Volume II of PISA's 2009 results looks at how successful education systems moderate the impact of social background and immigrant status on student and school performance. The volume opens with an introduction to PISA and a Reader's Guide providing information that will help readers understand...

Based on the Adult Literacy and Life Skills survey conducted in Bermuda, Canada, Italy, Mexico (Nuevo Leon), Norway, and the United States of America in 2003 and 2004, this book presents an initial set of findings that shed new light on the twin processes of skill gain and loss. The book opens...

In demystifying the concept of market-like instruments, this study explains how to make better use of market-like instruments in fisheries management by identifying practical steps that can be taken to further their use. The findings of the study are based on a survey of the use of market-like...

At its meeting in May 2003, the Ministerial Council asked the OECD to analyse the contribution made by the services sector to employment growth, productivity and innovation, and to identify factors, institutions and policies that could enhance the growth prospects of this sector. In response to...

The OECD Measuring Productivity Manual is the first comprehensive guide to the various productivity measures aimed at statisticians, researchers and analysts involved in constructing industry-level productivity indicators. This Manual presents the theoretical foundations to productivity...

Productivity measurement and analysis are the main topics addressed in this book, which brings together contributions presented and discussed in two international workshops organized by the Statistics Directorate and the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) of the OECD. The...

The services sector now accounts for over 70% of total employment and value added in OECD economies. It also accounts for almost all employment growth in the OECD area. But despite its growing weight, productivity growth in services has been slow in many OECD countries and the share of the...

A well-functioning government office acts as a co-ordinator of the decision-making system and as such is crucial for the government’s capacity to define and pursue its collective objectives. The “Government Office” is a generic term that refers to the institution(s) at the centre of...