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Women in Business 2014 summarises the progress made by the OECD-MENA Women Business Forum (WBF) since the publication of its first Women in Business report in 2012. In 2012, five groups of actions had been identified as priorities to be carried out by governments, international stakeholders, financial and business support organisations, as well as statistical agencies. In two years, the WBF has developed inputs for three of these areas of priority actions. The WBF’s contributions are growing along with its increased recognition as a hub which spurs concrete improvements in the business climate for women entrepreneurs in the MENA region.
Today, women’s entrepreneurship is all the more important as governments in the region are facing the colossal challenge of rebooting job creation to improve the well-being of a growing workforce and confidence in the economy. The economic prospects of MENA economies that are going through a political transition have improved but unemployment has increased, inflation is rising and public finances have deteriorated. In these countries, political uncertainties add to long term structural difficulties. In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the challenges still lie in the diversification of their economies.
Economic valuation is widely used in OECD countries as a way of assessing the (usually monetary) value of goods that have no markets. In the rural context, valuation methods are used to argue for or against projects and policy choices in areas as diverse as agricultural support policies, local economic development, land use and biodiversity assessment.
This volume reviews a range of different valuation methodologies -- stated preferences, cost-benefit, revealed preferences, and others -- and looks at how these different approaches influence choices in rural policy. Its aim is to assess whether some set of international guidelines or standards could be used to reduce the subjectivity of the evidentiary information.
This urban renaissance review of Glasgow looks back over the 1990s, when a succession of strategic initiatives and major events brought regeneration to several key parts of the city, including along the banks of the Clyde, and helped lift investment and activity. This book provides a policy tool kit for Glasgow, with the aim of improving the distressed urban areas that are holding the city back.
This comprehensive territorial review of Canberra identifies strategies and policy recommendations that can help local agencies and actors better meet the challenges they face. It identifies the need for a new and more holistic approach to urban planning and an opportunity for innovative and inclusive public participation in the planning process. Social, economic and environmental policies must evolve simultaneously in order to have maximum impact at the local level - a goal that many cities throughout OECD countries are far from reaching.
This study of Berlin, after German unification, examines and makes proposals for distressed areas where there is a need for targeted regeneration measures. Building on previous urban renaissance studies, this report adds a new dimension to the lessons learned about urban regeneration through a focus on unemployment, youth and immigration to help create and exploit Berlin's under-developed assets.
Belfast is at a turning point in its history. If it is to succeed as the peace process advances, the achievements of past urban regeneration efforts need to be evaluated in order to set in place effective policies and strategies for the future. Beginning with environmental priorities, Laganside Corporation, a limited life public body responsible for the regeneration of derelict and abandonned land adjacent to the River Lagan, has facilitated enormous physical, economic and social change right in the centre of Belfast.
This book identifies strategies that can help local agencies and actors better meet the challenges they face, including that of involving the private sector more effectively in regeneration. Although the problems of Belfast are in many ways unique, they also have elements that are fairly typical of cities facing major economic change, environmental problems and social fragmentation.
Germany has long been a pioneer in urban policy. The country has aimed at sustainable urban development in order to tackle all the various economic, social and environmental challenges facing cities. Integrated policy responses and innovative measures have been introduced to help revitalise city centres and cope with suburban growth, rising motor traffic and social change. This book analyses these steps against the background of features specific to Germany: its federal system, the unification process, and its polycentric urban pattern. Urban policy is an effective means of addressing a range of problems inherited from the past, while preparing for a more sustainable future. Over and above the features and findings specific to Germany, the book argues for an integrated and forward-looking multisectoral approach that cannot be guided solely by economic logic and will provide tangible responses to the key question: what kind of cities do we want for the future?
China has became the world’s largest urban nation with today over 600 million urban citizens, a figure that is projected to reach 900 million by 2050. Its national economy is already concentrated in cities: almost 65% of China’s GDP was produced in its 53 metropolitan regions in 2004. Although the scale of China’s urbanisation – and the growing number of metropolitan regions within which this urbanisation is concentrating – is unprecedented globally, issues confronting all levels of government in managing this growth are not unique. Most OECD countries have needed to address a wide range of urban management challenges, and are continuing to acquire valuable experience in doing so. Among the key challenges that many countries have been confronted with include: How to maximise national benefits of urbanisation and mitigating its negative impacts? What are the economic, social, and environmental costs of meeting these challenges? How to define the most effective and efficient allocation of functional responsibilities among various levels of government in the urban context? How to effectively plan urban development in a market context?
This report presents an overview of trends in urban policies in OECD countries with the objective to identify successes and failure that could inform national Chinese policy-makers in their preparation of an Urbanisation Strategy.
Containing sprawl is a major preoccupation of many urban planners, who view sprawl as responsible for driving up environmental costs and congestion. Nevertheless, many economists see benefits to sprawl, allowing households access to larger and cheaper properties. This Round Table examines the costs and benefits of sprawl, shedding light on the linkages between urban form and economic growth, and explored the tradeoffs involved in trying to contain sprawl. Discussions were based on papers prepared by Elizabeth Deakin (UC Berkeley), Matthew Kahn (Tufts University), Gilles Duranton (University of Toronto) and David Banister (University College London).
There is an emerging consensus concerning a new strategic mode for spatial policy. In the past, planning resulted in zoned land uses characterised by a rigid separation of housing from leisure and workplaces. This strongly sectoral approach is breaking down under the pressure of environmental problems, technological innovations, and a societal demand for a higher quality of life. Spatial planning will increasingly involve broad framework policies at the national level, and strong partnerships at the local and regional level. This volume is based on two international seminars oranised by the OECD and the National Land Agency, Japan.
As the significance of the creative economy continues to grow, important synergies with tourism are emerging, offering considerable potential to grow demand and develop new products, experiences and markets.These new links are driving a shift from conventional models of cultural tourism to new models of creative tourism based on intangible culture and contemporary creativity. This report examines the growing relationship between the tourism and creative sectors to guide the development of effective policies in this area. Drawing on recent case studies, it considers how to strengthen these linkages and take advantage of the opportunities to generate added value. Active policies are needed so that countries, regions and cities can realise the potential benefits from linking tourism and creativity. Key policy issues are identified.
Social economy -- also known as 'non-profit' or 'third sector' -- organisations have grown in number and relevance, contributing to employment, social inclusion, democratic participation and community building. Much remains to be done, however, to create the necessary enabling environment to support their creation and development and to mainstream the sector in economic and social policies. This publication offers new insights into the economic theory of social economy organisations, their role in an evolving political and economic context, and the links to local development and the empowerment of users. Building on theoretical and empirical developments in OECD member countries, the publication also presents the main challenges for the social economy in Central East and South East Europe. Recommendations for action are included.
Recent socio-economic trends, welfare state reform; the emergence of civil society and democracy have highlighted the growing significance of the non-profit sector – a sector between state and market – often associated with concepts such as ‘social economy’, ‘third sector’, ‘voluntary sector’, ‘third system’, ‘independent sector’ and, more recently, ‘social entrepreneurship’. This sector is facing a number of crucial new challenges such as management quality whilst both maintaining the sector's unique social dimension and fostering social innovation. Drawing on contributions from leading experts and academics, this report provides ground-breaking assessment of new trends; reviews the significant non-profit sector developments in EU countries, the US; Canada; Mexico and Australia; and provides tools on how to finance, monitor and evaluate the sector. This book, supported by statistical data, is for policy makers, practitioners, academics and the corporate sector.
What is the new rural paradigm? Its main characteristics are a focus on places rather than sectors and an emphasis on investments rather than subsidies. In an era of reduced agricultural employment, this report highlights the important and diverse challenges facing rural areas, their unused potential, and the inability of sectoral policy to address this. It also provides an overview of the main socio-economic trends affecting rural areas across the OECD. Further, it addresses the governance requirements of the new cross-sectoral approach to rural policy.
Traditional welfare and employment policies have been unable to tackle the problems of high unemployment and exclusion in OECD countries and recently a wave of new approaches has emerged together with new political notions of welfare-to-work. This book describes these new approaches in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France and the Netherlands. All these countries are relying increasingly on local agencies to design and manage policy to try and ensure that policy solutions meet local needs and to bring to bear local energies, skills and resources. What is the role that local agencies can play? How can they be integrated in effective partnerships? And what policy tools can best be applied? This book gives valuable answers to these questions and shows that governments and practitioners have much to learn from each other on the practicalities of implementing effective welfare-to-work policies.
These Proceedings of the Sheffield Conference, held in November 1998 in collaboration with the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) in the United Kingdom, were prepared by the Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme of the OECD's Territorial Development Service.
This book examines the major rural developments and the issues that policy makers have been dealing with across the OECD over the last two decades. The OECD Conference, held in Siena, Italy, in July 2002, on the Future of Rural Policy, identified the need for rural policies to look beyond agriculture and offer new trajectories of development. It concluded that the major shift necessary to guarantee the future vitality of rural regions is the diversification of their economies. The papers examine key critical issues, including the EU LEADER Community Initiative and the Mexican Micro-region programme and provide a new approach that recognises the importance of the interdependence between rural and urban areas, fostering investment (rather than distributing subsidies). This approach also emphasises governance structures that get the locals involved in grass root initiatives to develop and implement new policies. This book is for practitioners and policy makers involved in grass root policies.
The report reviews progress on the availability of broadband access across the OECD area. It particularly focuses on benchmarking digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable modem expansion and availability, as well as the emergence of broadband wireless as a platform to provide low-cost high-performance access networks in rural and remote areas. The paper finds that DSL availability is proceeding apace, with around three-quarters of existing subscriber lines being able to provide service by 2003. Cable networks pass 58% of households with just under three-quarters of those networks having been upgraded for broadband access. The paper also explores the increasing capabilities of wireless...
Ports and cities are historically strongly linked, but the link between port and city growth has become weaker. Economic benefits often spill over to other regions, whereas negative impacts are localised in the port-city. How can ports regain their role as drivers of urban economic growth and how can negative port impacts be mitigated? Those are the questions that this report aims to answer.
Social enterprises are entering a new phase of consolidation after overcoming various challenges over the last 10 years in their efforts to foster sustainable local development, help create local wealth and jobs, and fight social exclusion. This book contains recommendations for national and local policy makers and presents a set of international best practices based on new legislation that has been enacted, novel frontiers that have opened up, and support and financial tools that have been developed.
This book offers policy guidance to Thailand for fostering entrepreneurship and strengthening the performance of SMEs and their contribution to growth and development. It provides evidence-based analysis and policy recommendations on thematic issues such as access to finance for SMEs and entrepreneurs, SME participation in global markets, intellectual assets and innovation, high-growth SMEs and women’s entrepreneurship.