Improving the environmental performance of agriculture is a high priority in OECD and many non-OECD countries. This will be of increasing concern in the future given the pressure to feed a growing world population with scarce land and water resources. Policy has an important role to play where markets for many of the environmental outcomes from agriculture are absent or poorly functioning.
This study focuses on the design and implementation of environmental standards and regulations, taxes, payments and tradable permit schemes to address agri-environmental issues. It deals with the choice of policy instruments and the design of specific instruments, with the aim of identifying those that are most cost-effective in very different situations across OECD countries.
Key conclusions from the study are that: there is no unique instrument that promises to achieve all agri-environmental policy goals; the cost effectiveness of payments systems could be improved by using performance-based measures; and policy mixes need to combine policy instruments that complement and not conflict with each other
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the Internet are increasingly viewed as a vital infrastructure for all sectors of the economy. Already, employment in the ICT industry and employment of ICT specialist skills each accounts for up to 5% of total employment in OECD countries and ICT intensive-users account for more than 20% of all workers. In addition, the emerging "green" economy is a "smarter" economy that has increased demand for ICT-skilled jobs not only in the ICT sector, but more rapidly across the wider non-ICT economy. The further creation of new jobs can only occur, however, if the right mix of skills and competences are available in the labour market. Shortages of required ICT-related skills have been observed in some OECD countries, and this is particularly true for skills related to green ICTs.
This document sets out a framework for evaluating the implementation of environmental provisions in Regional Trade Agreements. The checklist approach to the evaluation of countries‘ experience of implementation complements the OECD‘s Checklist for Negotiators (2008). Among the issues addressed are institutional arrangements, co-operation, capacity building, public participation, resolution of differences and assessment.
We see the expression “sustainable development” everywhere these days, but what does it mean? Can we really pursue sustainable economic growth without harming our societies and the environment? And if we pursue prosperity today, are we condemning our children and grandchildren to poverty tomorrow?
The OECD works on many issues related to sustainable development – climate change, growth in developing countries, corporate social responsibility and much more. Using straightforward language and real-world examples, OECD Insights: Sustainable Development draws on that expertise to explore these vital issues.
OECD Insights: Sustainable Development provides an essential introduction to the complex relationships between the economy, society and the environment. As global inequality and climate change become mainstream concerns, it asks the questions our generation needs to ask in terms everyone can understand.
Investment in network infrastructure can boost long-term economic growth in OECD countries. Moreover, infrastructure investment can have a positive effect on growth that goes beyond the effect of the capital stock because of economies of scale, the existence of network externalities and competition enhancing effects. This paper, which is part of a project examining the links between infrastructure and growth and the role of public policies, reports the results on the links with growth from a variety of econometric approaches. Time-series results reveal a positive impact of infrastructure investment on growth. They also show that this effect varies across countries and sectors and over time. In some cases, these results reveal evidence of possible over-investment, which may be related to inefficient use of infrastructure. Bayesian model averaging of cross-section growth regressions confirm that infrastructure investment in telecommunications and the electricity sectors has a robust positive effect on long-term growth (but not in railways and road networks). Furthermore, this effect is highly nonlinear as the impact is stronger if the physical stock is lower.