Financial Education for Youth: The Role of Schools

Financial Education for Youth: The Role of Schools. Organisation for the Economic Co-operation and Development. April 7, 2014.

The importance of financial literacy and specifically the need to promote financial education has been recognised as an important contributor to improved financial inclusion and individuals’ financial well-being as well as a support to financial stability. The relevance of financial education policies is acknowledged at the highest global policy level: in 2012, G20 Leaders endorsed the OECD/INFE High-level Principles on National Strategies for Financial Education that specifically identify youth as one of the priority targets of government policies in this domain. That same year, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers of Finance identified financial literacy as a critical life skill. The publication addresses the challenges linked to the introduction of financial education in schools, and provides practical guidance and case studies to assist policy makers, and a comparative analysis of existing learning frameworks for financial education in the formal school system. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 184 pages, 3.45 MB].

Cycling, Health and Safety

Cycling, Health and Safety. Organisation for the Economic Co-operation and Development. December 19, 2013.

Many jurisdictions around the world are trying to retain or increase the share of cycling in urban traffic in order to benefit from the many health and transport efficiency benefits. Safety is a key concern and should be accounted for in these policies. This report of the International Transport Forum’s Cycling Safety Working Group monitors international trends in cycling, safety and policy, and explores options that may help decision makers design safe environments for cycling. Key messages relate to strategic goal-setting for cycling policy and managing crash risks while increasing health benefits. The report also discusses how to better capture crash and bicycle usage statistics. The safety impacts of a wide range of pro-cycling measures are examined in detail. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 249 pages, 7.95 MB].

Multinational Overview of Cannabis Production Regimes

Multinational Overview of Cannabis Production Regimes. RAND Corporation. Beau Kilmer et al. December 23, 2013.

This study provides a multinational overview of cannabis production regimes, with a special focus on identifying and describing official statements and/or legal decisions made about production regimes for non-medical and non-scientific purposes. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
[PDF format, 82 pages, 701.17 KB].

Ireland’s Carbon Tax and the Fiscal Crisis: Issues in Fiscal Adjustment, Environmental Effectiveness, Competitiveness, Leakage and Equity Implications.

Ireland’s Carbon Tax and the Fiscal Crisis: Issues in Fiscal Adjustment, Environmental Effectiveness, Competitiveness, Leakage and Equity Implications. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Frank J. Convery et al. October 3, 2013.

Beginning in late 2008, Ireland experienced a fiscal crisis. This resulted in November 2010 in agreement between the Irish government and the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), known collectively as ‘the Troika,’ whereby the latter provided substantial financial support, on condition that a number of revenue raising and expenditure reduction targets were met. Also in 2010, a carbon tax at a rate of EUR 15 per tonne of CO2 was introduced, covering most CO2 emissions from the non-traded sectors (mainly transport, heat in buildings and heat and process emissions by small enterprises). The paper describes the features of the tax, recounts the story of its interplay between fiscal adjustment and helping meet the obligations to raise taxes, and implications for competitiveness and carbon leakage, environmental effectiveness and equity issues, and draws some conclusions regarding why it happened, and provides some tentative insights for other countries in a similar situation. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 43 pages, 1.90 MB].

Local Job Creation: How Employment and Training Agencies Can Help, United States

Local Job Creation: How Employment and Training Agencies Can Help, United States. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. August 6, 2013.

How to stimulate growth and support job creation are two critical challenges that countries and localities confront and limited resources require lateral thinking about how actions in one area, such as employment and training, can have simultaneous benefits in others, such as creating new jobs and better supporting labour market inclusion. In the United States, the study has looked 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 working paper concludes with a number of recommendations and actions to promote job creation at the federal/state and local levels. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 97 pages, 4.36 MB].

Measuring the Internet Economy

Measuring the Internet Economy. Organisation for the Economic Co-operation and Development. July 12, 2013.

The Internet began as a way of linking different computers over the phone network, but it now connects billions of users worldwide from wherever they happen to be via portable or fixed devices. The Internet began as an important tool for improving communication but has transformed into a universal technology supporting all virtually sectors across the economy, just like electricity or steam engine did in the past. Given the growing importance of the Internet as a policy tool, the question about the value of the Internet economy becomes particularly relevant. There is a high level of interest, therefore, in being able to measure the size of the Internet economy as a way to understand the effects of various investment strategies, regulatory rulings and policy decisions. The research illustrates the importance of establishing an international definition and the need to develop related policies. According to one of the approaches, at least 3.2% and up to 13.8% of business sector value added in the United States in 2011 could be attributed to Internet-related activities depending on the scope of the definition. It needs to be highlighted that the respective figures for 2010 were 3% and up to 13%. This indicates that the Internet economy has reported a steady growth rate since 2010. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 108 pages, 1.83 MB].