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This annual edition of Labour Force Statistics provides detailed statistics on population, labour force, employment and unemployment, broken down by gender, as well as unemployment duration, employment status, employment by sector of activity and part-time employment. It also contains participation and unemployment rates by gender and detailed age groups as well as comparative tables for the main components of the labour force. Data are available for each OECD member country and for OECD-Total, Euro area and European Union. The time series presented in the publication cover 20 years for most countries. It also provides information on the sources and definitions used by member countries in the compilation of those statistics.

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The focus of this study is on the potential causes of skill mismatch, the extent of skill mismatch, the socio-demographic make-up of skill mismatch, and the consequences of skill mismatch in terms of earnings as well as employer sponsored adult education/training. A distinction is made between skill mismatch and education mismatch. The analysis is based on the 2003-2007 Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALLS) - a dataset similar to the one that is forthcoming from the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) in 2013. These studies contain direct measures of key foundation skills as well as measures of the use of certain generic skills at work which allow for a direct measure of skill mismatch. The analysis points to the complex ways in which mismatch is generated and the need for an accurate and up to date measure of mismatch, one that reflects the possibilities for skill gain and skill loss over the lifespan, and reflects differences in the quality of qualifications. Two key findings stand out. First, including supply and demand characteristics in an earnings function reveals that labour demand characteristics are more important than labour supply characteristics in explaining earnings differentials. In other words, skills matter for earnings but only if they are required by the job. This has direct implications for understanding better the causes of mismatch on earnings. Second, the skill content of jobs seems to be an even stronger determinant of participation in employer supported adult education/training than educational attainment or literacy proficiency. The influence of demand characteristics thus tends to outweigh the influence of supply characteristics when employers make the decision to support adult education/training. Addressing mismatch thus requires a careful consideration of both the demand and supply sides of the labour market, so as to understand better the variety of factors which may have a negative impact on the effectiveness of skill formation, skill maintenance, and also skill use.

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Catalonia is the main contributor to Spain's economy. For a long time it has led strategic investment in research and development in Spain and developed highly successful programmes to attract talent. The region also has a unique identity with its own language and a distinct cultural heritage. Catalonia is now feeling the effects of the economic crisis. How can it prepare for the post-crisis economy with the help of the university system? How can it balance attracting expertise from abroad with nurturing talent among its diverse population? How can it unleash the potential of universities to contribute to local and regional development? This publication is part of the series of OECD reviews of Higher Education in Regional and City Development. These reviews help mobilise higher education institutions for economic, social and cultural development of cities and regions. They analyse how the higher education system impacts upon regional and local development and bring together universities, other higher education institutions and public and private agencies to identify strategic goals and to work towards them.

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This working paper aims to give an overview of the national policies that exist in the field of [information and communication technology] ICT and initial teacher education. Information on this topic was initially gathered via a survey, in the form of a country questionnaire, which was conducted as part of the analytical strand of the OECD study entitled ‘ICT and initial teacher education’. In addition, desk research was conducted for 31 OECD countries. All of this work has been carried out under the auspices of the New Millennium Learners project. Responses to the survey were received from the following countries: Austria, Australia, Belgium (Flanders), Chile, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. On the basis of these documents, three categories are proposed for understanding the extent to which countries have addressed the issue of ICT and initial teacher education: Category 1: Lack of relevant information concerning ICT and initial teacher education; Category 2: Developing awareness of the stakes of ICT and initial teacher education; Category 3: Inclusion of ICT in initial teacher education at several levels. The first part of this report presents a comparison of national policies by classifying each of them in one of these three categories. The second part of this report proposes a complementary analysis of these results by first discussing some limits to the initial broad classification of countries in these categories and then presenting key elements of comparison in order to estimate the level of coherence of these policies.

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The Leveraging Training and Skills Development in SMEs Project is an international effort to look at policy issues related to the: low access to training in [small and medium-sized enterprises] SMEs; barriers encountered by SMEs to training; and formal and informal ways SMEs access knowledge that is relevant for their business operations. The project examines how formal and alternative ways of training and skills development relate to specific outputs for the firm and employees, for the industry and for the local area where they are located. In particular the role of skills and training ecosystems at the local level is analysed. Participant countries are New Zealand, United Kingdom, Poland, Belgium (Flanders) and Turkey.

The project in Poland focussed on the Sosnowiecki sub-region of the Silesian voivodship (NUTS III level). The review consisted of both a quantitative and qualitative survey of local SMEs, and a local workshop on the training ecosystem. The results of the quantitative survey show that most of the SMEs in the sub-region were unable to assess the skills needs of the employees. It may indicate that the enterprises have difficulties in assessing and planning their human resource needs, and that they may have a more general problem with overall business planning. The results of all parts of the research suggest that the way in which public support to training is functioning could be improved in order to better facilitate SMEs learning and promote co-operation in the sub-region.

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A long-held ambition for many educators and assessment experts has been to integrate summative and formative assessments so that data from external assessments used for system monitoring may also be used to shape teaching and learning in classrooms. In turn, classroom-based assessments may provide valuable data for decision makers at school and system levels. Currently there are important technical barriers to this kind of seamless integration. Nevertheless there are a number of promising developments in the field. Ongoing research and development aims at improving testing and measurement technologies, as well strengthening classroom-based formative assessment practices. Improved integration of formative and summative assessment will require investments in new testing technologies, teacher training and professional development, and further research and development.

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This publication examines the effects of taxation on employment, highlights the resulting policy challenges, and discusses the ways governments endeavour to address these challenges. Chapter one provides a broad overview of the effects of taxation on employment, examining how taxes on labour income can affect both the size of the labour force and the level of unemployment, and highlighting key areas of concern for tax policy makers. This analysis is then augmented in chapters two to four by the more detailed analysis of the effects of taxation on the employment of three groups where empirical research suggests that responses of labour supply to taxation may be relatively large: (1) low-income workers; (2) mobile highly-skilled workers; and (3) older workers. As well as highlighting key areas of concern for tax policy makers, the report places a particular focus on the different measures that have been adopted by countries to attempt to overcome these problems, discussing, where possible, the main design features, and the advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches that have been adopted.

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At a time when OECD and partner countries are trying to figure out how to reduce burgeoning debt and make the most of shrinking public budgets, spending on education is an obvious target for scrutiny. Education officials, teachers, policy makers, parents and students struggle to determine the merits of shorter or longer school days or school years, how much time should be allotted to various subjects, and the usefulness of after-school lessons and independent study. This report focuses on how students use learning time, both in and out of school. What are the ideal conditions to ensure that students use their learning time efficiently? What can schools do to maximise the learning that occurs during the limited amount of time students spend in class? In what kinds of lessons does learning time reap the most benefits? And how can this be determined? The report draws on data from the 2006 cycle of the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) to describe differences across and within countries in how much time students spend studying different subjects, how much time they spend in different types of learning activities, how they allocate their learning time and how they perform academically.

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The labour market integration of young people from ethnic minority and immigrant backgrounds is one of those issues which government finds it a challenge to address, particularly in the current climate of growing youth unemployment. Supporting access to the labour market for all young people is typically a multifaceted issue, with both social and economic dimensions. In the case of immigrants and minority groups, it is no easier as it involves working with different cultures, traditions and customs, and in some cases, tackling intergenerational problems of exclusion. Unsurprisingly, more than one government department or agency is involved in this policy area. In fact, the stakeholders involved are many, drawn from the public service, the private sector and civil society.

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Ensuring a good match between skills acquired in education and on the job and those required in the labour market is essential to make the most of investments in human capital and promote strong and inclusive growth. Unfortunately, in the OECD on average, about one in four workers are over-qualified, i.e. they possess higher qualifications than those required by their job, and just over one in five are under-qualified, i.e. they possess lower qualifications than those required by their job. In addition, some socio-demographic groups are more likely than others to be over-qualified, notably, immigrants and new labour market entrants who take some time to sort themselves into appropriate jobs, or under-qualified, notably, experienced workers lacking a formal qualification for the skills acquired on the labour market.

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