“…In this regard, carbon taxes or cap-and-trade schemes appear to perform better than alternatives. However, their cost-effectivenes can be enhanced through targeted use of other instruments. …”

“…Even though the current overall performance will probably be sufficient to reach the reduction objectives of the Kyoto protocol, transport emissions thus need to be targeted in the future. …”

“…Despite some weakening in the 1990s, partly due to sluggish trend growth, the Swiss innovation performance has been very strong. There are, however, areas in which policy reforms could strengthen innovation further and help Switzerland maintain its lead in the face of a changing global environment. …”

“…First, there is an urgent need to increase transparency in the sector and transfer many of the regulatory functions now performed by Gazprom to state bodies. Secondly, there is a longer-term need for a ..…”

“…The potential growth rate of the economy has been low for a long time and the crisis has had a further adverse impact. The meagre growth performance mainly reflects low growth in a number of services sectors; most manufacturing sectors, by contrast, expanded at a rapid pace in the years preceding the recent crisis, on the back of robust foreign demand. …”

“…The forecasting uncertainty around point macroeconomic forecasts is usually measured by the historical performance of the forecasting model, using measures such as root mean squared forecasting errors (RMSE). …”

“…The loss of confidence in Portuguese and other euro area sovereign bonds required international financial support. Weak fiscal performance reflects a wide range of fiscal structural problems resulting in poor control of expenditure. …”

“…This paper reviews recent trends in fiscal performance in Brazil, estimates fiscal reaction functions for the consolidated public sector and different levels of government, and tests for the sustainability of the public debt dynamics. …”

“…Nonetheless there are a number of improvements that could help reduce the distortions that taxation creates in the economy and so boost long-run economic performance. The most noticeable gains could come from reforming the taxation of the income from capital. …”

“…This paper assesses the performance of the United States health system in an international context and discusses potential directions for reform. …”

“…The objective is to identify the major shortcomings in budget planning, management and control systems that have impeded better public sector performance. The paper concludes by proposing policy measures to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of the public expenditure management system. …”

“…Effective spending in areas critical for future growth performance -- ..…”

“…It is a major driver for green growth and contributes to the environmental performance and economic development of OECD and developing countries alike. …”

“…The structural unemployment rate is derived from a Phillips-curve equation and, along with working age population, is combined with filter-based estimates of trend labour productivity, participation rates and hours worked per employee to generate measures of potential output. The performance of the model in capturing price pressures underlying the growth trajectory of the Polish economy is assessed, and measures of cyclically-adjusted general government net lending are provided. …”

“…While there are factors beyond the health-care system itself that contribute to this gap in performance, there is also likely to be scope to improve the health of Americans while reducing, or at least not increasing spending. …”

“…Current-year projections and initial outturn estimates of the gaps both appear to provide a reasonably good picture of the business cycle over the period studied, but one-year-ahead projections perform rather poorly. Projections made at cyclical turning points are subject to greater revision than those made at other times. …”

“…Good governance is increasingly recognized as an important aspect of an efficient private pension system, enhancing investment performance and benefit security. Yet, despite regulatory and industry initiatives, governance weaknesses persist across OECD and non-OECD countries. …”

“…Securing fiscal discipline would require better information on sub-national governments’ policies and outcomes so as to allow citizens to press for improved performance. The financing system of the regions also needs to be reformed to ensure sustainability in the face of changing demographics, while the fiscal rules need to be upgraded to avoid recourse to off-budget operations. …”

“…This Working Paper looks at structural policies which would improve Greece’s long-term economic performance and help speed economic and social convergence with average European Union member countries. …”

“…The process of fiscal consolidation and the need to step up the poor long term economic performance provide an opportunity to implement tax measures to improve efficiency and rebalance the economy. …”