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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

Each economic survey issue provides a comprehensive analysis of developments in the subject country, along with individual chapters covering key economic challenges being faced and recommendations for dealing with the challenges. This 2010 edition of OECD's periodic survey of Australia's economy includes chapters covering recovery from the [global financial] crisis, fiscal policy effectiveness, meeting infrastructure needs, and enhancing labour utilisation. The Australian economy has been one of the most resilient in the OECD during the global economic and financial crisis. The impressive results, which are only partially due to links to fast-growing China and India, have shown that the economy was well-prepared to face major shocks. Years of sound policies left ample room for monetary and fiscal policy to act rapidly and forcefully when the crisis struck. A key to the good outcome was the interaction of appropriate macroeconomic policy with structural flexibility of markets, especially financial and labour markets. The strong policy response and encouraging outlook restored confidence rapidly, and exit from the stimulus is underway. The chapters are as follows: Basic statistics of Australia (2009); Executive summary; Assessment and recommendations; Recovering from the crisis and addressing medium-term challenges; Enhancing the effectiveness of fiscal policy; Meeting infrastructure needs; Enhancing labour utilisation in a socially inclusive society.

Published excerpts from OECD iLibrary website. Show less

Governments are seeking to channel research funds into universities and other institutions in ways that support high-quality research in strategically important areas and bolster effective knowledge diffusion. These issues of steering and funding have even more relevance in light of the current financial crisis and economic downturn which have seen severe fiscal pressures fall on many countries. This publication presents a collection of papers presented at an OECD workshop on performance-based funding for public research in tertiary education institutions in 2010, as well as a rapporteur's report and workshop summary. It takes stock of current thinking and practice around performance-based funding for public research in tertiary education institutions as a tool to help governments meet their research goals. These funding models are essentially systems of ex-post evaluation of research outputs and outcomes from universities and other tertiary institutions, and are generally based on peer review, bibliometrics or other quantitative indicators. Their results are used to inform government decisions about how much and which institutions to fund. An online annex provides additional detail of the performance-based funding systems in place in Australia, Austria, Belgium (Flemish Community), the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Poland and the United Kingdom. Show less

Tertiary education policy is increasingly important on national agendas. The widespread recognition that tertiary education is a major driver of economic competitiveness in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy has made high-quality tertiary education more important than ever. The imperative for countries is to raise higher-level employment skills, to sustain a globally competitive research base and to improve knowledge dissemination to the benefit of society. This two-volume publication provides a thorough international investigation of tertiary education policy across its many facets - governance, funding, quality assurance, equity, research and innovation, academic career, links to the labour market and internationalisation. The report presents: an analysis of the trends and developments in tertiary education; a synthesis of research-based evidence on the impact of tertiary education policies; innovative and successful policies and practices that countries have implemented; and tertiary education policy options. The report draws on the results of a major OECD review of tertiary education policy - the OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education - conducted over the 2004-08 period in collaboration with 24 countries around the world. Country papers from the review are indexed from TD/TNC 89.551 to TD/TNC 89.585.

Volume one is entitled ‘Special features: governance, funding, quality’ and contains the following chapters: Introduction; Setting the stage: impacts, trends and challenges of tertiary education; Setting the right course: steering tertiary education; Matching funding strategies with national priorities; Assuring and improving quality. Volume two is entitled ‘Special features: equity, innovation, labour market, internationalisation’ and contains the following chapters: Achieving equity; Enhancing the role of tertiary education in research and innovation; The academic career: adapting to change; Strengthening ties with the labour market; Internationalisation: shaping strategies in the national context; What next?: the challenges of policy implementation; Appendices: How the review was conducted; Structure of tertiary education systems in selected countries; Improving the knowledge base; Summary of policy directions.

A three-volume synthesis report was prepared for release and discussion at Tertiary Education for the Knowledge Society, an international conference to present the results of the OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education in Lisbon on 3-4 April 2008. This report is indexed at TD/TNC 89.577. Show less

This report describes innovative initiatives from Belgium (Flanders), Canada, Denmark, UK and the USA that are geared towards overcoming barriers to skills acquisition for workers confined to low-paid jobs with difficult working conditions. These initiatives involve a range of stakeholders from government, industry and civil society in working towards shoring up the divide between labour market policy and vocational training, and between workers’ skill weaknesses and the changing needs of employers. The chapters are as follows: An introduction to skills upgrading: why a shift in policy is needed / Sylvain Giguere; From welfare-to-work to welfare-in-work: concepts and policies / Corinne Nativel; Education and training for the low-skilled in Denmark: linking public policy to workplace needs and practice / Mette Norholm; The regional implementation of the Employer Training Pilots in the United Kingdom / Penny Tamkin, Jim Hillage and Viona Gerova; Sectoral initiatives to train low-qualified incumbent workers in the United States: two case studies / Randall W. Eberts; Skills upgrading for low-qualified workers in Flanders / Ides Nicaise, Roel Verlinden and Frank Pirard; Skills upgrading initiatives in Canada: evidence from Alberta and the Northwest Territories / Richard Brisbois and Ron Saunders. 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

In recent years, the government of Egypt has driven major reforms for modernising the country. However, Egypt’s higher education system has remained largely unchanged and without fundamental reform of the sector the country will face difficulties in improving its competitiveness. This independent review of Egypt’s higher education system focuses on areas in need of attention by policy makers and stakeholders, including system steering and institutional governance; student access to higher education; educational quality and effectiveness; research, development and innovation; and finance. It contains an analysis of the system and valuable recommendations which, taken together, represent a major program of structural and cultural reform of Egyptian higher education over the decade to 2020.

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

The OECD produces annual reviews of Member and selected non-Member countries’ economies. Each issue provides an analysis of developments in the subject country, special reports on topics of current interest, and extensive statistical information. This 2006 economic survey of Australia presents a comprehensive overview of the Australian economy and contains a special feature on fiscal relations across levels of government. The survey is presented in the following sections: The short-term challenge: riding the commodities rollercoaster; Long-term structural challenges; Fiscal relations across levels of government; The need for further reforms to infrastructure services; Reforming industrial relations; Improving incentives to work. The survey concludes that a series of structural reforms and the introduction of a robust macroeconomic framework have ensured Australia’s stability during recent testing economic times. These reforms have also boosted productivity and living standards. The challenge will be to sustain this performance, particularly in the face of population ageing, which will require progress in the following areas: improving fiscal relations across levels of government; boosting productivity growth; and raising labour market flexibility and supply.

The 2004 survey is indexed at TD/TNC 81.362, the 2002-2003 survey at TD/TNC 73.418 and the 2000-2001 survey at TD/TNC 67.126. Show less

How to stimulate growth and support job creation are two critical challenges that countries confront following the global financial crisis. The Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme of the OECD has developed international cross-comparative reviews on local job creation policies to examine the contribution of local labour market policy to boosting quality employment. Each country review examines the capacity of employment services and training providers to contribute to a long-term strategy which strengthens the resiliency of the local economy, increases skills levels and job quality. This report looks at the range of institutions and bodies involved in workforce and skills development in two states - California and Michigan. In-depth fieldwork focused on two local Workforce Investment Boards in each state: the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA); the Northern Rural and Training and Employment Consortium (NoRTEC); the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA); and the Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works. The report concludes with a number of recommendations and actions to promote job creation at the federal, state and local levels. The contents are: Executive summary; Reader’s guide; Policy context for employment and skills in the United States; Overview of the United States case study areas; Local job creation dashboard findings in the United States: California; Local job creation dashboard findings in the United States: Michigan; Towards an action plan for jobs in the United States: recommendations and best practices.

Abstract from publisher’s website. Show less

This publication contains the papers prepared for the seminar on 'International mobility of highly skilled workers: from statistical analysis to the formulation of policies', held in Paris, 11-12 June 2001. The seminar was jointly organised by the OECD Directorates for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) and Education, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (DEELSA). In a global context where shortages of highly skilled and specialised workers have influenced national migration policies, the seminar focused on the provision and comparability of data on international mobility of highly skilled workers in OECD countries and some non-OECD nations, the impact on their economies, and the development of migration policies that are beneficial for both sending and receiving countries. The publication is organised into three sections: the first presents the definitions and measures of international stock and flows of highly skilled workers and human resources in science and technology (HRST); the second draws on case studies of OECD Member countries and non-Member countries to investigate trends and economic implications of international mobility of highly skilled workers; and the third section discusses how policy measures in the area of migration and science and technology can influence international mobility of highly skilled workers. Part one, 'Defining and measuring international flows of human resources in science and technology', contains the papers: Human resources in science and technology: measurement issues and international mobility / Laudeline Auriol and Jerry Sexton; Student mobility between and towards OECD countries: a comparative analysis / Karine Tremblay. Part two, 'Trends and economic impact in OECD countries', contains the papers: International mobility of highly skilled workers: from statistical analysis to policy formulation / Dominique Guellec and Mario Cervantes; The measurement of international migration to Canada / Michael Bordt; International mobility of human resources in science and technology in Japan: available data, quality of sources, concepts and proposals for further study / Shin-ichi Kobayashi; A brain drain among young PhDs: mirage or reality? / Daniel Martinelli; Why do firms recruit internationally?: results from the IZA International Employer Survey 2000 / Rainer Winkelmann; Return migration of highly-skilled Irish into Ireland and their impact on GNP and earning inequality / Alan Barrett. Part three, 'Trends and economic impact in non-OECD countries', contains the papers: Mass migration of highly skilled workers: Israel in the 1990s / Ari Paltiel; International migration of scientists and engineers in Russia / Leonid Gokhberg and Elena Nekipelova; International mobility of China's resources in science and technology and its impact / Zhang Guochu and Li Wenjun; Rethinking high-skilled international migration: research and policy issues for India's information economy / V. Gayathri; Migration of skilled and highly skilled workers [in] South Africa: a case study / Jean-Baptiste Meyer. Part four, 'Policy issues', contains the papers: The mobility of human resources in science and technology in Sweden / Anne-Marie Gaillard; High-skill migration and Chinese Taipei's industrial development / Yu-Ling Luo and Wei-Jen Wang; Policies for admitting highly skilled workers into the United States / Philip Martin; Migration policies designed to facilitate the recruitment of skilled workers in Australia / Graeme Hugo; The current 'green card' initiative for foreign IT specialists in Germany / Heinz Werner; International mobility of highly skilled workers: the UK perspective / Nicolas Rollason.

Selected papers are indexed from TD/TNC 69.320 to TD/TNC 69.326. Show less