This 2008 edition of OECD's periodic survey of Luxembourg's economy focuses on key challenges being faced including whether the financial sector can continue being the main growth engine, adapting fiscal policies to slower tax revenues, enhancing efficiency in health care, and increasing student abilities by giving schools more autonomy.

Damages to economic assets resulting from natural disasters have soared in the past fifteen years, and climate change models forecast intensified exposure to extreme weather in many OECD countries. This OECD review of risk management policies focuses on Japan, because the geography, topography and climate of its national territory subject it to serious natural hazards, especially seismic activity and typhoons. The report looks at Japan's policies in the areas of monitoring, preparing for and responding to floods and earthquakes, seeking out and identifying good practices and areas where improvements could be made. The case studies consider several issues of particular interest to policy makers, such as how to take climate change into account for long term policy planning related to large scale floods, and Japan's unique earthquake insurance scheme for damages whose probability and impact are hard to accurately assess.

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Acronyms and Organisations Cited PART I. LARGE-SCALE FLOODS Executive Summary Chapter 1. Introduction: Flood Risks in Japan Chapter 2. Integrated Approach to Flood Risk Management Chapter 3. Risk Assessment and Communication Chapter 4. Flood Prevention and Damage Mitigation Chapter 5. Emergency Response Chapter 6. Recovery Annex I.1. Basin Territory River Administration in France Annex I.2. The United Kingdom Administration of Flood Risk Management Annex I.3. Flood Protection and Climate Change - the Bavarian Adaptation Strategy Annex I.4. The United Kingdom Use of Flood Risk Maps Annex I.5. International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine Annex I.6. The Dutch System for Emergency and Crisis Management Annex I.7. Administrative Organisation of Emergency Response in Sweden Annex I.8. Post-Disaster Experiences Collection and Communication in France Annex I.9. The Post-Disaster Recovery Stage: A Step towards Enforcement of Risk Culture Annex I.11. Self-Assessment Questionnaire Annex I.12. List of Institutions Interviewed Bibliography PART II. EARTHQUAKES Executive Summary Chapter 7. Introduction: Seismic Risks in Japan Chapter 8. The General Policy Framework Chapter 9. Risk Assessment and Communication Chapter 10. Disaster Prevention Chapter 11. Emergency Preparedness and Response Chapter 12. Post-Event Issues Annex II.1. Methodology Annex II.2. Self-Assessment Questionnaires Annex II.3. List of Institutions Interviewed Annex II.4. Members of the Steering Group Bibliography
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Starting from the premise that electricity will be an increasingly important vector in energy systems of the future, Energy Technology Perspectives 2014 (ETP 2014) takes a deep dive into actions needed to support deployment of sustainable options for generation, distribution and end-use consumption. In addition to modelling the global outlook to 2050 under different scenarios for more than 500 technology options, ETP 2014 explores the possibility of «pushing the limits» in six key areas: Solar Power: Possibly the Dominant Source by 2050; Natural Gas in Low-Carbon Electricity Systems; Electrifying Transport: How E-mobility Replace Oil; Electricity Storage: Costs, Value and Competitiveness; Attracting Finance for Low-Carbon Generation; and Power Generation in India. ETP 2014 purchase includes extensive downloadable data, figures and visualisations.

OECD's comprehensive review of rural policy in Italy. On average, rural regions in Italy have some of the highest GDP per capita among the OECD countries, yet unexploited potential remains. This analysis of rural Italy reveals heterogeneous economic conditions, an increasing elderly population and a diminished focus on environmental concerns. This suggests the need for a broader rural policy approach that reflects the changing demands upon rural resources and that considers other aspects of rurality including health, education and quality of life.

Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators is the authoritative source for accurate and relevant information on the state of education around the world. It provides data on the structure, finances, and performance of education systems in the OECD's 34 member countries, as well as a number of partner countries.

OECD's 2013 Economic Survey of Italy examines recent economic developments, policy and prospects. Its special chapter examines policy implemention: legislation, public administration and rule of law.

Abruzzo is at a tipping point: despite economic, cultural and natural strengths, the region is facing declining economic growth, ageing population and a reduction in outside economic aid. The devastating earthquake that hit the regional capital L´Aquila and its surroundings on 6 April 2009 caused 309 deaths and was a significant economic shock, jeopardizing the long-term growth prospects of an already vulnerable region.
To increase its resilience to current and future shocks, Abruzzo must encourage innovation-driven growth, based on knowledge and better use of skills, and redesign the city of L´Aquila through technological upgrade to make it more attractive to outsiders and improve the quality of life of its residents.
The report suggests that Abruzzo should focus on endogenous resources to build its long-term development strategy and, at the same time, to increase the external openness of the regional system to attract more entrepreneurs, students, foreigners and external capital. The economic development and quality of societal life in Abruzzo will strongly depend on how private and public actors will make the best use of existing knowledge, strengthening the cultural and economic networks as a major tool for growth; as well as promoting information sharing, transparency, accountability and community engagement to improve decision making.
More broadly, the issues raised in the report can help other governments to rethink regional policy, for both regions vulnerable to natural disasters and for those facing long-term decline. As such, eight guiding recommendations for building resilient regions after a disaster are drawn. These guiding recommendations can provide a framework for policy making in other OECD regions.
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This review provides an analytical perspective of the current situation, including the construction of a database, in order to help the Greek government define reforms to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and fairness of selected social programmes. The review identifies gaps and overlaps in social protection, and highlights areas where there is room for significant efficiency gains, in order to support informed and concrete decisions by the Greek government on where budgetary savings can most appropriately be made, taking into account the balance between societal groups and the need to maintain social cohesion.

The world is becoming increasingly global. This raises important challenges for regulatory processes which still largely emanate from domestic jurisdictions.   In order to eliminate unnecessary regulatory divergences and to address global challenges pertaining to systemic risks, the environment, and human health and safety, governments increasingly seek to better articulate regulations across borders and to ensure greater enforcement of rules and their application cross jurisdictions remain largely under-analysed.
This report gathers in a synthetic manner the knowledge and evidence available to date on the various mechanisms available to governments to promote regulatory co-operation, and their benefits and challenges. The review of evidence confirms the increased internationalisation of regulation, which takes place through a wide variety of mechanisms and multiple actors, and highlights a shift in the nature of IRC from complete 'harmonisation' of regulation to more flexible options - such as mutual recognition agreements. Despite growing regulatory co-operation, however, decision making on IRC is not informed by a clear understanding of benefits costs and success factors of the diverse IRC options.
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This study is concerned with trends in and key features of policies and programmes used by governments to support innovation in the business sector. In addition to identifying good practices across a range of programme types, it compares business innovation policies across several countries, with a particular focus on Canada.

Les informations contenues dans cette publication, produites en étroite collaboration par l'OCDE et  Eurostat, rassemblent les statistiques sur les échanges internationaux par catégories détaillées de services pour les 30 pays de l´OCDE, l'Union européenne et la zone euro*, ainsi que des définitions et des notes méthodologiques. Les données sont fournies et publiées selon la cinquième édition du Manuel de la Balance des Paiements du FMI et la Classification élargie des services de la balance des paiements, qui est compatible avec la classification de la balance des paiements tout en étant plus détaillée.  Cet ouvrage inclut des tableaux récapitulatifs par pays et par catégories de service et des totaux par zone pour l'Union européenne, la zone euro, G7, ALENA, OCDE - Asie et Pacifique, OCDE - Europe et pour l'ensemble de l'OCDE. Les données par catégories détaillées de services sont également fournies pour chaque pays, pour l'UE et pour la zone euro. Les séries sont exprimées en dollars des États-Unis et couvrent la période 2000-2008.
ÉGALEMENT DISPONIBLE SUR CD-ROM ET EN LIGNE Les utilisateurs désireux d'extraire des données et de construire des tableaux et graphiques peuvent se procurer la version CD-ROM de Statistiques de l'OCDE sur les échanges internationaux de services, tableaux détaillés par catégories de services. Cette version électronique est fournie avec Beyond 20/20TM (sous WindowsTM), un logiciel convivial et très simple d'utilisation. Outre les séries de la version papier, le CD-ROM fournit également pour l'Afrique du sud, le Brésil, la Chine, la Fédération de Russie, l'Inde, et l'Indonésie des pays de l'Union européenne, des données détaillées. La plupart des séries couvrent la période 1985-2008. Par ailleurs, des séries plus longues sont également fournies pour la période 1970-2008 lorsqu'elles sont disponibles. La base de données est également disponible en ligne via  www.SourceOECD.org.
* PAYS COUVERTS Allemagne, Australie, Autriche, Belgique, Canada, Corée, Danemark, Espagne, États-Unis, Finlande, France, Grèce, Hongrie, Irlande, Islande, Italie, Japon, Luxembourg, Mexique, Pays-Bas, Norvège, Nouvelle-Zélande, Pologne, Portugal, République slovaque, République tchèque, Royaume-Uni, Suède, Suisse, Turquie.   
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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.

Outdoor air pollution kills more than 3 million people across the world every year, and causes health problems from asthma to heart disease for many more. This is costing societies very large amounts in terms of the value of lives lost and ill health. Based on extensive new epidemiological evidence since the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study, and OECD estimates of the Value of Statistical Life, this report provides evidence on the health impacts from air pollution and the related economic costs.

Innovation is key to green growth. It helps decouple growth from natural capital depletion and contributes to economic growth and job creation. Business is the driver of innovation, but governments need to provide clear and stable market signals, e.g. through carbon pricing. This book explores policy actions for the deployment of new technologies and innovations as they emerge: investment in research and development, support for commercialisation, strengthening markets and fostering technology diffusion. Competition will be essential to bring out the best solutions.

Large-scale port projects have irreversible effects on land use and multiple impacts on the local economy and local community. They affect the way that the regional and national economy operates as a whole, with major impacts on regional transport systems. Port planners make better decisions when these broad impacts are examined as part of the development of a national freight transport and logistics strategy. Private investment in port terminals is also facilitated by the certainty engendered by development of a national freight transport and logistics strategy.

This report aims to identify new developments in the administration of central government that lead to better value for money: better services at lower costs for the taxpayers.

The African Economic Outlook 2015 analyses Africa's growing role in the world economy and predicts the continent's two-year prospects in crucial areas: macroeconomics, financing, trade policies and regionaintegration, human development, and governance. This 14th edition analyses regional development and spatial inclusion challenges faced by the continent. A section of one-page notes summarises recent economic growth, forecasts gross domestic product for 2015 and 2016, and highlights the main policy issues facing each of the 54 African countries. A statistical annex compares country-specific economic, social and political variables