By Anna Choi and Koji Miyamoto. Common sense and hard evidence point to the significant impact of socio-emotional skills such as perseverance and responsibility on children's lifetime success. Empowered children are much more likely to finish college, maintain healthy lifestyles and be happy. More...
Going beyond education policies – how can PISA help turn policy into practice?
By Andreas Schleicher. How are policy makers in the United States using data to help districts maximise their impact? And, what tools do districts need to work together in order to build stronger communities? The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in the United States has transferred a great deal of autonomy to states and districts. More...
Tax incentives and skills: A cautionary tale about the risk of complexity
Posted by . Tax incentives are used widely across OECD countries to incentivise individuals to invest in post-compulsory education and training – however little is known about their effectiveness. Recent evidence from the United States highlights the risk of creating overly complex systems in which the embedded incentives are no longer fully understood by individuals. More...
Are we only apparently mismatched? Reasons and consequences of apparent qualification mismatch
Posted by . Measuring skills can be problematic as adequate proxies are, in many cases, not readily available. ‘Qualification levels’ are among the most commonly used proxies for skills as they can be found in large datasets produced by national statistical offices and updated regularly. More...
A more skilled population ahead: age or cohort effects?
Posted by . In 2012, the OECD released the first results of the Survey of Adults Skills. Workers in Japan and Finland showed higher proficiency than workers in Spain or Italy. Those findings captured the media attention, as OECD country rankings typically do. But there is much more in the data. More...
The contribution of weak investment to the productivity slowdown
Posted . Concerns around weak productivity growth are everywhere these days. As the latest OECD Economic Outlook notes, since the mid-2000s, productivity growth has been markedly lower than at any other time since the 1950s. In response, the OECD has just launched the Global Forum on Productivity, an initiative to foster international co-operation between public bodies who promote productivity-enhancing policies. More...
What is the scope for public investment to lift long-term growth ?
Posted . Long-term rates are low in OECD countries, particularly in Japan, France and Germany. This opens up fiscal space and can justify any public investment projects with a positive rate of return. At the same time, infrastructure needs are sizeable, especially as fiscal consolidation in recent years has pushed down public capital spending to very low levels in many countries. In such a situation, additional public investment is likely to benefit from high rates of return. More...
Policymakers: Act now to break out of the low-growth trap and deliver on our promises
Posted . Policymaking is at an important juncture. Without comprehensive, coherent and collective action, disappointing and sluggish growth will persist, making it increasingly difficult to make good on promises to current and future generations. More...
Structural reforms for more inclusive growth in Greece
Posted .The Greek economy is turning around lately, but it remains in a deep depression. GDP has fallen by more than a quarter between 2007 and 2015, unemployment remains extremely high at 25 percent and anchored poverty – which measures poverty relative to its pre-crisis income level – has nearly tripled between 2007 and 2014, reaching a third of the population. More...
OECD Economic Outlook urges policy action to promote productivity and equality
Posted . The Special Chapter of the OECD Economic Outlook published today shows why the global economy remains in the doldrums. Since the mid-2000s, productivity growth has been markedly lower than at any other time since the 1950s. This matters as rising productivity lies at the heart of economic progress. More...