Search Results

This report was presented to the Working Party on the Information Economy (WPIE) in December 2004. It provides an overview of information and communications technology (ICT) skills and employment across OECD economies and analyses some of the impacts on economic performance. It describes a new approach to identifying the diffusion of ICTs in the economy. Two measures of ICT-skilled employment are developed. The first is a narrow measure that uses occupational data to identify ICT specialists (e.g. programmers, software developers but also cable layers). The second is a broad measure that includes those who intensively use ICTs to perform their work (both basic and advanced intensive users), as well as the specialists. These measures are calculated for the economy as a whole and also by sector. The report provides a brief review of earlier attempts to identify the presence of ICTs in the economy and describes a new measurement approach developed for the 2004 ‘OECD information technology outlook’, which attempts to capture the diffusion of ICTs throughout the economy based on the degree of their actual use. The industry rankings based on the share of ICT-skilled employment in total employment are then compared to the results of other studies that classify industrial sectors on the basis of ICT usage. Some preliminary results from the analysis relating the ICT skills measures to productivity measures are presented. The report has expanded the analysis of ICT-skilled employment from the 2004 ‘OECD information technology outlook’ and extended it to include Canada. The analysis revealed that the narrow measure of ICT specialists followed a similar pattern across countries (European Union (EU)15, US, Canada and Australia), but that the trends for broad measure of ICT-intensive users and specialists diverged. The share of broad ICTskilled employment is increasing in the EU15, but decreasing in the US, Canada and Australia. The broad ICT-skilled employment measure was also analysed at the sectoral level. Findings reveal that many business services sectors have a very large share of ICT-skilled employment (e.g. computer and related services, financial intermediation services, and research and development), as well as certain manufacturing sectors (such as manufacturing of office machinery and computers). Personal services tended to have a relatively low share. Most sectors were found to have increased their share of ICT-skilled employment somewhat, particularly those that already had a relatively large share. Show less

The demand and supply of tertiary workers contribute to shaping their earnings advantage. The expansion of tertiary education has been accompanied by a decrease in the earnings advantage of tertiary-educated younger and older workers in many OECD and partner countries. Tertiary-educated workers reap the largest advantage in countries where few adults have completed tertiary education, such as Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico. Tertiary-educated workers with high literacy skills have considerably higher earnings than tertiary-educated workers with lower skills. Older tertiary-educated workers benefit from both their relative scarcity among their generation and their longer professional experience, resulting in a higher earning advantage than their younger counterparts. It is difficult to say whether younger tertiary educated workers will achieve the same earnings advantage over time that the older generation currently enjoys. However, a formal qualification is not the sole assurance of higher earnings: higher skills lead to positive financial outcomes across all educational attainment levels.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

The OECD annual report on jobs and employment in OECD countries reviews recent trends, policy developments, and prospects. The 2021 edition of the OECD Employment Outlook [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 145.163] focusses on the labour market implications of the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 crisis. Country notes are available for Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In some countries, employers used job retention programmes to cut hours while allowing workers to keep their pay and jobs; there, it is likely that the full impact of the pandemic is yet to be felt. In others, there have been unprecedented increases in unemployment, but many workers will return to their jobs (or to new ones) as economies re-open and activity picks up.

The initial impact of the COVID-19 crisis was relatively modest in Korea due to the fast and widespread campaign of test, tracking and tracing that contributed to contain the spread of the virus. The unemployment rate in Korea started to rise from 3.4 per cent in February 2020 and reached 5.4 per cent in January 2021 due to enhanced distancing measures at the end of 2020. After that, it gradually declined to 3.8 per cent by May 2021. In Korea, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a greater impact on vulnerable groups, such as non-regular workers and young people. In 2020, the number of temporary and daily workers decreased by 6.5 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively, while the number of regular workers increased by 2.1 per cent. The employment rate for young people (aged 15-29) also fell in 2020 by 1.3 percentage points compared to the previous year, showing the largest decline among all age groups.

Edited excerpts from publisher's website and publication. Show less

Impressive progress has been made in raising participation in early childhood education as well as tertiary educational attainment over the past 30 years. However, the inflow of poorly educated youth into the labour market is unusually heavy for a high-income country, largely on account of high drop-out rates in lower secondary education which, in turn, reflect one of the highest grade repetition rates in the OECD. The supply of workers with intermediate vocational skills is surprisingly low, despite the high return, in terms of labour market outcomes that these skills offer, even if they have recently deteriorated. There is room to raise learning outcomes up to the end of compulsory school, as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), although, owing to a compressed distribution of such outcomes, the share of poorly performing pupils is not unusually large. While significant reforms have been undertaken to address these problems, more measures are needed to reduce grade repetition and raise education outcomes, by improving accountability of schools and school staff, as well as by raising school autonomy further than has already occurred. Vocational training needs to become more attractive. In tertiary education, few Spanish universities have attained a high level of international standing, and scope remains to improve the contribution tertiary attainment can make to gains in economic welfare, notably by reforming funding arrangements.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

Economic and cultural globalisation has ushered in a new era in higher education. Higher education was always more internationally open than most sectors because of its immersion in knowledge, which never showed much respect for juridical boundaries. In global knowledge economies, higher education institutions are more important than ever as mediums for a wide range of cross-border relationships and continuous global flows of people, information, knowledge, technologies, products and financial capital. Even as they share in the reinvention of the world around them, higher education institutions, and the policies that produce and support them, are also being reinvented. For the first time in history every research university is part of a single world-wide network and the world leaders in the field have an unprecedented global visibility and power. Research is more internationalised than before and the mobility of doctoral students and faculty has increased. The specifically global element in academic labour markets has gained weight, especially since the advent of global university rankings. This working paper explores the issues for national policy and for individual institutions. Part one provides an overview of globalisation and higher education and the global responses of national systems and individual institutions of higher education. Part two is focused on certain areas of policy with a strong multilateral dimension: Europeanisation, institutional rankings and typologies and cross-border mobility.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

The 2006 edition of ‘Education at a glance’ provides a current and comparable set of indicators on the performance of education systems and represents the consensus of professional thinking on how to measure the current state of education internationally. The indicators look at who participates in education, what is spent on it, how education systems operate and the results achieved. Indicators comprise a wide range of outcomes, from comparisons of student’s performance in key subject areas to the impact of education on earnings and on adults’ chances of employment. New material in this edition includes: further analysis of results of the 2003 survey of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), including student access to, and use of, ICT; analysis of the lowest performing students; the effects of family background on students’ performance and the way classes are organised in schools; trend data on tertiary qualifications, including projections for the year 2014; trend data on survival rates in tertiary education; the impact of demographic trends on education systems, as well as projections on expenditure for the year 2015; trend data on expected years of education; instruction time per subject for 9-to-14-year-olds; a picture of student mobility and the significance of internationalisation of higher education. The ExcelR spreadsheets used to create the tables and charts are available via the StatLinks printed in the book. The chapters are as follows: The output of educational institutions and the impact of learning; Financial and human resources invested in education; Access to education, participation and progression; The learning environment and organisation of schools. Included as appendices are: Characteristics of educational systems; Reference statistics; Sources, methods and technical notes. Show less

This brief paper notes that one-third of the population of OECD countries hold an upper secondary vocational education and training (VET) qualification as their highest educational attainment, and it is estimated that nearly half will graduate from a VET programme in their lifetime. However, keeping up with technology developments in industry can be a costly endeavour, although partnering with employers can help to spread the cost of VET programmes. While vocational qualifications offer young people a good chance of finding employment, they are sometimes seen as a second-class choice and limit their value in the labour market overall. Countries need to ensure their vocational programmes offer all students the basic skills they need in the labour market and in life, as well as the opportunity to progress on to tertiary education if they wish.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

The Australian education system fares well in international comparison with regards to [Programme for International Student Assessment] PISA test scores and the higher education system attracts an increasing number of foreign students. Vocational education and training (VET) is an important part of the post-secondary education system, equipping individuals with the skills to enter or re-enter the labour force and offering a pathway to further education. However, a number of challenges need to be addressed. Reducing complexity and fragmentation and tackling issues of under-supply and under-representation of children from disadvantaged groups in the early childhood education and care system is of major importance, given the beneficial impact of early education on outcomes later in life. A key challenge for the school sector is to reduce the achievement gaps of the lowest performing students, while improving overall literacy and numeracy outcomes. Greater autonomy at the school level and improvements in teaching quality would help in this regard. Enhancing the capacity of the VET system to address skill shortages is another key priority. The low rate of completion of training courses is an additional policy issue facing the sector. Finally, moving towards a less rigid policy framework for higher education would enhance flexibility and diversity, making the system more responsive to labour market needs and globalisation challenges. The promotion of a high quality education system that responds swiftly to changing skill needs is a top priority of the new government. The ‘Education revolution’, backed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), pursues reforms across all sectors of the education system, an important objective being the closing of the gap for the Indigenous population.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This paper looks at a number of efficiency and equity aspects related to skill acquisition of young people and older adults. The results of this analysis suggest that such human capital investment is associated with valuable labour market gains for people, such as higher wages and enhanced employability, and that these gains exceed the original investment costs, mainly foregone earnings and tuition fees, by a significant margin. The analysis also indicates that the net benefits are strongly influenced by policy-related factors, such as study length, tuition subsidies and student support. Overall, the estimates suggest that there are strong incentives for the average student to continue their education past the compulsory schooling age, and highlight the benefits of such investment in education for society in general. However, the net gains fall with age, mainly as a result of a shorter period in which to take advantage of the benefits of education. In conclusion, the author points out that students in higher education tend to come from more affluent socio-economic backgrounds and that they benefit from large public subsidies. Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, on the other hand, are less likely to participate in tertiary education and thus derive the benefit from public subsidies. Show less

The conference on 'Industrial competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy - the new role of government', held in Stockholm on 19-21 February, 1997, provided a policy forum to discuss the implications of the trends towards increased globalisation and the knowledge-based economy for the role of governments with regard to industrial competitiveness. This report brings together most of the contributions including the general introduction by the Swedish Minister of Industry, the opening address of the Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD, and a summary of the conference debate. The contributions are as follows: Welcome and opening remarks / Anders Sundstrom; Opening address / Joanna Shelton; Industrial competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy: the new role of government / Keith Drake. Part I focuses on the changing nature of the firm and comprises the following papers: Technology and the changing boundaries of firms and governments / John H. Dunning; Human-resource aspects of the changing nature of the firm: issues, evidence and public policy implications / Gordon Betcherman; Foreign direct investment, country characteristics and lessons for policy / James R. Markusen; Firms, executives and models of action: dominant views vs. empirical business research / Lars Engwall; The changing nature of the firm: what's new?: velocity / Douglas C. Worth. Part II asks if we are moving towards a borderless economy and includes the following papers: Notes on a borderless world / Everett M. Ehrlich; Europe's industrial policy: promoting openness, flexibility and innovation / Stefano Micossi; Human capital formation and industrial competitiveness / Naohiro Yashiro. Part III examines the national agenda and increasing interaction between macroeconomic and structural policy. It contains the following papers: Macroeconomic and structural policy in the knowledge-based economy / Luc Soete; Structural economic policy in an integrated world / Everett M. Ehrlich. Part IV looks at intangible assets within the following papers: Evaluating the importance of intangibles: how are they managed and accounted for and how do they contribute to growth and employment? / Ulf Johanson; Economics and the working environment and human resource accounting / Heikki Rouhesmaa; Human resource accounting and reporting / Willem Dercksen. Part V discusses knowledge infrastructures and flows. The papers are: Knowledge flows in national innovation systems / Jean Guinet; The effectiveness of the diffusion-oriented technology policy of Switzerland: the case of advanced manufacturing technologies / Heinz Hollenstein; Part VI on enterprises and social responsibility contains the paper: The social responsibility of enterprises: a new role for governments? / Stefan Wolter. Part VII examines intellectual property rights and the papers are: Collective research and IPRs in the global environment / Georges Ferne; Turning research into results / John N. Adams; The appropriation of technology: the situation in French industry / Jean-Paul Francois. The final session is contained in the paper: Learning to govern in the knowledge economy: policy co-ordination or institutional competition? / Peter J. Sheehan. Show less