In many countries a new concept is emerging as an alternative to command-and-control regulation: the concept of shared responsibility between governments and businesses. Governments and businesses are seeing a need for co-operation and partnership, rather than confrontation and adversarial...

While most 15-year-old students spend part of their after-school time doing homework, the amount of time they spend on it shrank between 2003 and 2012. Socio-economically advantaged students and students who attend socio-economically advantaged schools tend to spend more time doing homework....

Education is the key to economic, social and environmental progress, and governments around the world are looking to improve their education systems. The future of education in the 21st century is not simply about reaching more people, but about improving the quality and diversity of educational...

Ecosystem accounting is a relatively new and emerging field dealing with integrating complex biophysical data, tracking changes in ecosystems and linking those changes to economic and other human activity. Considering the increasing demand for statistics on ecosystems within analytical and...

This report addresses key issues concerning managing urban traffic congestion, including defining congestion, measuring congestion, assessing its impacts, formulating a strategic vision for guiding management policies, and using technology and other operational options to ameliorate congestion....

Much of the current policy debate has considered infrastructure charges as a form of “fiscal” instrument for managing transport demand. The Round Table analysed the opportunities for setting infrastructure service prices so that they also provide guidance for the supply of services. It...

Oil, coal and natural gas will remain the world’s dominant sources of energy over the next decades, with resulting carbon dioxide emissions set to increase to unsustainable levels. However, technologies that help reduce CO2 emissions from fossil fuels can reverse this trend. CO2 capture and...

How can the environmental effects of trade liberalisation agreements be assessed ? Are available methodologies sufficiently tuned to current concerns? In order to take stock of the state of the art in assessment methodologies, the OECD organised a two-day technical workshop to focus on past...

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...

Social science research should lead to a better understanding of current societal developments and enable policy makers to propose solutions to problems and design policies that can serve the public more effectively. Governments are increasingly aware of the need and opportunities to improve the...