OECD Nations Research Articles

10 oecd National Contact Point, the Netherlands: Final Statement, Specific Instance of uni Global Union vs. veon , 11 February 2020

10 oecd National Contact Point, the Netherlands: Final Statement, Specific Instance of uni Global Union vs. veon , 11 February 2020

Trapped Factors and China’s Impact on Global Growth

AbstractAfter a recent increase in Chinese import competition, European firms increased innovation. We present and rationalise these patterns using ‘trapped factors’ at the micro level within a stylised equilibrium model of product-cycle trade and growth. Trade integration of the magnitude observed between the OECD and low-wage nations as a whole can considerably increase the long-run growth rate and welfare. In the short run exposed firms devote trapped factors to increased innovation, leading both to increased innovation at these individual firms as well as to a small amount of extra transitional growth overall. China accounts for half of the dynamic trade gains.

Mothers in the Military: Effect of Maternity Leave Policy on Take-Up

The United States remains the only OECD nation without national paid maternity leave. This paper exploits changes in paid maternity leave offered by one of the United States’ largest employers, the U.S. Department of Defense. Since 2015, the Marine Corps has shifted their policy from six to 18 to 12 weeks. As expected, leave expansions increased leave duration while policy contractions decreased the amount of maternity leave taken by active-duty service members. In addition, we find the policy changes crowded out other forms of leave. That is, with an increase in maternity leave available, mothers in the military increased their amount of maternity leave and stopped supplementing with additional annual leaves as mothers in the six-week policy period had. Though all mothers used the full six weeks of leave in the early period, it is the less advantaged mothers–in the enlisted (worker) ranks, first-time, and single mothers–who disproportionately used more of the additional leave than officers (managers), experienced mothers, and married mothers. Our results highlight the importance of optimally sizing family leave policies, as well as provide evidence that the true cost of such programs may be lower than the mere number of weeks provided by additional maternity leave allowances.

OECD National Contact Points as the effective means for human rights protection from the activities of transnational corporations

This article is dedicated to the analysis of extrajudicial mechanisms of consideration of complaints – OECD National Contact Points. The object of this research is the activity of OECD National Contact Points, while the subject of is the dispute resolution procedure therein. The goal of this research consist in carrying out efficiency assessment of OECD National Contact Points as legal remedy for the persons suffered from the activity of transnational corporations. The work consists of the three parts. The first part provides brief description of the activity of transnational corporations and the concept of corporate liability for violation of human rights. The second part is dedicated to the analysis of dispute resolution procedure within the National Contact Points. The third part analyzes the effectiveness of National Contact Points as legal remedy. The author comes to the following conclusions and recommendations: due to the differences in the structure, financing, and human resources, National Contact Points of certain countries appear to be more effective than of the others. The effectiveness largely depends on the level of economic development of the OECD member-state, financing, and competences of mediators. Therefore, the National Contact Points of the developed countries represent the effective legal remedy, while in the developing countries, the parties suffered from entrepreneurial activity face barriers that impede exercising their right to effective legal remedy. The set of organizational and legal measures cans serve as the solution to the existing problems. Namely, the conclusion of bilateral agreements between the developed and developing countries on rendering legal aid and exchange of mediators is essential. The author also recommends establishing corporate liability on the domestic levee in form of fines and other sanctions for refusal of transnational corporation to comply with the decision of the National Contact Points. The provision with recommendation on consolidation of such liability should be introduced into OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Japan's outward FDI potential

While Japan's outward FDI stock is historically high, it is not necessarily clear whether there is untapped growth potential, given the economic size of Japan and that of partner countries. This paper examines whether Japan's actual outward FDI stock is high or low relative to the FDI predicted by the gravity model using the outward FDI patterns of all OECD nations, which we call counterfactual FDI. The results indicate that the ratio of Japan's actual to counterfactual FDI is the highest among the OECD countries as of the year 2015. The regional distribution of Japan's actual to counterfactual FDI favors Southeast Asian nations, South Africa and the US. These results imply that Japan has no unrealized potential for outward FDI.

China's Expanding Engagement in Global Health

China's Expanding Engagement in Global Health Dennis Van Vranken Hickey (bio) For most of the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century, China was called, "the sick man of Asia (东亚病夫, dong ya bing fu)."1 But those days are over. As President Xi Jinping observed, "China has bid farewell to the problems that plagued its people for thousands of years, including hunger, shortages and poverty" (Yu 2019, 19). As described below, China is now one of the world's top economic, political and military powers. China: An Economic Power By the late 1970s, China had lived through more than a century of turmoil. Key drivers of the chaos included imperialist encroachment, the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), the Chinese Civil War between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT), a series of natural disasters and the unsound economic policies embraced by Chairman Mao Zedong after "liberation" in 1949. All of this changed after Deng Xiaoping became the supreme leader in the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the late 1970s and launched the so-called "reform era." But the country's economy did not really take off until after Deng made his landmark journey south to Shenzhen in 1992 and accelerated the "reform and opening up" process.2 Figure 1 (below) shows China's astounding gross domestic product (GDP) growth from the early 1990s onward. Since the 1990s, China has experienced a transition from a largely agrarian society with a planned socialist economy into a global economic powerhouse. The CCP calls the new approach "market socialism" or "socialism with Chinese characteristics" and bristles at suggestions that it strongly resembles capitalism. Whatever one calls it, the transformation has enabled China to become the second largest economy in the world—enjoying a double-digit annual growth rate from 2000 to 2010 [End Page 327] and roughly 7 percent since then. In the past decade, millions of Chinese have joined the middle class which now numbers roughly 400 million and is expected to exceed 550 million by 2022 (Iskyan 2016). The exploding middle class is playing a part in a governmental strategy that is expected to help the country's economy transition away from dependence on exports and toward domestic consumption (Zhang 2019). It appears that China is well on its way toward achieving the CCP's stated goal of creating a "moderately well-off society" by 2021. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. China's GDP Growth in Current US Dollars Source: World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?end=2017&locations=CN&start=1961&view=chart. China: A Political Power As China's economy has exploded, the country's political influence has likewise grown. To be sure, economic partnerships seem to have largely paved the way. The PRC has surpassed the United States as the largest trading partner of numerous countries in the global south—particularly those in Africa and Latin America. And the country is "expected to spend over US$1 trillion on its "Belt and Road" initiative (BRI)—seven times the size of the Marshal plan in real dollars" (US Global Leadership Coalition 2018). [End Page 328] This ambitious project will integrate the economies of 65 countries that include 70 percent of the world's population, 30 percent of the GDP, and 75 percent of the earth's energy reserves. The land-based version of the new Silk Road consists of a series of economic corridors connecting the PRC with nations in Central and Western Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. The sea-based Silk Road will traverse the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean and eventually connect China to Central Asia, Africa and Europe. China has pledged not to transform itself into a "global hegemon" that "bullies" other countries (Yu 2019). Still, some suspect Beijing's motives as the government's leadership has increasingly pointed to the Chinese approach to development as an alternative pathway for states in the global south to follow. It has even established alternative international organizations—most notably the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)—to help the...

Convergence in Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) Emissions Since 1850 in OECD Countries: Evidence from a New Panel Unit Root Test

The convergence of air pollution is a key assumption in several environmental impact assessment models and one of the major ingredients for multilateral climate agreements and allocation of emission rights. In this paper, the sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions’ convergence among 32 OECD countries is examined using the panel stationarity test of Nazlioglu and Karul [1] that provides for smooth breaks, cross-sectional dependency and heterogeneity across the cross-sectional units. For robustness sake, we have also used a panel stationarity test that accounts for sharp breaks. Overall, the findings reveal that there is convergence of SO2 emissions among the OECD countries. The results imply that adjusting the mean value of the relative SO2 emissions trend path should be a key concern of the OECD nations. Moreover, the findings signify that instead of following independent paths in pollution control, the OECD countries are gravitating towards a similar standard of environmental performance. Moreover, the forecast of future relative SO2 emission figures can be based on its past values.

Evaluation of Quantitative Structure-Activity Relation Tool for in Silico Hazard Assessment

The hazard testing on each chemicals which are continuously synthesized is too much task to meet the rapid industrial development. Currently, national administrative office also prohibited the distribution and sale of cosmetic products under animal testing. Therefore, as an alternative hazard evaluation method, a variety of in silico programs have been developed and applied to predict the chemical hazard assessment. The OECD Toolbox program which database is donated from many chemical companies and regulatory authorities of OECD nations is an excellent free software with comparable hazard prediction ability. In this study, we exhibits the predictive evaluation on the skin sensitization for 100 cosmetic ingredients domestically available. In addition, the precise assessment steps were explained as supplementary material. The predicted reliability of data for the skin sensitization is 88.2% when using the data in the highest category of similarity (>60%). When this toolbox finds and uses more than 5 similarities for read-across, the predicted reliability comes to 90%. Conclusively, the predictive ability of OECD Toolbox 4.2 were successfully applied on the hazard assessment on skin sensitization of 100 cosmetic chemicals.

Study shows strong union presence specifically encourages use of person-centered human resource management (HRM) practices, but discourages performance-centered ones

Purpose The researchers wanted to find out a number of things. First, they wanted to assess the influence of strong unions on approaches to HRM. Second, they wanted to know if the strategic HR function had a positive effect on both person-centered and performance-centered HRM. Third, they tested the theory that the economic context had a significant influence on HRM practices. Companies in liberal market economies (LMEs), for example, were expected to adopt more performance-centered HRM, but for companies in coordinated market economies the reverse was likely to be true (CMEs). Design/methodology/approach Cristiani et al collected their data from the Cranet 2009 survey, the world’s largest comparative analysis of HRM practices. They sent out a questionnaire to senior managers responsible for HRM at private multinational companies. The authors sampled 3,406 firms across 14 countries. They placed six OECD nations in the LME group (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA) and ten in the CME group (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands). Findings The data revealed that the strategic HR function had a positive effect on the adoption of both person-centered and performance-centered HRM. The study also demonstrated that a more powerful union presence encouraged the use of person-centered approaches, whereas it discouraged performance-centered ones. The data suggested that the variety of capitalism (VoC) moderated the relationships between the strategic HR function role and performance-centered HMR, but the same impact on person-centered approaches was not found. Originality/value Proof of the moderating effect of the VoC shows that HR professionals – especially at multinationals - need to align their practices with the larger context in which their company is operating. The most valuable finding for businesses was the impact of a strong union presence on which HRM practices were likely to be accepted, or rejected.

Primary Suppliers Driving Atmospheric Mercury Emissions through Global Supply Chains

Summary The Minamata Convention on Mercury, which came into force in 2017, aims to control mercury-related risks to human beings and ecosystems by reducing anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emissions. Existing studies have identified direct atmospheric Hg emitters and final consumers causing atmospheric Hg emissions but overlooked primary suppliers driving atmospheric Hg emissions through global supply chains. Here, we identify critical primary suppliers and supply-chain paths for global atmospheric Hg emissions in 2015. Results show that China, Indonesia, and India are major primary suppliers causing global atmospheric Hg emissions. Major sectors and critical supply-chain paths from the supply viewpoint are related to resource extraction and power generation. Findings of this study can support supply-side measures to implement the Minamata Convention on Mercury, such as the optimization of labor and capital input structures and the optimization of product-allocation behaviors to downstream producers.

Energy Efficiency or Conservation for Mitigating Climate Change?

Given that global energy use today is still dominated by fossil fuels, there is an urgent need to rapidly reduce its use in order to avert serious climate change. However, the alternatives to fossil fuels—renewable and nuclear energy—are more expensive, and have so far done little to displace fossil fuels. Accordingly, reducing energy use must play an important part in both averting climate change and avoiding the depletion of high energy return easily recoverable fossil fuel reserves. This paper examined both the potential and barriers to the adoption of energy reduction measures, with particular attention to domestic energy and passenger transport. The main finding was that energy efficiency approaches alone are unlikely to deliver anywhere near the energy reductions needed in the limited time available. Instead, most energy reductions will have to come from energy conservation, involving less use of energy-using devices, including private vehicles. Achieving such reductions will require changes in lifestyles, especially for residents of OECD nations.

Asymmetric adjustment, non-linearity and housing price bubbles: New international evidence

In this paper, we detect the housing price bubbles of eighteen OECD countries under assumptions of asymmetric adjustment and non-linearity. To this end, we adopt the momentum threshold autoregressive (MTAR) and exponential smooth transition (ESTR) approaches in this study. In order to consider the possibility of asymmetry between regimes of positive and negative changes in the price-rent ratio, we modify the Kilic (2011) and Park and Shintani (2005, 2016) tests and provide their critical values, finite sample size and power via Monte Carlo simulations. Among the main results, first, it is found that the price-rent ratios of eighteen OECD nations are integrated processes of order one by using the traditional unit root tests. Second, the property of asymmetric adjustment is empirically justified for the housing markets of Belgium, Germany and the US by using the MTAR unit root test. Third, the results of the ESTR-type unit root tests point to the conclusion that the housing markets of thirteen countries are globally stationary ESTR processes, implying that the further the price-rent ratio deviates from its fundamental, the faster will be the speed of mean reversion. Finally, the results of the modified Kilic (2011) and Park and Shintani (2005, 2016) tests are in line with the ESTR unit root tests, indicating that the bubble hypothesis is not accepted.

How do energy policies accelerate sustainable transitions? Unpacking the policy transfer process in the case of GETFiT Uganda

Energy policies play an important role in accelerating ‘sustainable transitions’ by enabling and incentivizing investment in electricity generation from renewable sources. Key policies such as feed-in tariffs, tradable permits and auctions were pioneered in OECD nations, notably within the European Union, and in recent years have been the subject of donor-funded projects to transfer such policies to lower-income countries. However, within the wider transition studies literature, there is a lack of detailed understanding regarding the process of how this policy transfer takes place in the renewable energy sector. Our research addresses this gap by analyzing the micro-politics and actor-strategies by which the GETFiT program was implemented in Uganda. In particular, we focus on the interplay of transnational and national actors in pursuit of specific policy objectives. Informed by case study method and qualitative research, we employ theoretical perspectives, archival data sources and semi-structured interviews to adapt the policy transfer framework to the agency perspective of policy translation. We find that transnational influences, resource flows, local embeddedness, and institutional resilience are all necessary prerequisites for a coherent policy outcome. Moreover, this study opens up an avenue of research into co-creation processes and relational perspectives in sustainasbility transitions.

9 oecd National Contact Point, Germany: Final Statement, Specific Instance between the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ecchr), together with other organisations and five individuals, and tüv Rheinland and tüv India, 26 June 2018

9 oecd National Contact Point, Germany: Final Statement, Specific Instance between the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ecchr), together with other organisations and five individuals, and tüv Rheinland and tüv India, 26 June 2018

Economic growth and R&D expenditures in selected OECD countries: Is there any convergence?

The economic growth of nations is strongly associated with rising R&D expenditures. The present study therefore endeavours to examine the stylized patterns of evolution of R&D expenditures (R&D expenditures as a share of GDP) along the development course in 18 OECD countries for the period 1981–2012. Empirical findings of feasible generalized least square model highlight that as economic growth proceeds, R&D as a share of GDP also shows a rise in OECD nations. The study also analyzes the long-term growth trends and structure of research and development (R&D) expenditures in OECD nations for the period 1981–2012. Further, the study analyzes another important issue, namely whether OECD economies are converging/diverging in their R&D activities over the course of time. To this end, σ-convergence has been applied to examine this issue. Findings of σ-convergence highlight declining coefficient of variation (convergence) in R&D intensities as well as R&D expenditure in OECD countries for 1981–2012.

Determinantes de la capacidad de innovar en países de la OCDE

La innovación es uno de los temas centrales que explican el desempeño económico de los países. Sin embargo, no todas las naciones han desarrollado las capacidades necesarias para generar innovaciones comerciables y aprovechar sus beneficios. Tomando como unidad de análisis a los países de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE), el presente trabajo parte de la hipótesis que indica que la capacidad de innovación de estas naciones se encuentra determinada positivamente por sus instituciones, su infraestructura, su capital humano, su sofisticación de mercado y su sofisticación de negocios. El instrumento utilizado para medir estas relaciones fue un modelo lineal generalizado (GLM, por sus siglas en inglés). Los resultados sugieren que tres de los cinco determinantes seleccionados son estadísticamente significativos. El mayor poder explicativo del modelo se encontró en la sofisticación de negocios, seguida del capital humano y la sofisticación de mercado.

Adolescent suicide in South Korea: Risk factors and proposed multi-dimensional solution.

South Korea has ranked first in suicide mortality among the 35 OECD nations since 2003. Unfortunately, mental health research and evidence-based interventions to curb the rate of suicide have been limited. Suicide is the leading cause of death among South Korean adolescents. Academic stress is a primary risk factor, which is highly correlated with depression. Social stigma against mental illnesses and negative relationships with peers and parents are additional risk factors, while positive relationships may be protective. We propose a multi-dimensional solution, involving the participation of schools, peers and parents to decrease the rate of adolescent suicide in South Korea.

The growth-maximizing level of regulation: Evidence from a panel of international data

Existing evidence suggests that regulation diminishes economic growth. In theory, however, regulation may be either growth-enhancing or diminishing. We therefore empirically revisit the relation between regulation and growth, allowing for both positive and negative effects. In an unbalanced panel of 132 countries over eight time periods, we find evidence of a hump-shape relation between regulation and growth. The estimates imply that for more than 95% of the sample the total effect of regulation on growth is positive. The estimates also imply that about 60% of the sample observations are associated with over-regulation, relative to the growth-maximizing level. Similar findings apply to the (majority) subsample of non-OECD nations in the dataset. However, for the (minority) subsample of OECD nations, both the total and marginal effects of regulation on growth are negative.

Гармонізація систем якості OECD GLP і ДСТУ ISO/IEC 17025 в Україні (англійською мовою)

The article deals with the features of quality systems OECD GLP and National State Standard ISO/IEC 17025. The necessity of harmonization and compatibility of data of different quality systems within one organization is reasoned in this work. A risk management system aimed at identifying, analysing and reducing probability of an unfavourable result and minimizing possible losses were considered.

Macroeconomic burden of firearm-related fatality across OECD countries: an estimate of annual and cumulative gross domestic product losses, 2018–30

Abstract Background In 2015, firearm-related unintentional injuries, physical violence, and self-harm caused over 36 000 deaths and 100 000 injuries in the USA, and over 250 000 deaths worldwide. Of these deaths, more than 64 000 were in OECD countries. Nevertheless, firearm injury risk reduction remains socially and politically controversial. Although the costs of treating firearm injuries has been estimated, little is known about the macroeconomic impact of firearm deaths. Here, we aim to estimate the future macroeconomic burden of deaths in OECD countries. Methods Using value-of-lost-output methodology, which estimates the macroeconomic burden of deaths in terms of lost economic productivity, we estimated the annual and cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) lost due to firearm-related fatalities from 2018 to 2030 in all 36 OECD countries. We used mortality data from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease study to project mortality rates from 2018 to 2030. We then applied these projections to an adapted version of the WHO EPIC (Projecting the Economic Cost of Ill-health) model to project GDP losses attributable to firearm-related deaths. Findings Across OECD countries, we estimated macroeconomic losses from firearm mortality at US$272·1 billion in lost economic output between 2018 and 2030 ($124·9 billion from physical violence, $135·7 billion from self-harm, and $11·4 billion from unintentional injury), with $8·0 billion in annual losses in 2018 growing to an estimated loss of $35·9 billion in 2030. This amount represents 0·051% of total estimated 2030 GDP, or $1 lost for every $1944 of potential economic output. The USA is estimated to lose more than other OECD nations, with annual GDP losses of $24·5 billion in 2030, representing 0·10% of US GDP in 2030, and $180·6 billion cumulative losses from 2018 to 2030. Mexico's estimated loss in 2030 is $6·3 billion, which represents 0·20% of Mexican GDP in 2030, and $50·3 billion cumulatively from 2018 to 2030. No other OECD country had estimated cumulative losses greater than $10·6 billion in the study period, nor greater than 0·04% of GDP in 2030. Considered as a proportion of 2030 GDP, the USA's projected losses were 93·0% higher and Mexico's losses were 290·6% higher than the mean proportional losses across all OECD countries in 2030. Interpretation Firearm-related deaths are expected to cause disproportionately high macroeconomic losses in the USA and Mexico from 2018 to 2030 compared with other OECD countries. These losses represent an important proportion of GDP, and should be considered in broader social, economic, and health policy decisions about firearm regulation. Future studies might consider cost-benefit analyses that weigh the costs of risk reduction interventions against the potential economic savings of reducing firearm mortality. Funding None.