“…Following Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments before Congress that the FOMC may ‘take a step down in the pace of asset purchases if economic improvement appears to be sustained’, US 10-year interest rates picked up sharply and gross capital flows to emerging market economies (EMEs) reversed. …”

“…The paper seeks to answer the following questions: i) what is the impact on the sustainability of Poland’s pension system of the decrease in the pension contribution going to the second pension pillar from 7.3% to 2.3% in 2011; ii) what are the implications of the recent changes on gross replacement rates; iii) does the weakening of the Polish second pension system have a different impact on pension system sustainability than a similar move in a Hungarian-style pension system with a defined-benefit first pillar and iv) how does Estonia’s temporary decrease in pension contributions compensated by temporarily higher future rates affect pension sustainability in that country. …”

“…The original member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany,Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became members subsequently through accessionat the dates indicated hereafter: Japan (28th April 1964), Finland (28th January 1969), Australia (7th June 1971), NewZealand (29th May 1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic (21st December 1995), Hungary (7th May1996), Poland (22nd November 1996), Korea (12th Decem…”

“…Using a panel of developed and emerging economies from 1970 to 2007, it is shown that a large capital inflow episode increases substantially the probability of having a banking or a currency crisis in the two following years. The effect is especially large for the case of balance-of-payment crises. …”

“…Most episodes started on a basis of improving competitiveness following currency depreciation and, in turn, favourable growth prospects, closing output gaps and – with some lag – falling unemployment. …”

“…The research described in this paper develops a set of econometric models that provide estimates of GDP growth for a number of major OECD countries and zones in the two quarters following the last quarter for which official data have been published. …”

“…Against the background of these broad challenges, which are discussed in a specific, setting-the-ground, Chapter, the report suggests policy options, based on the practices and reforms of other countries, in the following four areas: I) Income Distribution and Poverty; II) Tackling the Duality of the Labour Market; III) Early Childcare; and IV) Moving beyond Hospitals to better Care in the Community…”

“…The results suggest that in terms of short-term forecast accuracy for the first and second quarter following the most recent GDP release these models outperform simple autoregressive or constant growth benchmarks. …”

“…A future tax reform agenda could focus on the following five elements: First, reduce labour tax distortions by further reductions in social security contributions for low paid workers and reducing the withdrawal rate for in-work benefits, financing these either by increasing the Contribution Sociale Généralisée (CSG) or value added tax. …”

“…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. …”

“…The main findings are the following. First, impressive increases in labour productivity have been achieved since 1997, especially during the post-crisis period. …”

“…In order to improve regional economic performance, Switzerland introduced the New Regional Policy (NRP) in 2008, following the 2002 OECD Territorial Review of Switzerland. …”

“…In addition to the themes featured regularly, this issue contains four analytical chapters addressing the following important questions: the deterioration in budgetary positions in most OECD countries, raising the labour force participation of older workers…”

“…This report describes the size of loss carry-forwards, the rules applicable in relation to losses, and identifies the following risk areas: corporate reorganisations, financial instruments and non-arm’s length transfer pricing. …”

“…The book sets out to answer the following questions: Can the claim that today’s students are "new millenium learners" or "digital natives be sustained empirically? …”

“…This report monitors agricultural policy developments in Brazil, Bulgaria, China, India, Romania, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine following the same approach applied to OECD countries, providing a common benchmark for evaluating reforms and for facilitating international dialogue. …”

“…This study evaluates the regional tax incentives for business investment in Italy and addresses the following questions: (i) how much additional investment was stimulated by the government intervention; (ii) has the public financing displaced (part of) the private financing; (iii) to what extent would the outcomes on firm performance have not been achieved without the public support? …”

“…In September 2010, the federal government adopted the Energy Concept, a comprehensive new strategy for a long-term integrated energy pathway to 2050. Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in March 2011, Germany decided to accelerate the phase-out of nuclear power by 2022 starting with the immediate closure of the eight oldest plants. …”

Tabla de Contenidos: “…Overall assessment and recommendations -- 1.1 Achievements and challenges - diversifying the economy and the role of innovation -- 1.2 The evolution of the innovation system: Following up on the OECD Review of Innovation Policy: Luxembourg 2007 -- 1.3 Main strengths and weaknesses of Luxembourg's innovation system today -- 1.4 Strategic tasks -- 1.5 Key issues and recommendations -- Note -- Chapter 2. …”

“…Getting a grip on growth of SMEs can pay important dividends as scalers contribute the majority of new jobs created by SMEs during their high-growth phase, but also continue to contribute positively to aggregate job creation and aggregate growth in turnover in the following years. A closer look at the characteristics of SMEs that scale up compared to similar “peers” that do not, shows that scaling is likely a strategic choice and includes investments and other preparatory transformation in the years preceding scaling up."…”