchange of best practices between MENA and OECD countries (for more information, see www.oecd.org/mena). More progress is expected at the MENAOECD Business Forum at Marrakech on 22 November when a Women's Business Council, involving women from across the MENA region, will be formally endorsed. Can such initiatives really make a difference in MENA's challenging environment, especially now when a global economic crisis still unfolds? That is largely up to governments. There are encouraging developments in countries such as Bahrain, where women made up about 5% of the full-time labour force in the 1960s, compared with nearly 30% of the fulltime workforce in the US. By 2001, women already made up 40% of Bahrain's workforce. A similar picture can be drawn for the United Arab Emirates, where female-owned businesses faired considerably better than those in the US in 2007, with 33% of the Emirate companies surveyed earning annual revenues of more than US$100,000, compared to only 13% of women-owned businesses in the US in the same year. How much the experiences of Bahrain and the UAE can be applied to larger MENA countries is a matter of debate, but from 1990 to 2003, women's share of economic activity in the MENA region increased by a fifth, one of the fastest rates of increase anywhere and over six times the worldwide rate. However, what also seems clear is that male-dominated attitudes have not vanished from the region. In her paper, "Gender Inequalities in the Arab World: Religion, Law or Culture?", Dr Madiha El Safty, Professor of Sociology at the American University in Cairo, explains how Arab women's right to employment, and especially promotion, continued to be compromised in the past decade due to their family obligations as wives and mothers. Starting businesses has been one way of surmounting such problems, and in Egypt, female entrepreneurship is now a vibrant part of private sector activity. In Morocco, there are obstacles too. For Abdelhak Hoummad-Idid, Business Creation Consultant for Casa Pionnieres in Casablanca, more associations and NGOs are required to offer women "concrete solutions to concrete problems". One reason is income. In Morocco, the estimated per capita income in 2008 was $4,000, compared to about $5,000 in Jordan and nearly $40,000 in the UAE. The Moroccan government has now launched micro-credit programmes to help women entrepreneurs circumvent Moroccan rules that deny women access to bank loans. But since Casa Pionnieres, a business incubator launched by the Association des Femmes Chefs d'Entreprise du Maroc, mainly targets women with "innovative" and "ambitious" business projects, small loans are not usually well adapted. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Even in Tunisia, where pro-Western reforms and commitment to women's rights can be traced back to former President Bourguiba in the late 1950s, female-run businesses face challenges. Despite the country's relative head-start, Leyla Khaiat, First Deputy of the Council of Arab Businesswomen and a Senator in the Tunisian Parliament since 2005, remembers the wall she came up against when she took over her late husband's business in 1985. In the face of fundamentalist unrest and gibes that "a company run by a woman was doomed to bankruptcy", Ms Khaiat decided to champion women's "right of initiative and entrepreneurship". Ten years later, she was elected President of the CNFCE. Three years after that, in 1998, Khaiat became President of the Worldwide Network of Women Business Owners (FCEM), which did not count a single country from the MENA region among its members at the time, but now has several. Ms Khaiat notes that limited access to information and training remains a major disadvantage for female business owners in the MENA area, especially for those with businesses located outside capital cities. Because of women's disproportionately low use of information and communication technology, Ms Khaiat says that the "North-South" digital divide is also a "gender" divide. Ms Khaiat has stressed the role of networks like the Council of Arab Businesswomen, which she helped found in 1999, and the need for the OECD's "precise, scientific research" on women and gender in the MENA region. The divergences across MENA have also had a dampening effect on gender-related progress. In an interview with an Egyptian newspaper in 2008, the president of the Council of Arab Businesswomen, Sheikha Al-Sabah Hessa of Kuwait, explained that while Arab women's standing has been hindered by cultural customs and policies, the differences between individual political and economic systems has been a major obstacle because they limit the free transfer of capital across Arab countries. Co-operation and reaching across borders could give MENA women an extra boost, and would have spin-offs beyond MENA countries to the world economy in general. Little wonder then that non-MENA countries are showing such keen interest. In 2006, the US Department of State, as part of its Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), co-founded the MENA Businesswomen's Network, a web-based portal with national "network hubs" throughout the region. And in April 2009, the US president appointed Melanne Verveer as the first ever Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. Ambassador Verveer, who co-founded the Vital Voices Global Partnership, a non-profit international organisation for women, has been developing and co-ordinating activities, like the Corporate Ambassadors Programme, to further women's advancement worldwide. Launched in 2007 by Vital Voices and MEPI, the programme enables emerging female business leaders in the MENA area to meet with high-level American businesswomen. By encouraging women entrepreneurs to share business tools, knowledge and experience, the corporate mentoring programmes are, says Ambassador Verveer, "an invaluable resource" for countries in the MENA region--as well as for the rest of the world. If women are not empowered, half the economy is underused, Ambassador Verveer recently pointed out to the OECD Observer. Moreover, spending on women's programmes is a "high yield" investment, she maintains, since women are so productive and are the low-hanging fruit in investment initiatives. In fact, she says, women-owned new businesses tend to have a better-than-average survival rate, while investing in women triggers "a multiplier effect" that benefits the wider economy and the future. The message is clear. A stronger, cleaner and fairer economy, both in MENA and beyond, cannot be built without striking a more even gender balance in business and freeing up the enormous productive potential of women. More people like Jordan's Hana Barqawi could then realise their potential, and the entire Middle East and North Africa region would benefit. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Visit www.oecd.org/mena References Barsoum, Magda (2008), interview with Cheikha Hissa Al-Sabbah, Al-Abram Weekly, January. Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) and the international Financial Corporation (IFC) Gender Entrepreneurship Markets (2007), "Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa: Characteristics, Contributions and Challenges", june* Clark, Emma (2002), "Arab women lift the veil on business", BBC News, 31 October* OECD (2007), "Declaration on Fostering Women's Entrepreneurship in the MENA Region", MENA-OECD Investment Programme. El Salty, Madiha (2003), "Gender Inequalities in the Arab World: Religion, Law or Culture?" Paper presented at the Fourth Mediterranean Social and Political Research Meeting, Florence and Montecatini Terme, organised by the Mediterranean Programme of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute, 19-23 March. Patrikarakos, David (2008), "Women at the heart of strategy", Financial Times Special Report, 23 June, www.genderindex.org

Scott McQuade writes about the prospects for digital devices as a replacement for paper publications (OECD Observer No 270-271 January 2009). However, the evidence, so far, does not support the thesis that dedicated e-book readers such as Kindle, Sony Reader and iRex will become the platform of choice for book readers. In my opinion, these devices will go the way of all other attempts to offer dedicated e-book readers--into the museum of novel ideas that didn't quite make it. Students, cited by Mr McQuade as possibly rejoicing the arrival of Kindle et al, already carry around a device capable of reading e-books. It is also capable of running spreadsheets, datasets, accessing the web and much, much more. It's called a laptop. They also carry around something infinitely more portable which can also carry e-books: an iPhone. So why will they or anyone else shell out 500 [euro] for another device which can only do part of the job? It's too soon to write off printed books. At the end of 2008, On Demand Inc launched a network of eleven Espresso Book Machines around the globe. Some are in libraries, some in bookshops. These machines, the size of a large photocopier, can make a properly bound, paperback book from a PDF file in three minutes at a cost of around 1-2 cents a page. These machines change the economics of book publishing completely. No longer will a publisher have to tie up capital by holding stock in a warehouse or spend significant sums creating C[O.sub.2] by shipping kilos of books from warehouse to bookshop (only to have a large proportion expensively shipped back again, unsold). Instead, a customer walks into the bookstore, and the book they want will always be "in stock" and can be made to order. Because of the savings in capital, warehousing and shipping, books will be cheaper too. Printed books require no batteries, can be dropped endlessly, have coffee spilt on them, and suffer many other abuses and still work. These attributes, quite apart from the proven utility of reading from paper, will keep books "in print" for many years to come. The future for books is digital and it's happening today--not with dedicated e-book readers-but on laptops, iPhones and with print-on-demand, all from digital files. Toby Green Head of Publishing OECD

Adema, Willem (2001), 'Net Social Expenditure, 2nd Edition', OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers No. 52. Atkinson, P. and P. Van den Noord (2001), 'Managing Public Expenditure: Some [...]

School facilities in rural areas have been the subject of debate, and frequently sensitive political issues, for more than a decade now. Local papers headline the closure of small schools, [...]

On 7 September 2009, a report from the United Nations conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) blamed the "dominance of the dollar" for playing an important role in the recent build-up of global imbalances, particularly in trade and the current account, which helped lead to today's global economic crisis. Is UNCTAD right and if so, what can be done to reduce the dollar's global dominance? The answers lie in the question of reserve currencies, how these evolve and why they exist in the first place. Governments and institutions build up reserves for various reasons. They use reserves to help them trade and operate in global product and financial markets, or they may use them as anchors to protect their economies against turbulence on financial markets. The US dollar has been the dominant reserve currency for several decades, accounting for about two-thirds of global reserves and 88% of daily foreign exchange trades. And though the euro now accounts for more than a quarter of reserves, the international pricing currency for oil, gold and other raw materials still tends to be in dollars. Ever since the Second World War, which saw sterling dethroned, the US has enjoyed the privileges that its reserve currency status conveys to a host country, from purchasing commodities at slightly lower rates than other countries by saving on currency exchange costs to borrowing at cheaper rates. At the same time, the US dollar has conveyed major benefits to the world economy, both officially as a reserve and anchor currency, and in trade and investment for private businesses. Global trade is facilitated by the use of just one currency, while liquid debt markets allow central banks to intervene in foreign exchange markets to smooth currency fluctuations. Savers can escape inflationary governments by depositing in dollars. Commodities can be priced homogenously wherever traded. In short, the US dollar provides network advantages to firms and countries that use it. Meanwhile, by enlarging the scope of issuers and investors, the dollar has lowered borrowing costs and facilitated balance of payments financing-the US may have outspent its national income by an accumulated 47.3% of G D P in current account deficits since 2000, but as the world (mostly Asia and the Gulf region) reinvested the corresponding surpluses mostly in US treasury bills, US treasury rates were depressed by as many as 130 basis points up to 2005. The additional demand for dollars has generated "seigniorage" revenues: in 2008 the US Fed made a net interest income of $43 billion from issuing the currency, which as The Economist newspaper once put it, effectively makes US dollars in global circulation an interest-free loan by the public to the nation's central bank. For many people, it is hard to imagine the global currency system any other way. They liken the dollar to English, a sort of natural language of the global economy. The trouble is, while the US dollar's dominance was all very well when OECD countries led the world economy, times have changed. New powerful markets have emerged, such as China, India and Brazil, stimulating global growth, and with it, demand for reserve currencies. A rapidly rising world economy creates problems for a single-currency reserve system. These are clearly explained by the Triffin Dilemma, named after Belgian economist Robert Triffin, who famously warned Congress in 1960 that as the main supplier of the world's reserve currency the US had no choice but to run persistent current account deficits. Triffin's logic was straightforward. As the global economy expanded, demand for reserve assets--dollars--from economies around the world would increase. These could only be supplied if America ran a current account deficit and issued dollar-denominated obligations to fund it. Indeed, if the US stopped running balance of payments deficits and supplying reserves, liquidity would dry up and pull the global economy into a downward spiral. How did these imbalances fuel the crisis? US deficits and saving surpluses in emerging East Asian economies, especially China, and off-exporting countries have been growing since the early 2000s. Emerging market savings helped to bring down world interest rates, leading investors to search for higher-yielding but relatively low-risk assets, including real estate. Low interest rates in turn contributed to the financial excesses that finally culminated in the crisis. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] UNCTAD has not been alone in criticising the dollar's dominance, which has been behind other unsustainable distortions, too. For years, poorer developing countries have complained that the current system forces them to transfer resources-their own currencies--back to wealthier countries in what has become a form of "reverse aid". To be sure, some emerging markets have accumulated dollars not just to pay for trade or to insure themselves against panic attacks by investors, but to bolster their export competitiveness too. Clearly, a stronger and fairer post-crisis global economy would be helped by a less distorting reserve currency system. In fact, emerging market governments are particularly keen on replacing the US dollar as the international reserve currency because as net creditors to the rest of the world and with substantial holdings of US government debt, they fear big valuation losses on these holdings. The question is: which system to adopt? The approach attracting most attention is a new global reserve system based on an extended version of the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDR), an international reserve asset set up in 1969 to supplement member countries' official reserves (see Williamson in the references). Building on the SDR, the main global reserve currency would be represented by an extended basket of significant currencies and commodities. The UN-appointed Stiglitz Commission on reforming the international monetary and financial system has suggested a gradual move from the US dollar to the SDR. Moreover, following the G20 Summit in London earlier in the year, the IMF plans to distribute to its members $250 billion in SDRs. But as this will increase the share of SDRs in total international reserves to no more than 4%, some extra steps Hill be needed. To make the SDR the principal reserve asset via allocation, close to $3 trillion in SDRs would have to be created. One expert, Onno Wijnholds, has suggested a so-called SDR substitution account. This would permit countries that feel their official dollar holdings are uncomfortably large to convert dollars into SDRs. Because conversion would occur outside the market, it would not put downward pressure on the dollar. This suggestion, however, carries exchange risks because the SDR substitution account is likely to hold mostly dollars. Another step to enhance the SDR would be to make its currency composition more neutral to global cycles and more representative of the shift in economic power witnessed over the last two decades. This implies an increase in the commodity content and the inclusion of major emerging-market currencies. Today, the SDR is constituted as a basket of four currencies: the dollar, the euro, sterling and the yen. The convertible Australian, Canadian, Chilean, Norwegian and South African currencies could be included to give the SDR a link to the raw material cycles, as these currencies reflect price developments of copper, iron ore, gold, and oil. Major emerging-country currencies would be included in the SDR mix as soon as they reach a predefined level of convertibility. But even with such changes to the SDR, the key question is whether major economies Hill really buy into it. Some doubt it, saying that if the current dollar dominated system is the currency equivalent of the English language, then the alternative SDR basket of currencies would be like Esperanto: logical and clear to those who use it, but not easy for most people to adopt. If demand for the S DR approach proved insufficient, would that mean the dollar-dominated system was here to stay? Not necessarily. As global financial expert Avinash Persaud put it in a 2004 lecture, currency empires rise and fall. International currencies in the past have included the Chinese liang and Greek drachma, the Roman denari, the Byzantine solidus, the ducato of the Renaissance, the Dutch guilder and sterling. In 1872, the UK was overtaken by the US as the world's largest economy, and in 1915 as the world's largest exporter. As the US dollar emerged as a convertible net creditor currency, its use flourished, dethroning the pound by 1945. Today, the US is in net-debtor position similar to the Britain of the 1940s. China is the world's largest creditor, and is on the way to becoming the world largest exporter. Its economy in purchasing parity terms is also poised, eventually to outstrip that of the US. If history is a guide to the future, then the Chinese renminbi could replace the US dollar as a reserve currency from about 2050. The renminbi seems far from ready to make that leap. China would first have to ease restrictions on money entering and leaving the country, make its currency fully convertible for such transactions, deepen domestic financial reforms and make its bond markets more liquid. However, a renminbi-based system would still be a single-currency system, with all the shortcomings already articulated by Triffin half a century ago. Change on international financial markets is under way. China has already set up currency swaps with several countries, including Argentina, Belarus and Indonesia, and by letting institutions in Hong Kong, China issue bonds denominated in renminbi, taken a first step toward creating a deep domestic and international market for its currency. Brazil and China are now working towards using their own currencies in trade transactions rather than the US dollar. Moreover, the IMF executive board has approved a framework to issue SDR-based bonds, while China has signaled its intention to invest up to $50 billion, and Brazil and Russia up to $10 billion each. To avoid crisis-prone current-account imbalances and more "reverse" aid from poor to advanced countries, serious attention should be given to a multiple currency system, such as the SDR approach. For the Stiglitz commission, the new global reserve system is feasible and non-inflationary, and would contribute to global stability, economic strength, and global equity. With today's crisis and still fragile outlook, this is further reason to prepare for a new global currency reserve system sooner rather than later. References Kenen, P. (1983), "The Role of the Dollar as an International Reserve Currency", Occasional Papers No 13, Group of Thirty. Persaud, A. (2004), "Why Currency Empires Fall", Grasham Lectures, Triffin, R. (1961), Gold and the Dollar Crisis, Yale University Press. Wijnhotds, O. (2009), "The Dollar's Last Days?", http://wwwproject-syndicate.org/ The Economist (2009), "The Hedge Fund of Foggy Bottom", 30 April 2009. UNCTAD (2009), Trade and Development Report, September. Williamson, J. (2009), "The case for regular SDR issues: Fixing inconsistencies in balance-of-payments targets", Voxeu, 2 October. Helmut Reisen, Head of Research, OECD Development Centre

Every year, some 10,000 educational researchers descend on one of America's larger cities for the annual jamboree of the American Educational Research Association. Five days and several thousand learned papers [...]

The OECD has released a set of reports and technical papers showing strong progress towards achieving international consensus on the tax treatment of electronic commerce, and is inviting public comment [...]

ORDER FORMAT THE END OF THE ISSUE All publications available in paper and electronic book format This is a selected list. For more titles, please consult www.oecd.org/bookshop AGRICULTURE Transition to [...]

INTERNET: WWW.OECD.ORG/FATF/ 'From May 1994, two people used an accounting firm to launder the proceeds of sales of amphetamines. They regularly handed over to their accountant, brown-paper envelopes or shoeboxes [...]

Unemployment is rising sharply in many countries, and with pressure growing on social assistance bodies, employment services and broader public finances, there are difficult questions for governments to answer in terms of where to invest scarce resources and how to ensure value for money. Renewed commitment to employment support underpinned by improved analysis of how this can be most effectively delivered must be central to the discussion. Here are some key elements to help ministers build an effective response to the crisis. First, maintain focus on the long-term goal of sustainable employment for all. It is critical to learn the lessons of previous downturns. Mitigating the current rise in unemployment by increasing rates of early retirement or take-up of disability or health benefits will lead to dysfunctions in the labour market over the long term. With the workforce ageing and the trend towards tightening labour markets, it is important to invest in keeping older people and those with health conditions engaged with the labour market. There has been considerable focus in recent years on increasing the conditions attached to receiving benefits and bringing those people who were previously far from the labour market, particularly single parents and those with disabilities and health conditions, closer to it. This has resulted in innovation and success in policy, better procurement and better delivery of services. But when public finances are stretched as they are now, and with fewer job opportunities for everyone, there is a danger that the quality and comprehensiveness of employment services for these groups will suffer as priorities and resources shift to support for the newly unemployed. The effects can be both serious and long-lasting. In fact, labour market exclusion can become inter-generational. Second, target support on those most at risk of labour-market exclusion. Many governments are concerned about the impact of the current crisis on the employment opportunities for young people. There are fears about potentially "scarring" a whole generation. There have been a range of responses, including guaranteeing training, extending apprenticeships and subsidising employment. Governments should monitor the impact of the downturn on other groups who may be disproportionately affected by the crisis or at risk of long-term exclusion. The tightening labour market may affect migrant workers or refugees, whose knowledge of the local language or labour market may be limited, not to mention those people with disabilities or health conditions. For all these groups, it is critical to invest in their employability and skills levels so that they can compete effectively in the labour market. Labour market monitoring and analysis will help ensure that resources are effectively targeted. For example, research commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions in the UK has highlighted that young people with the lowest level of qualifications and living in deprived areas are most at risk of labour market exclusion. Public employment services and social assistance bodies are trying to strengthen their analytical capacity so that they can use such evidence in deciding about resource use. A personalised employment service should also be considered. This not only maintains a strong work focus, but, when skills-training is linked to future employment, has been shown both to help the most disadvantaged find work and be cost-effective. In the current labour market, people with limited employment history are finding it difficult to compete with the newly unemployed, and it may be necessary to look for new tools to complement existing programmes. Work trial schemes or intermediate labour market opportunities could give participants a step up to labour market participation. Third, governments must innovate. Despite the current atmosphere of doom and gloom, opportunities will present themselves to innovate and develop more effective approaches to supporting those excluded from the labour market. This can already be seen in many countries, where higher demand for services has spurred innovation in delivery. In the UK, one response to the crisis was to increase the number of public employment service staff. As the new staff could not be accommodated within existing premises, they had to be located in partner organisations, including private sector and voluntary providers. This has created a more seamless service for clients and will potentially boost productivity. Also, many countries have seen an increase in "light-touch" support provided by telephone or Internet as efficient alternatives to face-to-face contact for those who are newly unemployed or close to the labour market. Fourth, bring in the local level. Ministers will inevitably discuss how to maximise the return on their investment in active labour market policies and promote efficient resource use. At the local level there can often be opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of programmes by improving the alignment and targeting of employment support and complementary interventions, such as skills training. This can help scarce resources go further. In the Netherlands, the government has decided to establish a network of local mobility centres to promote co-operation among companies, trade unions and job-finding organisations--an initiative that is strongly supported by unions and other social partners. Bringing employers and trade unions into discussions about the local/regional labour market can help to plan for the longer term and bridge gaps between supply and demand. Local partnerships can also help to ensure that investment in skills and training for unemployed people matches local labour market needs or predictions of future skills needs. The message is simple. In the current climate, individuals have to invest more to secure employment--they must look harder to find vacancies, apply for more jobs and secure more interviews than in better times. Governments must also invest more in employment services at a time when it is harder to support the transition into work and off social assistance. Only then will the newly unemployed not become permanently excluded from work and will those people who are further from the labour market improve their employability and move into sustainable employment. Ingeus is an international provider of employment participation services aimed at assisting individuals and communities to achieve better employment outcomes. It partners with national, regional and local governments internationally, with a focus on finding innovative solutions for consistent high performance. Founded in Australia in 1989, Ingeus delivers employment programmes in France, Germany, Sweden and the UK. References EUROFOUND (2009), "Tackling the Recession: Employment-related public initiatives in the EU Member States and Norway". http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emcc/erm/studies tn0907020s/tn0907020s.htm European Commission (2009), "Labour Market Institutions in Times of Crisis: Challenges and Experiences", Final report of the European Commission Conference, http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.pp?catld=105&langld-en& eventsld=198&furtherEvents=yes Stafford, Bruce and Deirdre Duffy (2009), "Review of evidence on the impact of economic downturn on disadvantaged groups", Department for Work and Pensions, UK, http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2009/ monitoring-impact-recession-demographic-groups.pdf Hasluck, Chris and Anne E. Green (2007), "Active Labour Market Policies in International Context: What works best?" Lessons for the UK Department for Work and Pensions Research Report 407, http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/report_abstracts/ rr_abstracts/rra_407.asp Carcillo, Stephane and David Grubb (2006), "From Inactivity to Work: The Role of Active Labour Market Policies", ELS working paper no.36, OECD, Paris, www. oecd.org/dataoecd/44/8/36945194.pdf Jenny Ross, Ingeus Centre for Policy and Research *

Old age, said Leon Trotsky, is the most unexpected of all the things that can happen to a man. Lifetimes do indeed fly, but if there is one event that even quite young people in OECD countries need to prepare for nowadays, it is their retirement. But with many pension funds in trouble from the 2008 collapse in financial markets, even some of the best laid retirement plans have had to be put off. No wonder trust is so low and the question of public versus private schemes has become such a hot debate. In recent years, we have increasingly had to save for our retirement ourselves. We are all living longer--which is a good thing--but this has made it increasingly expensive for governments and employers to cover pension costs. Unfortunately, this meant that the financial turmoil and ensuing economic crisis has had a major impact on private pension assets--OECD estimates that these have plummeted by US$5.4 trillion globally, 20% of their value. Countries where pension funds were heavily invested in equities, such as Ireland and the US, faced the heaviest blows. No wonder confidence in private savings is being sorely tested and there are calls to return to what is seen as the "safe haven" of government pensions. Yet there are many problems and dangers with making such a reverse turn. First it should be noted that pensions are long-term investments, and we should not make decisions affecting decades based on one year's results. Unlike the problems in the banking and insurance sectors, the decline in pension assets does not have short-term implications for most of us, and should recover over time. Indeed, despite recessions and bursting bubbles, over the last few decades balanced portfolios in OECD countries have earned an average 7% per year in real terms. Even if we do find it hard to trust markets again, huddling back under the shelter of public pensions is not an option. For one thing, public pensions have also been impacted by the crisis, as unemployment rises and tax takes decline, reducing contributions to the system and adding to already stretched government deficits. Another key reason is the cost pressures arising from an ageing society, as the disproportionate ratio of retirees to workers will continue to strain government budgets. When most of these pension systems were introduced the retirement age was 65. But then, life expectancy was also 65. Now we might work for 30 years and be retired for 30 years. Public pensions alone are no longer the answer, and for most countries a mix of both public and private pension schemes is probably where the future lies-security through diversity is the key. Still, it is important that public pensions do offer all citizens a proper degree of security One way to ensure that market falls such as the latest one do not have such a devastating impact is to have a proper social security safety net in place. These have become uncomfortably weak in some OECD countries, and governments have been introducing measures, such as minimum pensions, to ensure that no one falls through the gaps. But what else can be done to safeguard our hard-earned pensions? For a start, employers should be encouraged to continue providing pensions to their workers. Assets of defined benefit pensions declined precipitously in the last year, requiring companies sponsoring these schemes to drastically increase their contributions to plug the funding gap needed to pay promised benefits. Yet these companies themselves are struggling in the current difficult financial conditions. Demanding too high pension payments and driving a company into bankruptcy is clearly not the solution-hence OECD governments have been granting welcome flexibility with their funding rules and allowing more time for companies to repair their pension balance sheets. Defined contribution pension funds-where we individuals bear the impact of the market declines-also need to be fixed. Like other investors, pension fund managers had every incentive to maximise returns through investments in such products as commodities and hedge funds, as well as more innovative financial instruments. The fact that pension managers were allowed to venture into this territory with people's life savings says quite a lot about the managers, but also about the negligence of their trustees and company boards. Short-term thinking and weak governance jeopardised long-term investments. Quick winnings rather than modest, stable returns were the goal. Clearly the governance of pension funds needs to be improved, with training and expertise required to make sure managers really understand what they are investing in. Yet we, too, must take a closer, more responsible, interest in our investments, which will require an improvement in financial literacy; the OECD would like to see this area addressed in future reforms. Individuals close to retirement--these were the worst hit by the financial crisis--can also be protected by automatically switching into less risky investments as they get older. Likewise, forcing people to buy an annuity at specific times risks locking in very low retirement income-as was the case with people unfortunate enough to retire at the bottom of the cycle this last year. A better approach would be to combine "phased" withdrawals, where a defined part of the fund is withdrawn each year with a "deferred" annuity paid out when an individual reaches a more advanced age. Is the news all bad? Most pension funds suffered very limited exposure to "toxic" assets, less than 3% being badly affected. As long-term investments, most pensions will recover as long as confidence comes back. That depends on visible, well-targeted action. If we need public and private pension systems to help face the retirement challenges ahead, then governments have a role to play in making sure private systems stand the stress tests of future expectations. A degree of risk is unavoidable, but greater vigilance and better stewardship, along with a wider diversity of investment options and a full disclosure of where those investments had been made, would go some way to restoring pension strength and giving future pensioners more than a hard chair to sit on. Trotsky may have been right about old age, but that is no excuse for denying people the pensions they earned and deserve. References * OECD (2009), Pensions at a Glance, ISBN 978-92-64-06071-5; see also 2007 edition. Available at www.oecd.org/bookshop * Antolin Pablo and Fiona Stewart (2009), "Private Pensions and Policy Responses to the Financial and Economic Crisis", OECD Working Papers on Insurance and Private Pensions No 36, Paris. Available at www.oecd.org/daf/pensions * For more information on pension work at the OECD, contact Fiona.Stewart@oecd.org and Edward.Whitehouse@oecd.org * See also www.oecd.org/els/social/ageing Fiona Stewart, OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs

If there is one major lesson to draw from the financial crisis, it is that corporate governance matters. Directors, regulators and shareholders, but also policymakers and the general public, need to pay more attention to corporate governance. This tells us how firms operate, their motives and principles, their reporting lines, who they are accountable to, and how they manage profit, remuneration and, in the case of many financial firms, other people's money. When times were good, too many people took their eye off the ball and now we see the consequences. The public outcry has been loud and understandable, not least in relation to executive pay And even some top executives have now admitted the lack of relationship between pay and performance and called for a salaries shake-up. We now realise that constantly rising share prices is not necessarily a sign of good corporate governance. In fact, as recent history shows, it could actually be the opposite. The question is, what can be done to improve how financial firms operate? We have been examining the crisis closely and in particular seeing how the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance might help or, indeed, be improved in light of recent experiences. We see four key areas for urgent action: corporate risk management, pay and bonuses, the performance of board directors, and the need for shareholders to be more proactive in their role as owners. Let's start with remuneration. Recent surveys have shown that four out of five market participants believe that compensation practices played a role in promoting the accumulation of risk that led to the crisis. If they are right, the way that remuneration schemes are designed and supervised can have systemic impact on the financial system. But to get it right we need to look at pay structures across whole companies, not just at their high-profile executives. It is equally important to come to grips with how bonuses are designed and paid among traders and portfolio managers throughout the company We have seen too many examples of employees being given short-term incentives that are not in line with the long-term sustainability of the firm. This is what contributed to the build-up of unmanageable risks that eventually brought some companies down. By applying the corporate governance principles, companies can establish a proper structure for deciding on issues such as remuneration. And the board will clearly play an important role, since to leave it to executives themselves is inviting disaster. When looking at various models for compensation, boards should explicitly ask themselves if the company's compensation model is aligned with prudent risk-taking and the long-term objectives and strategy of the company Perhaps some firms asked this question and got the wrong answer, but it is also likely that too many firms ignored it. The crisis has also thrown up some massive failures in risk management. Even where companies had mandatory internal controls on reporting for the financial accounts, their executives did not fully grasp or clearly communicate the financial risks of many of the instruments they were betting on. Many of these were in fact off the balance sheet prior to the crisis. To fill this gap, risk management must be seen in a corporate-wide perspective where the risk management system is continuously adjusted in line with a corporate strategy and the appetite for risk. The oversight of risk management by board members must also be improved and they must also be given all the information they need to make informed decisions. One way OECD believes this can be done is to encourage corporations to appoint a special risk officer. Moreover, to keep information clear, that person would report directly to the board of directors and not only via the CEO. Surveys of audit committee members have shown that they are not too satisfied with the current state of reporting. Only four out of ten said that the risk reporting they received was very good. Some boards have not only failed in the oversight of risk management systems but also in the remuneration practices of their firms, so the financial market collapse was their failure, too. It is indeed true that boards have not always received high-quality information. But we must also ask if they had actually demanded the right information and in a suitable form. For example, knowing exposure to residential mortgages is not the same thing as also knowing what proportion is exposed to sub-prime. Being a board member in a large complex organisation is extremely demanding. And no board member can be expected to master all aspects of the business in detail. But in financial firms, a good understanding of risk management is vital. This is why the OECD has suggested that the "fit and proper person" test-which assesses if somebody is trustworthy to be a bank director-could be expanded to include technical and professional competence in areas like risk management. It might also be worth looking at strengthening the legal duties of board members-and the enforcement of those duties. If boards have failed in maw cases, then where were the shareholders? Some did raise their voices, or sold their investments, but others were just as interested in short-term gain as traders and management were. The age-old debate about whether higher standards of corporate governance can be enforced by laws and rules or encouraged via guidelines and market behaviour has heated up considerably since the crisis. But the debate may be missing the point. Consider the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. In maW cases the principles have been implemented through regulation and legislation. This creates a level playing field and is sometimes the preferred route for companies that may find it hard to "take the first step" among competitors. But even where there are rules and laws on the books, they simply cannot ensure good behaviour. We also need to do better in monitoring their implementation and their effectiveness. That is why the OECD will put in place a process of peer reviews based on the OECD principles. These peer reviews will obviously scrutinise implementation, though they will also encourage transparency, consistency and mutual learning. Not that all companies are sitting on their laurels. Since the crisis, the private sector has been taking a greater interest in improving their corporate governance. Board composition is changing and shareholders are rediscovering their voices too. Many firms now realise that they need to re-gain credibility. Private sector initiatives to improve corporate governance are vital for progress and OECD has established a forum for companies and broader stakeholders to exchange views and best practices. In 2009 we also launched a global consultation on the Internet to garner input and suggestions from the public on how to improve corporate governance. As the financial crisis has underlined, good corporate governance is everyone's business. References * OECD (2009), "The Corporate Governance Lessons from the Financial Crisis", Working Paper by Grant Kirkpatrick, Paris, available at www.oecd.org/daf/corporateaffairs * See the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance at www.oecd.org/daf/corporate/principles Mats Isaksson and Grant Kirkpatrick, OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs

All publications are available in paper and electronic book format. This is a selected list. For more titles and overviews in different languages, please consult www.oecdbookshop.org. DEVELOPMENT AND AID Managing [...]

All publications are available in paper and electronic book format. This is a selected list. For more titles and overviews in different languages, please consult www.oecd.org/bookshop. OECD in Figures [] [...]

All publications available in paper and electronic book format. This is a selected list. For more titles and overviews in different languages, please consult www.oecd.org/bookshop AGRICULTURE AND FOOD Multifunctionality: The [...]

All publications available in paper and electronic book format. This is a selected list. For more titles, please consult www.oecd.org/bookshop. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD OECD Agricultural Outlook: 2003/2008 [] ISBN 9264103023 [...]

All publications available in paper and electronic book format. This is a selected list. For more titles, please consult www.oecd.org/bookshop. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD Agricultural Trade and Poverty: Making Policy Analysis [...]

All publications available in paper and electronic book format. This is a selected list. For more titles, please consult www.oecd.org/bookshop AGRICULTURE AND FOOD The Costs of Managing Fisheries ISBN 9264099751 [...]

All publications available in paper and electronic book format. This is a selected list. For more titles, please consult www.oecd.org/bookshop AGRICULTURE AND FOOD Agricultural Trade Reform: Making it Work for [...]

All publications available in paper and electronic book format. This is a selected list. For more titles, please consult www.oecd.org/bookshop AGRICULTURE AND FOOD Agricultural Policies in China after WTO Accession [...]

All publications available in paper and electronic book format. This is a selected list. For more titles, please consult www.oecd.org/bookshop AGRICULTURE AND FOOD OECD Agricultural Outlook 2002/2007 ISBN: 9264187219 212pp, [...]

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"Being unemployed is frustrating, demeaning and, at this point, frightening." Anyone who has any doubt about the devastating effects unemployment can have will learn a lot from statements such as this one, captured in a recent survey undertaken by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University in the US. The Center polled 1,200 Americans over the age of is who were unemployed and looking for work at any time during the 12 months to August 2009. The result? "The Anguish of Unemployment", in at times revealing words and numbers. 53% of respondents feel that the US economy is in the midst of "fundamental and lasting changes". As one respondent puts it, "Articles in the papers say we 'baby boomers' will have to work for a few more years, especially since so many of us have lost half, if not more, in retirement 'funds'. Now, you tell me, how can I work for a few more years if I can't even get a job interview?!" Of the 56% of respondents who said that they had not received any government unemployment benefits over the past 12 months, 48% said they were ineligible to receive unemployment benefits. 60% of those without jobs said they were given no advance warning about their layoff; 27% were told one month or less before they were laid off. Little wonder that some 51% of respondents said that when people are laid off from work, the government should be responsible for helping them. In comparison, 17% said the employer should be responsible and 33% said the workers, themselves, should be responsible. Importantly, 76% of respondents said that the economic situation has had "a major impact" on their families. "I do receive food stamps, but that doesn't help me get back and forth to the grocery store, or buy laundry detergent to wash clothes, or even to buy new clothes for a possible job interview," said one respondent. Of the 43% of respondents who said they had received unemployment benefits, 83% said that they were "somewhat" or "very" concerned that those benefits would run out before they found another job. "The lack of income and loss of health benefits hurts greatly, but losing the ability to provide for my wife and myself is kilting me emotionally." Of those surveyed, 70% said that they had postponed home improvements or a vacation, 63% said they had used money from savings set aside for other things or for retirement to make ends meet, and 56% said they had borrowed money from family or friends. More than 60% of respondents reported a change in sleeping patterns, loss of sleep, or feeling restless and uneasy. Some 58% said family relations were strained, and 52% said that they avoid social situations with friends and acquaintances. The Rutgers poll paints a depressing picture, but not one without hope. While 77% of those surveyed said that they have felt "stressed" and 68% said that they have felt "depressed" because of their situation, 66% reported that they felt "eager for a new start". MA The full survey can be found at www.heldrich.rutgers.edu

Helen!! Get Frankie in here. This paper on fixing unemployment will upset a lot of people. Redraft it!! But aren't though reforms needed to boost jobs? Yes, but don't forget, [...]

OECD Journal on Budgeting Vol. 2, No. 2 Governments produce mountains of paper every year. But one document can reasonably claim to be more important than all the rest: the [...]

Table of contents Foreword Executive summary 1 Key policy insights COVID-19 and rising costs of living are threatening growth and well-being High uncertainties have dented the pace of the recovery [...]

Table of contents Foreword Executive summary 1. Key policy insights 1.1. The economy is facing external headwinds 1.2. Financial stability risks should be monitored closely 1.3. Monetary policy has been [...]

Foreword This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member [...]

Foreword This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member [...]

Canada has an ambitious plan to reduce the economy's net emissions to zero by 2050. This will require a step change in mitigation action, with deep energy savings and near economy-wide replacement of fossil fuels with clean energy. Achieving this while minimising negative impacts on activity and living standards will be challenging. Canada is already using a range of policy instruments to propel its green transition--including carbon pricing, regulations, investment incentives, and public procurement of green technology. This chapter explores reforms that could make climate policies work better together to lock in both deep emissions reductions and strong economic growth. As with important efforts to prepare communities for the impacts of climate change, Canada's provinces and territories will play a key role in the country's green transition., Canada's climate policy challenge Deep emissions reductions are required for Canada to reach net zero Canada's climate is changing rapidly already. Impacts from rising temperatures and associated extreme weather events [...]

Canada's economy recovered from the COVID-19 crisis, but new challenges have emerged (Figure 1.1). The rate of unemployment declined rapidly in the aftermath of the pandemic and total output has [...]

The Turkish economy grew strongly over the past two decades and created many jobs. However, given its young and growing workforce, Turkiye needs to ramp up efforts to achieve high-quality formal job creation. A sizeable share of the workforce, mostly female workers, does not actively participate in the labour market. While informality has decreased significantly, it is still widespread and entrenches productivity differences across firms. Rigid labour market rules, particularly the high severance pay but also minimum wages, impede formal job creation. More flexible labour markets should be part of a comprehensive reform programme that shifts job loss protection to a broader-based unemployment insurance scheme, supported by well-designed activation policies. While educational attainment has risen impressively, a growing number of vacancies, significant skill mismatches and a low level of adult skills highlight the need to address the quality of education and to improve on the matching of talent to jobs., Despite the progress made by the Turkish economy over the past two decades, several labour market weaknesses persist: elevated informality coupled with low employment rates, to a large extent driven [...]

Making the economy more resilient will require ambitious reforms Turkiye has been one of the fastest growing economies in the OECD over the past two decades. GDP per capita rose [...]

Greece has rebounded from the COVID-19 crisis, generating strong employment growth. Government support measures, implementation of the Greece 2.0 Recovery and Resilience Package and the reforms of the past decade have been supporting the economy. However, headwinds from surging energy prices and uncertainty following Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine have slowed the recovery. Returning the budget to surplus, better targeting energy support measures and maintaining government revenues while broadening the tax base and improving its efficiency will help sustain the recovery and Greece's prospects of achieving an investment-grade sovereign debt rating. Maintaining the reform momentum, prioritising banks' health and addressing the long-standing barriers to private investment, can help maintain this momentum into the long term. This would also support Greece in contributing its share to address climate change, by achieving net zero emissions, while raising living standards. The changing climate is already disrupting livelihoods and well-being in Greece. A well-chosen mix of carbon pricing, public infrastructure investments, raising buildings' energy efficiency and moving transport into low-emission modes can achieve emission cuts cost-effectively, while making people better off with improved housing quality and mobility. Engaging all stakeholders, maintaining a consensus and supporting vulnerable households affected by the green economy transition will help ensure progress continues into the longer term. SPECIAL FEATURE: THE GREEN ECONOMY TRANSITION, Foreword This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member [...]

Foreword This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member [...]

FOREWORD This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member [...]

Foreword This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member [...]

Foreword This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member [...]

Foreword This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member [...]

Table of contents Executive summary 1 Key Policy Insights The pandemic set back positive structural developments The policy response helped keep cases relatively low The economy rebounded from the initial [...]

Foreword This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member [...]

Table of contents Executive summary 1 Key policy insights The COVID-19 crisis hit a weakening economy The recovery will be gradual but subject to risks The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated [...]

Iceland's economy is recovering from a deep COVID-19 recession. Fisheries and intellectual services exports are on the rise and foreign tourists are starting to come back as travel restrictions are gradually eased. The health crisis has been relatively mild so far, thanks to a smart testing and tracking strategy and a well-functioning health system. After a sharp rise during the pandemic, unemployment is declining fast, and inflation hovers above target. Appropriate macroeconomic policy coupled with structural reforms are needed for a sound recovery and sustainable growth. The central bank should remain vigilant and fiscal support should continue to target vulnerable groups. Reducing stringent regulation, especially in tourism and construction, would help shift resources to more productive firms and jobs. Strengthening vocational education and training, and linking part of university funding to labour market outcomes would reduce labour shortages and skills mismatch. Offering better-targeted support for business R&D, encouraging the adoption of digital technologies and facilitating knowledge transfer would boost innovation and productivity. Submitting all economic sectors to carbon pricing--either a carbon tax or an emission trading system--while redistributing the proceeds to households and firms will be key for a cost-efficient and equitable transition to a low-carbon economy. SPECIAL FEATURES: INNOVATION, CLIMATE CHANGE, Table of contents Executive summary 1 Key policy insights The economy is recovering Monetary policy has been eased in response to the Covid-19 crisis The financial system is considered to [...]