Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Donald Verry
Title: An Economic Framework for the Evaluation of Child Care Policy
Abstract: The child-care debate is fuelled by various protagonists - early-childhood experts, educators, sociologists, economists - who each tend to consider only one aspect of this multifaceted problem. Consequently, the debate is often confused and inconclusive, particularly when it comes to establishing government policy.To ensure rationality in such public decisions, a general framework is needed to encompass all relevant aspects. This paper proposes a methodological approach to designing such a framework.
Creation-Date: 1990-06-01
Number: 1
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:1-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Health and Pension Reform in Japan
Abstract: The size, structure and growth of health and pension programmes have, in recent years, been matters of concern to all OECD governments and societies. At issue are not only currently important social and economic questions, but also future difficulties which are likely to arise with the ageing of OECD population structures.Japan has the fastest ageing population structure in the OECD. In 1960 the proportion of the population aged 65 and over in Japan was 5 per cent. In 1985 this proportion was 10 per cent, and in 2000 it is projected to be 15 per cent. The resulting pressures on social programmes are well understood in Japan, and the way in which the Japanese government and people are approaching this issue is of interest to other countries which must soon face similar problems.
Creation-Date: 1990-06-01
Number: 2
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:2-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Susan R. Mendelsohn
Title: Wrongful Termination Litigation in the United States and its Effect on the Employment Relationship
Abstract: Over the last decade, employment law in the United States has ceased to be governed solely by the right to 11 at will 11 termination on either side. As a result of a series of decisions in the civil courts of the various states, employers have become liable for damages - often very heavy - for dismissals which have been held to be unfair. A dismissal may be considered 11 unfair 11 because it violates public policy, because it breaches an implied contract or because it breaches an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The resultant restrictions on the right to fire are reminiscent of employment security laws in Europe.
Creation-Date: 1990-09-02
Number: 3
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:3-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: David Grubb
Title: Statistics of Annual Earnings in OECD Countries
Abstract: Existing multi-country earnings statistics generally relate to only a fraction of the economy's industries and occupations, often to manual workers in manufacturing industry. This paper discusses the annual basis of measurement, which has particular advantages when aggregations or comparisons of earnings need to be made across sectors, occupations, or countries that have markedly differing payment systems. Three main types of statistic of annual earnings are identified: estimates of annual earnings of the Average Production Worker (in manufacturing only), made in connection with OECD calculations of tax rates; aggregate wages and salaries per employee, corrected onto a full-time equivalent basis; and statistics based on individual data, which may come from household surveys, employer surveys or tax and social security records. Some comparisons among the available statistics examine to what extent the differing indicators give similar impressions as regards the level and trend of earnings.
Creation-Date: 1990-09-03
Number: 4
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:4-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Tito Boeri
Title: Wage Differentials, Entry and the Job Generation Process in Germany
Abstract: Based on information from the employment records of individual establishments in westernGermany (Federal Republic of Germany before the German unification) between 1977-1988, it is possible to shed some light on the characteristics and determinants of the job generation process. Data for this study were drawn from the Employment Statistics register of the Federal Office of Labour (Bundesanstalt flir Arbeit) and cover almost 80 per cent of total employment.The central finding of the paper is that trend employment growth is, to a large extent, accommodated by plant openings rather than by the expansion of already existing units. While new establishments are subject to high failure rates, the growth of survivors almost completely offsets job losses due to plant closures. Furthermore, statistical analyses of entries and exits provide some support for the hypothesis that reduced wage differentials within any sector negatively affect the pace of entry of new establishments.These results could be relevant for the current debate on the determinants of the poor employment performance of Germany in the 1980s. In pai1icular, they raise the possibility that reduced wage differentials, associated with labour market policies and collectivistic wage agreements in the 1980s, played an important role in lowering the job generation potential of western Germany.
Creation-Date: 1991-01-01
Number: 5
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:5-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Equal Pay for Work of Comparable Worth: The Experience of Industrialised Countries
Abstract: Equal pay is no longer discussed simply in relation to equal work. Equal pay for work of equal value has, in some countries, become a critical objective of policies against discrimination in employment. This report describes the degree to which the concept of work of equal value has been incorporated into equal pay legislation and collective bargaining in thirteen OECD countries. It also emphasizes the problems encountered when implementing this type of policy. and attempts to establish its real and potential impact.
Creation-Date: 1991-01-01
Number: 6
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:6-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: The Long-Term Unumployed and Measures to Assist Them
Abstract: This Occasional Paper consists of an introduction, by a member of the Secretariat, giving some general reflections on measures to help reduce long term unemployment, and a report by a group of experts from eleven Member countries and representatives of the Commission of the European Communities in which the diverse national experience is reviewed and compared. The report contains an annex in which the different measures are summarised.
Creation-Date: 1992-01-01
Number: 7
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:7-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Employment Policies for People with Disabilities: Report by an Evaluation Panel
Abstract: This Occasional Paper contains a report by a panel of experts from fourteen OECD Member countries who compared their policies for the employment of persons with disabilities. It is preceded by a preface by a member of the OECD secretariat covering some of the major issues in this regard.
Creation-Date: 1992-01-01
Number: 8
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:8-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: From Labour Shortage to Labour Shedding: Labour Markets in Central and Eastern Europe
Abstract: All countries in Central and Eastern Europe are experiencing a switch from labour hoarding to labour shedding with rapidly rising unemployment. Identifying each country's specific labour market problems - in particular, those groups which are most vulnerable to unemployment - will be essential for developing appropriate policies. Based on detailed statistical information being collected by the OECD, this paper provides an overview of labour markets in Central and Eastern Europe, both prior to and since the start of the transition process. Section I of this paper describes the main characteristics of employment and wage structures which have been inherited from the former centrally-planned system in Central and Eastern Europe and also analyses longer-run demographic and labour force trends. Section II discusses more recent labour market developments, including the nature of employment losses, job creation in the private sector and the characteristics of the unemployed. Finally, some specific recommendations are provided on how to improve monitoring systems of labour market developments in these countries.
Creation-Date: 1992-01-01
Number: 9
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:9-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Gerald Hughes
Title: Projecting the Occupational Structure of Employment in OECD Countries
Abstract: Forecasts of employment by occupation have been made in several OECD countries since the early 1950s. Medium to long-term projections are now made in most OECD countries, and a number of countries publish them regularly. This paper by Gerald Hughes, of the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, examines how their objectives, methods and uses have changed over the last three decades. It covers technical issues such as the standard method of projection using statistics for employment cross-classified by industry and occupation, the integration of information from other sources such as surveys of employer expectations, the confrontation of employment forecasts with separate models of labour supply, and the competing "rate of return" approach to investment in human capital. It also considers management issues such as the institutional status of the bodies that make forecasts, and methods of disseminating the results to training institutions, career advisers and other users.
Creation-Date: 1993-01-01
Number: 10
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:10-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Preventing and Resolving Industrial Conflict: Seminar on Industrial Conflict Settlement in OECD Countries and Central and Eastern European Economies in Transition
Abstract: The Centre for Co-operation with European Economies in Transition ("the Centre"), which was created in March 1990, is the focal point for cooperation between the OECD and Central and Eastern European countries. Its major responsibility is to design and manage a programme of policy advice and technical assistance which puts the expertise of the Secretariat and Member countries at the disposal of countries engaged in economic reform. This advice or assistance can take numerous forms, including conferences, seminars, missions and workshops in order to explore policy questions or review draft legislation; it can also include training for government officials who are called to implement market-oriented policies.
Creation-Date: 1993-01-01
Number: 11
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:11-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Breadwinners or Child Rearers: The Dilemma for Lone Mothers
Abstract: Lone-parent families, particularly the large majority headed by the mother, are over-represented among low income families. Employment and the resultant earnings represent a the main path out of economic disadvantage. This paper examines the pattern of labour force attachment of lone mothers in eight OECD countries. The factors which may affect their labour force participation are considered: the work incentives embedded in public transfer programmes and taxation systems, availability of child care, other arrangements which may help or hinder paid work for all mothers, and the characteristics of lone-mother families which may affect work behaviour. An appendix provides details on the public policies and programme structures affecting lone mothers in each of the eight participating countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The report was compiled by Australia on behalf of a panel of experts nominated by the national administrations of the eight countries included.
Creation-Date: 1993-01-01
Number: 12
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:12-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: The 1993 OECD-Eurostat Compendium of Sources of Earnings Statistics
Abstract: The objective of the Compendium of sources of earnings statistics is to provide a means of information for assessing earnings statistics’ comparability across OECD countries. However, the Compendium is also designed to be a source of information on any earnings-related matter, especially international studies of earnings.This note includes the following: i) a brief summary of the information contained in the Compendium, particularly on the types of sources available; ii) a general discussion about some of the aspects that should be taken into account when making comparisons of earnings statistics among the OECD member countries; iii) some concluding remarks.B. A Summary of the Compendium of Sources of Earnings Statistics1. Background of the CompendiumThe compendium is the result of a joint effort by the Secretariat, Eurostat and OECD member countries. The paper version of the questionnaire was sent to each country in July 1990, and the electronic version in September 1990. After ...
Creation-Date: 1994-01-01
Number: 13
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:13-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Michael Förster
Title: Measurement of Low Incomes and Poverty in A Perspective of International Comparisons
Abstract: During the past two decades, issues such as insufficient resources among particular populations, relative and absolute low incomes and poverty have occupied a prominent place in social policy research in many OECD countries. However, many different concepts have been used in the literature to define and measure ’low income’ or ’poverty’ across and within Member countries. This paper analyses alternative approaches to quantifying these concepts for the explicit purpose of international comparisons. It uses micro data sets on income from the Luxembourg Income Study for 13 OECD countries, for the mid- to the end of the 1980s, to illustrate the issues.In Chapter II, the three main approaches used in the literature for defining low income and poverty - the absolute, relative and subjective approach - are discussed in detail. Chapter III discusses ways to adjust disposable income for family size and presents sensitivity tests using different equivalence scales. Chapter IV presents more ...<BR>Durant ces quelque vingt dernières années, des questions telles que l'insuffisance de ressources de certaines catégories de populations, les bas revenus relatifs ou absolus, et la pauvreté ont occupé une place importante dans la recherche en matière de politiques sociales. Or, il existe une vaste palette de concepts différents utilisés pour définir et mesurer 'bas revenus' et 'pauvreté' d'un pays de l'OCDE à l'autre. Cette étude analyse des approches susceptibles d'appréhender ces phénomènes dans un cadre de comparaison internationale. Pour ce faire, elle utilise des données micro-économiques sur les revenus de la "Luxembourg Income Study" pour treize pays Membres, couvrant la période du milieu jusqu'à la fin des années 80.Le chapitre II discute en détail les trois concepts principaux servant à définir les bas revenus et la pauvreté: les approches dites absolue, relative et subjective. Le chapitre III décrit différentes méthodes d'ajustement du revenu disponible selon la taille de ...
Creation-Date: 1994-01-01
Number: 14
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:14-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Joëlle Sleebos
Title: Low Fertility Rates in OECD Countries: Facts and Policy Responses
Abstract: Fertility rates have declined in most OECD countries to levels that are well below those needed to secure generation replacement. While attitudes towards this decline in fertility rates differ across countries, several OECD governments have introduced — or are considering — specific measures aimed at countering it. Such measures are often justified by government’s wish of either reducing some of the negative consequences of population ageing for society as a whole, or of removing obstacles that discourage those women wishing to have more children from doing so, because of the negative economic consequences of childbearing and of the length of the associated responsibilities. This paper provides a comparative overview of the evidence about the size, timing and nature of this decline in fertility rate across “mature” OECD countries, and about the effects of different measures introduced to deal with it. The first chapter of this paper reviews a range of indicators of the fertility ...<BR>La plupart des pays de l’OCDE affichent des taux de fécondité nettement inférieurs à ceux nécessaires pour assurer le remplacement des générations. Si les réactions à l’égard de ce phénomène diffèrent selon les pays, un grand nombre de gouvernements ont adopté – ou envisagent – des mesures spécifiques pour y faire face. Ces mesures visent bien souvent soit à réduire certaines conséquences négatives du vieillissement de la population pour la société dans son ensemble, soit à supprimer les obstacles qui dissuadent les femmes d’avoir plus d’enfants en raison des retombées économiques négatives liées à la maternité et à la durée des responsabilités à assumer. Ce document présente une analyse comparative de la dimension et de la nature du déclin des taux de fécondité dans les pays de l’OCDE, et sur l’effet de différentes mesures pour le contrer. Le premier chapitre de ce document passe en revue une série d’indicateurs des schémas de fécondité observés récemment dans les pays de ...
Classification-JEL: J13
Creation-Date: 2003-10-07
Number: 15
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:15-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Patrick Hennessy
Title: Social Protection for Dependent Elderly People: Perspectives from a Review of OECD Countries
Abstract: There is growing concern about the future provision of care for frail elderly people. Many countries have planned to reform services or the financing of care, but have found that the implementation of these plans has coincided with economic slow-down and fiscal constraints. This has heightened the difficult choices that have to be made in relation to new services for care.All OECD countries are agreed in having as a main objective that elderly people should be able to stay for as long as possible in their own homes, and that they should be able to receive good residential care close to their own community ("ageing in place"). How successful have OECD countries been in pursuit of this goal? What barriers can be identified? Are services as effective as they could be?Most policy debates have been over-shadowed by the question of how to pay for the necessary services. OECD countries currently deploy a range of financing mechanisms for relevant health and social services, involving ...<BR>Les soins de longue durée à assurer dans l’avenir aux personnes âgées dépendantes suscitent une inquiétude croissante. De nombreux pays ont préparé des réformes des services ou des modes de financement des soins, mais se sont aperçus que leur mise en oeuvre coïncidait avec une lenteur de la croissance économique et des contraintes budgétaires, rendant d’autant plus difficile les choix qu’impliquent les nouveaux types de soins. Tous les pays de l’OCDE sont d’accord sur un grand objectif selon lequel il faut permettre aux personnes âgées de continuer à vivre chez elles aussi longtemps que possible ou, à défaut, de bénéficier de soins de qualité dans un établissement proche de leur entourage ("vieillir chez soi"). Dans quelle mesure les pays de l’OCDE ont-ils atteint cet objectif? Quels obstacles ont-ils rencontrés? Les services sont-ils aussi efficaces qu’ils pourraient l’être?La plupart des débats de fond ont été dominés par la question du mode de financement des services requis. Les ...
Creation-Date: 1995-01-01
Number: 16
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:16-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Robert G. Fay
Title: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Active Labour Market Policies: Evidence from Programme Evaluations in OECD Countries
Abstract: This publication reviews the recent evidence from programme evaluations on the effectiveness of active labour market policies (ALMPs) in helping unemployed individuals return to work. ALMPs differ widely in their objectives and their impacts, both across countries and within countries over time. Programme evaluations attempt to determine the impact of various ALMPs, both for the individual and on society at large. Individual impacts are usually measured in terms of post-programme earnings and/or employment performance. Societal impacts include an estimation of deadweight, displacement and substitution effects, along with some accounting for possible externalities. Recent evaluations suggest some ALMPs can help most groups of the unemployed. Many unemployed benefit from early intervention through the provision of counselling and job-search assistance. Others benefit through targeted employment subsidies, particularly in the private sector. The picture is more mixed with respect to ...<BR>Cette publication passe en revue les résultats récents sur les évaluations de dispositifs du point de vue de l'efficacité des politiques actives du marché du travail (PAMT) pour aider les individus au chômage à retrouver du travail. Les PAMT sont largement différentes, dans leurs objectifs et dans leurs impacts, à la fois selon les pays et dans le temps à l'intérieur de chaque pays. Les évaluations de programmes tentent de déterminer l'effet de différentes PAMT, pour l'individu ainsi que pour la société au sens large. Les impacts individuels sont habituellement mesurés en termes de salaires et/ou de situation dans l'emploi après avoir été dans un dispositif. Les impacts pour la société portent sur une estimation des effets d'aubaine, de déplacement et de substitution, ainsi que sur la prise en compte d'externalités possibles. Des évaluations récentes suggèrent que certaines PAMT peuvent aider la plupart des groupes de chômeurs. Un grand nombre de chômeurs gagnent à bénéficier d'une ...
Creation-Date: 1996-01-01
Number: 18
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:18-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Willem Adema
Author-Name: Marcel Einerhand
Author-Name: Bengt Eklind
Author-Name: Jorgen Lotz
Author-Name: Mark Pearson
Title: Net Public Social Expenditure
Abstract: The OECD Social Expenditure data base (SOCX) allows the monitoring of trends in aggregate social expenditure and changes in its composition. But aggregate social expenditure may sometimes fail to reflect the true ‘effort’ of a country in providing social support. Account needs to be taken of the effects of tax systems and transfers which, although mandatory, are not paid by government.In order to get from a “gross” to a “net” concept of social expenditure various adjustments to raw data are needed. These adjustments concern: methods of benefit payment (“net” or “gross” of tax); the varying extent with which governments use fiscal instruments rather than cash transfers to pursue social policy goals; and the different degree to which government requires other economic agents to provide social expenditures. The analysis also addresses the automatic budget effects related to the stage of the economic cycle.This analysis is a first attempt to capture in a comprehensive manner the effect ...<BR>La base de données de l’OCDE sur les dépenses sociales (SOCX) permet d’observer l’évolution de l’ensemble des dépenses sociales ainsi que les modifications survenues dans leur composition. Mais ces dépenses dans leur ensemble peuvent parfois ne pas refléter l’effort véritable qu’un pays fournit pour apporter une aide sociale. Il faut tenir compte des effets du système fiscal et des transferts qui, bien qu’ils soient obligatoires, ne sont pas payés par le gouvernement.Afin de passer d’un concept ‘brut” de dépenses sociales à un concept “net”, divers ajustements sur les données brutes sont nécessaires. Ces ajustements concernent : les méthodes de paiement des prestations (“nettes” ou “brutes” d’impôt); l’importance avec laquelle les gouvernements utilisent les instruments financiers plutôt que les transferts en espèces pour accomplir les objectifs de la politique sociale; et jusqu’à quel point le gouvernement a besoin d’autres agents économiques pour qu’ils fournissent des dépenses ...
Creation-Date: 1996-01-01
Number: 19
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:19-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Peter Elias
Title: Occupational Classification (ISCO-88): Concepts, Methods, Reliability, Validity and Cross-National Comparability
Abstract: This paper considers a range of topics concerned with the statistical application of an occupational classification, focusing in particular upon the use of the international standard, ISCO-88. Following a brief presentation of the conceptual basis of ISCO-88 and on methods of collecting and coding occupational information, evidence is presented on the reliability and validity of occupationally classified data. The paper reviews progress on the implementation of ISCO-88 on a global basis and presents an assessment of the likely comparability between countries of occupational data based upon ISCO-88.From the evidence available it appears that ISCO-88 has successfully superseded ISCO-68 and, in many countries, has become the model for a new national classification even where a national classification of occupations previously existed.However, occupational classification remains a difficult process, subject to a fairly low level of reliability. In addition to problems of reliability ...
Creation-Date: 1997-01-01
Number: 20
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:20-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: E. Philip Davis
Title: Private Pensions in OECD Countries: The United Kingdom
Abstract: This volume is part of a series of monographs on private pensions in OECD countries. Previous titles have considered the situation in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States.The United Kingdom pension system has some distinctive characteristics. Publicly-provided pensions have become less important as a source of retirement income. The ageing of the population will shrink the numbers of those working relative to those receiving old-age pensions, but because of the low rates of public pension payments, contribution rates will not need to rise dramatically to cover pension costs. Funded company-based schemes are extensive, with one of the highest asset to GDP ratios among the OECD countries. Personal private pensions are growing rapidly in coverage. Evidence suggests that these pension funds have boosted saving and increased the supply of long-term funds, so stimulating the development of capital markets.The size and scope of private pensions in the United Kingdom makes the ...
Creation-Date: 1997-01-01
Number: 21
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:21-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Alois van Bastelaer
Author-Workplace-Name: Eurostat
Author-Name: Georges Lemaître
Author-Workplace-Name: OECD
Author-Name: Pascal Marianna
Author-Workplace-Name: OECD
Title: The Definition of Part-Time Work for the Purpose of International Comparisons
Abstract: National definitions of part-time work are based either on hours thresholds or on an assessment by the respondent of the nature of the job, or on a combination of both methods. This report compares the results obtained from the application of an hours-based definition to job of wage and salary workers with those based on the respondent’s self-assessment, and examines the international comparability of such estimates. In countries where part-time work (national definitions) is common, jobs of more than 30 usual hours per week that are classified as part-time are significant in number. These countries tend to use a definition based on a 35 usual hours threshold. In countries where part-time work (national definitions) is relatively less common, the incidence of jobs of less than 35 usual hours per week that are classified as full-time is high. Part-time jobs are generally identified on the basis of self-assessment in these countries. As a result of these findings a definition of ...
Creation-Date: 1997-01-01
Number: 22
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:22-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Hazel Bateman
Author-Workplace-Name: University of New South Wales
Author-Name: John Piggott
Author-Workplace-Name: University of New South Wales
Title: Private Pensions in OECD Countries: Australia
Abstract: As most other OECD Member countries had already done, Australia has, since 1991, supplemented an existing flat-rate universal (but means-tested) residence-based old-age pension by a compulsory earnings related second tier for employees known as the “Superannuation Guarantee”. However, it was the first Member country in which the favoured format of participation in the second tier is in the form of pure “money purchase” schemes in which benefits are determined solely by the amount which accumulates in individual accounts. Benefits are predominately paid as lump-sums on retirement, although tax arrangements are being changed to encourage beneficiaries to purchase annuities.This report, compiled by two Australian experts, describes this system and its relation to pre-existing tax-advantaged voluntary provision, which only covered one-third of employees but remains predominant in terms of assets accumulated and benefits payable.The report discusses the sources of retirement ...<BR>Comme la plupart des autres pays Membres de l’OCDE l’avaient fait avant elle, l’Australie a, depuis 1991, complété son régime de retraite universel à taux uniforme (mais lié à un niveau de ressources), par un second pilier d’épargne retraite obligatoire proportionnelle aux gains pour les salariés, appelé système de garantie de retraite. Toutefois, c’est le seul pays à avoir privilégié, pour le deuxième pilier d’épargne, les régimes à cotisations définies dans lesquels les prestations sont uniquement fonction des sommes accumulées sur les comptes des bénéficiaires. Les prestations sont la plupart du temps servies sous la forme d’un capital versé intégralement au moment du départ à la retraite, mais une réforme des dispositions fiscales visant à encourager les bénéficiaires à opter pour le paiement d’une rente est en préparation.Ce rapport, rédigé par deux experts australiens, décrit ce système de garantie de retraite et ses liens avec le régime volontaire préexistant auquel étaient ...
Creation-Date: 1997-01-01
Number: 23
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:23-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Hilary Steedman
Title: Trends in Secretarial Occupations in Selected OECD Countries, 1980-95
Abstract: In all OECD countries secretarial occupations constitute a substantial part of all women's employment, are heavily female-dominated and subject to rapid and far-reaching technical change. They are also transversal to all sectors and organisations. The report examines how the secretary's role is changing as the 'information society' develops and as organisations seek to organise work in a way that maximises its value-added. It also investigates the routes by which improvements in the occupation can be brought about.The report is based on the results of national studies in 8 countries: Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The report does not purport to be comparative but, instead, attempts to highlight some significant cross-national issues.The labour market for secretariesSecretarial work constitutes between 5 and to 15 per cent of all women's employment according to the definitions in the countries ...<BR>Dans tous les pays de l’OCDE, les emplois de secrétaire constituent une part importante de l’emploi féminin, les femmes y sont prépondérantes, et ils subissent une mutation technique rapide et profonde. Ces emplois sont par ailleurs communs à tous les secteurs et à toutes les organisations. Le rapport étudie comment évolue le rôle des secrétaires à mesure que se développe la “société de l’information” et que les organisations cherchent à organiser le travail de façon à en optimiser la valeur ajoutée. Il examine aussi les voies à suivre pour apporter des améliorations à la profession.Le rapport s’appuie sur les résultats d’études nationales effectuées dans 8 pays : Danemark, Etats-Unis, Finlande, France, Italie, Pays-Bas, Royaume-Uni et Suisse. Le rapport n’est pas établi à des fins de comparaison mais tente au contraire de mettre en lumière les aspects importants qui sont communs à l’ensemble des pays.Le marché du travail pour les secrétairesLe travail de secrétariat représente ...
Creation-Date: 1997-01-01
Number: 24
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:24-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Robert G. Fay
Title: Making the Public Employment Service More Effective through the Introduction of Market Signals
Abstract: Many OECD countries have taken steps to increase competition in areas that have been typically dominated by public monopolies in the past. The goal is to improve the production and delivery of public goods and services. Among these areas, governments have introduced market signals to make the public employment service (PES) contestable in some of its activities in order to improve its effectiveness. This has involved i) liberalisation of the rules and regulations governing private employment agencies; ii) the use of market-type mechanisms (MTMs) such as contracting-out; and iii) organisational reforms, for example separating purchasers and providers of services to jobseekers.Separating purchasers and providers is an important requirement to make the delivery of public services contestable. For example, if the PES provides training and also purchases it on the open market, it may have the incentive to deal with only one segment of the market, making it difficult to compare its ...
Creation-Date: 1997-01-01
Number: 25
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:25-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Damian Grimshaw
Author-Name: Jill Rubery
Title: The Concentration of Women's Employment and Relative Occupational Pay: A Statistical Framework for Comparative Analysis
Abstract: This report assesses the relation between women’s employment in those occupations where they are most concentrated and their relative level of pay. The analysis is applied to seven countries - Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States - over a period covering the past ten to fifteen years. An important feature of the study involves the collection and analysis of national earnings data at a detailed level of occupational classification, enabling us to address instances of vertical and horizontal gender segregation that may be obscured by less detailed categories.As international harmonised earnings data for detailed occupational categories do not exist, it has been necessary to collect data from the different national sources. Given the dangers this presents for an analysis which seeks to make comparisons of occupations across countries, the report details the wide range of different sources of data, as well as the variety of definitions of ...<BR>Ce rapport établit la relation entre la concentration de l'emploi des femmes dans quelques professions et le niveau relatif de leur salaire. L'analyse est menée à partir de la situation dans sept pays: l'Australie, l'Allemagne, le Canada, les Etats-Unis, la France, la Norvège et le Royaume-Uni, sur une période qui couvre les dix à quinze dernières années. Une caractéristique particulière de l'étude est que la collecte et l'analyse des données nationales sur les salaires par profession s'est faite à un niveau détaillé de la classification des professions, ce qui permet de repérer des cas de ségrégation horizontale et verticale qui seraient restés masqués à des niveaux de la classification moins détaillés.Du fait qu'il n'existe pas de données sur les salaires par profession détaillée harmonisées au niveau international, il a fallu collecter les données à partir des différentes sources nationales. Etant donné les risques que cela comporte pour une analyse qui vise à des comparaisons ...
Creation-Date: 1997-01-01
Number: 26
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:26-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Susan Christopherson
Title: Childcare and Elderly Care: What Occupational Opportunities for Women?
Abstract: As the population in OECD countries ages and requires longer periods of care and as more children are cared for outside their homes, there is growing recognition of the significance of caring services both economically and socially. Up to now the policy discussion has focussed mainly on two central issues: quality of care and cost of care. These issues are closely inter-linked with how employment in the caring sector is expanding and developing, an issue which has however received relatively little attention.The demand for caring workers has increased dramatically in the past twenty-five years. Caring occupations are major employers of women across OECD countries and their working conditions, career opportunities, and earnings patterns have a significant impact on women’s overall situation in the labour market. This report examines caring occupations in the childcare and the elderly care sectors and the opportunities they offer women as these occupations are changing with respect ...<BR>Du fait que la population des pays de l’OCDE vieillit et a besoin de soins de plus longue durée et que la garde des enfants est plus souvent assurée en dehors du foyer familial, l’importance économique et sociale des services personnels est de plus en plus largement reconnue. Jusqu’ici, le débat politique a porté essentiellement sur deux questions primordiales : la qualité des services et leur coût. Ces questions sont intimement liées à l’expansion de l’emploi dans les services personnels, expansion dont toutefois on s’est encore relativement peu préoccupé.Au cours des vingt-cinq dernières années, la demande de travail pour les services personnels a considérablement augmenté. Dans les pays de l’OCDE, les services personnels emploient beaucoup de femmes et les conditions de travail, les perspectives de carrière et les salaires offerts jouent un grand rôle dans la situation des femmes sur le marché du travail. Ce rapport examine les métiers des services personnels destinés aux jeunes ...
Creation-Date: 1997-01-01
Number: 27
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:27-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: OECD Submission to the Irish National Minimum Wage Commission
Abstract: This submission provides a brief factual survey of statutory minimum wage systems in OECD countries (Section B) as well as a summary of recommendations concerning minimum wages which have been presented in the OECD Jobs Study and recent OECD Economic Surveys (Section C). This is followed by a discussion of the factors which should be considered when reviewing the likely effects of statutory minimum wages on employment and unemployment (Section D), and on low pay and poverty (Section E). It is based on recent empirical evidence from OECD countries and, whenever possible, discusses the relevance of the different factors characterising minimum wages for the Irish context. The need for further research is discussed in Section F.
Creation-Date: 1997-01-01
Number: 28
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:28-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: OECD Submission to The UK Low Pay Mission
Abstract: This submission provides a brief factual survey of statutory minimum wage systems in OECD countries (Section B) as well as a summary of recommendations concerning minimum wages which have been presented in the OECD Jobs Study and recent OECD Economic Surveys (Section C). This is followed by a discussion of the factors which should be considered when reviewing the likely effects of statutory minimum wages on employment and unemployment (Section D), and on low pay and poverty (Section E). It is based on recent empirical evidence from OECD countries and, whenever possible, discusses the relevance of the different factors characterising minimum wage for the UK context. The need for further research is discussed in Section F.
Creation-Date: 1997-01-01
Number: 29
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:29-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Emmanuel Reynaud
Title: Private Pensions in OECD Countries: France
Abstract: This volume is part of a series of monographs on private pensions in OECD countries. Previous titles have considered the situation of Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.Private pensions occupy a central role in the French system of retirement provision. In addition to a high degree of institutional fragmentation, the general structure of the French pension system combines two tiers. The first consists of statutory social security plans, set up to cover the whole of the working population, and “special plans”, exempted from participation in the general schemes and almost exclusively covering the public sector. The second tier is made up of supplementary occupational plans, mainly compulsory plans federated at the national level. The extensive role of these compulsory occupational plans has left little room for the development of other voluntary occupational pension plans.A number of features make the specificity of the second tier in ...
Creation-Date: 1997-01-01
Number: 30
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:30-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Key Employment Policy Challenges Faced by OECD Countries
Abstract: OECD countries as a whole have experienced modest annual output growth of some 2 1/2 per cent over the past four years. But unemployment remains unacceptably high -- having fallen only slightly from its peak of 38 million in 1993 to the current 35 million or 7 per cent of the workforce -- and wage and income disparities have widened in many countries, posing potential risks to social cohesion. These trends have prompted much debate on their causes, consequences and remedies. These are among the issues that the OECD has analyzed and discussed with Member countries since 1992 in the context of its Jobs Strategy work. OECD Ministers have endorsed the Jobs Strategy recommendations and called last May for greater reform efforts. More recently the meeting of OECD Labour Ministers last October emphasised the need for policies for low-paid and unskilled job seekers, enhancing the effectiveness of active labour market policies and lifelong learning to maintain employability, issues ...
Creation-Date: 1998-04-07
Number: 31
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:31-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Willem Adema
Author-Name: Marcel Einerhand
Title: The Growing Role of Private Social Benefits
Abstract: This paper contains a first analysis of trends in private social benefits within a comparative framework. There is growing interest in the role of the private sector in the provision of social support in the light of concerns about the high level of public social spending. However, up to now, methodological and measurement problems have hampered the collection of cross-country data on private social benefits.The paper develops an appropriate methodological framework for treating this issue. It presents data on private social benefits for six countries for which such data are currently available: Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.Information on trends in public and private social expenditure is drawn together and the pape discusses in more detail spending patterns in two social policy areas where private provision plays an important role: pensions and health.Finally, the impact of the tax system is analysed, and for one year ...<BR>Cette étude fournit une première analyse des tendances de dépense sociale à caractère privé dans un cadre comparatif. Il existe un intérêt grandissant pour le rôle du secteur privé dans la fourniture d’un soutien social compte tenu du niveau élevé des dépenses sociales publiques. Toutefois, jusqu’à présent les problèmes de mesure et de méthodologie ont gêné la collecte des données internationales sur les dépenses sociales privées.Ce document présente un cadre méthodologique approprié pour traiter ce sujet. Il donne des données sur les prestations sociales privées pour six pays pour lesquels de telles données sont actuellement disponibles : Allemagne, Danemark, Etats-Unis, Pays-Bas, Royaume-Uni, et Suède.Ce document fournit des informations sur les tendances des dépenses sociales privées et publiques. Il permet en outre d’examiner en détail les typologies de dépenses dans les deux domaines où la prestation privée joue un rôle important : pensions et santé.Enfin, l’incidence du système ...
Creation-Date: 1998-04-17
Number: 32
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:32-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: David W. Kalisch
Author-Name: Tetsuya Aman
Author-Name: Libbie A. Buchele
Title: Social and Health Policies in OECD Countries: A Survey of Current Programmes and Recent Developments
Abstract: The responses of countries to the OECD Caring World questionnaire, together with other available information, provides a good basis for summarising the main social policy trends with respect to the broad coverage of social protection arrangements, assistance for families, assistance for unemployed people of working age, retirement incomes, health care, long-term care and housing assistance.In terms of the broad coverage of social security measures, the main developments have been some tightening of eligibility, particularly for new migrants, and increased importance of social assistance measures. Countries have responded to concerns about the incidence of social exclusion, often through comprehensive, integrated measures which include income support as well as measures to assist people back into mainstream activities of society.With general family assistance measures, some countries have pursued greater means-testing of benefits, at the same time as some payments have been ...
Creation-Date: 1998-07-03
Number: 33
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:33-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Andrew E. Clark
Title: Measures of Job Satisfaction: What Makes a Good Job? Evidence from OECD Countries
Abstract: Most taxonomies of "good jobs" and "bad jobs" are centred around pay and hours of work. This paper uses uses information on 7 000 workers in OECD countries (emanating from the 1989 wave of the International Social Survey Programme) to complement traditional measures of job quality with workersupplied information regarding a wide variety of characteristics of the current job. The responses to twenty different questions are collapsed into six summary variables measuring workers’ evaluations of: Pay; Hours of work; Future Prospects (promotion and job security); How hard or difficult the job is; Job content: interest, prestige and independence; and Interpersonal relationships (with co-workers and with management). An advantage of asking workers about these job attributes is that many of them, such as interpersonal relationships, job interest and job difficulty, are not measurable in the way that income and hours are. Another is that items may not have a linear relationship ...
Creation-Date: 1998-08-13
Number: 34
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:34-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: John P. Martin
Title: What Works Among Active Labour Market Policies: Evidence From OECD Countries' Experiences
Abstract: This paper seeks to answer the following question: what is the potential contribution which active labour market policies can make a part of a strategy to combat high and persistent unemployment and the problems of low pay and poverty among the working-age population? In order to answer this question, it is vital to know what works among active policies and in what circumstances. The OECD Secretariat has been working intensively on these questions in recent years and the paper summarises the main results of our work to date.The structure of the paper is as follows. Section 2 provides some factual background on public spending on labour market policies in OECD countries over the past decade, drawing on an internationally comparable data set which the OECD has developed to monitor trends in this field of public spending. Then I summarise the main results of on-going OECD research into the effectiveness of active labour market policies. My review mainly exploits two sources: (i) the ...<BR>Le but de cette étude est de répondre à la question suivante : quelle est la contribution potentielle des politiques actives du marché du travail comme élément de la stratégie pour combattre un niveau de chômage élevé et persistent et les problèmes que les rémunérations trop faibles et la pauvreté posent aux personnes en âge de travailler ? Afin de répondre à cette question, il est nécessaire de déterminer, parmi ces politiques actives, celles qui marchent, et, dans quelles circonstances. Le Secrétariat de l’OCDE a travaillé de manière intensive sur ces questions ces dernières années, et l’étude résume les principaux résultats de nos recherches à ce jour.La structure de l’étude s’articule de la façon suivante. La Section 2 fournit des informations de base sur les dépenses publiques relatives aux politiques du marché du travail au sein des pays de l’OCDE au cours des 10 dernières années à partir d’un ensemble de données comparables à l’échelle internationale développé par l’OCDE ...
Creation-Date: 1998-10-01
Number: 35
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:35-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Melissa Jee
Author-Name: Zeynep Or
Title: Health Outcomes in OECD Countries: A Framework of Health Indicators for Outcome-Oriented Policymaking
Abstract: OECD health-care systems confront the dual challenge of containing costs and maximising the health of their populations. The effectiveness of health-care provision in fostering longer and healthier lives is therefore of fundamental importance. In order to respond to these challenges, policy makers are demanding more and better information on health outcomes.Therefore, this paper presents a summary of the current state-of-the-art in health outcome indicators for monitoring population health status and for evaluating the performance and effectiveness of various health policies and medical-care interventions. The paper begins by developing a framework for classifying the range of indicators that have been put forward to measure health outcomes. It then illustrates the potential value of different indicators for policy making within this framework and describes some recent trends in health status in OECD countries ...<BR>Les systèmes de santé des pays de l’OCDE sont confrontés à un double défi, à savoir maîtriser les coûts et améliorer l’état de santé de la population. La question de l’efficacité des dépenses de santé et des interventions médicales destinées à permettre aux gens de vivre plus longtemps et en meilleure santé est donc fondamentale. Afin de répondre à ce double défi, les responsables politiques souhaitent disposer davantage d’informations pertinentes sur l’état de santé de la population.Dans cette optique, le présent rapport fait le point des indicateurs de santé auxquels on se réfère à la fois pour suivre l’évolution de l’état de santé de la population et pour évaluer la performance et l’efficacité des diverses politiques de santé et des interventions médicales. Cette étude commence par l’élaboration d’un cadre afin de distinguer les principaux indicateurs de l’état de santé qui ont été proposés. Le rapport montre également dans ce cadre, l’intérêt potentiel de différents indicateurs ...
Creation-Date: 1999-01-21
Number: 36
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:36-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Stephane Jacobzone
Author-Name: E. Cambois
Author-Name: E. Chaplain
Author-Name: J. M. Robine
Title: The Health of Older Persons in OECD Countries: Is it Improving Fast Enough to Compensate for Population Ageing?
Abstract: This study extends research on the impact of age-specific disability trends internationally, with a specific emphasis on long-term care needs. It focuses on changing patterns of disability in populations over 65 for a set of OECD countries for which cross-sectional evidence is available for at least two points in time five years or more apart (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States). It analyses the policy implications of trends in health outcomes among older populations, both in terms of financing and with respect to the balance of care between home and institutions.Information related to severe disability, as measured by the ability to carry out activities of daily living, was obtained for the population aged 65 and over, and cross-classified into four age groups and by gender. Two projections were made: one assumes stable rates of disability, and the other reflects the rate of change based on ...
Creation-Date: 1999-02-24
Number: 37
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:37-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Stephane Jacobzone
Title: Ageing and Care for Frail Elderly Persons: An Overview of International Perspectives
Abstract: This paper examines the various constraints which OECD Member countries must now deal with, faced with the prospects of rapid growth in the number of frail elderly persons. It pays particular attention to recent trends in disability. Most of the available cross-country evidence shows trends towards better functional health in older populations, although the magnitude of the gains and their significance need further assessment.In this context, this paper advocates an “active ageing” approach to long-term care policies. It provides some rough estimates of the macroeconomic costs of long-term care. It also presents some indicators of public/private financing and institutionalisation rates. The public costs of providing long-term care are estimated to be relatively modest as a proportion of GDP (of the order of 1 or 2 per cent or less). However, much care for the frail elderly is provided through informal care-giving arrangements which are not reflected in official figures.
Creation-Date: 1999-04-20
Number: 38
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:38-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Willem Adema
Title: Net Social Expenditure
Abstract: This paper contains an overview of net total (public and private) social expenditure indicators. These indicators have been developed to supplement available historical information on gross social expenditure trends by accounting for the varying impact of the tax system across countries. Tax systems can affect social spending in three ways: Governments levy direct taxes and social security contributions on cash transfers. Governments levy indirect taxes on goods and services bought by benefit recipients. And, Governments may award tax advantages similar to cash benefits and/or grant tax concessions aiming to stimulate purchase of insurance coverage by private agents. The paper summarises the methodological framework as previously developed, but extends coverage to thirteen countries for which information for 1993 and/or 1995 is now available: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom ...<BR>Ce document comprend un exposé sur les indicateurs des dépenses sociales totales nettes (publiques et privées). Ces indicateurs ont été développés afin d’apporter un supplément aux informations historiques disponibles sur les tendances des dépenses sociales totales brutes, en tenant compte de l’impact qui varie selon le régime fiscal des différents pays. Le régime fiscal peut avoir une incidence sur les dépenses sociales de trois façons : Les gouvernements perçoivent des impôts directs et des cotisations de sécurité sociale sur les transferts en espèces. Les gouvernements perçoivent des impôts indirects sur les marchandises et les services achetés par les bénéficiaires. Et, Les gouvernements peuvent accorder des déductions fiscales similaires à des prestations en espèces et/ou accorder des allégements fiscaux dans le but d’inciter les agents (instituts et/ou individus) privés à avoir recours aux assurances sociales. Ce document résume le cadre méthodologique tel qu’il a été …
Creation-Date: 1999-08-19
Number: 39
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:39-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Stephane Jacobzone
Title: Pharmaceutical Policies in OECD Countries: Reconciling Social and Industrial Goals
Abstract: Regulation of the pharmaceutical sector needs to reconcile private and social objectives. Public intervention pursues multiple goals which relate to both health and industry policy. Many OECD Governments are also heavily involved as buyers of pharmaceuticals in publicly-financed health care systems. This paper describes recent trends in pharmaceutical expenditure and financing in a first chapter. A second chapter discusses the economics of pharmaceutical markets. A third chapter provides a review of national policies and their attempts to balance public and private objectives.Pharmaceutical expenditure has been rising steadily as a share of GDP since 1970. However, total health expenditure has also risen. As a result, pharmaceutical expenditure has, on average, maintained its share of total health expenditure in the OECD, close to 15 %. Across countries, pharmaceutical expenditure per capita depends on relative incomes but is also influenced by institutional features. The pharmaceutical ...<BR>La régulation du secteur pharmaceutique doit réconcilier des objectifs sociaux et privés. L'intervention publique poursuit des objectifs multiples, relatifs tant à la politique de santé qu'à la politique industrielle. De nombreux gouvernements de l'OCDE sont également profondément engagés en tant qu'acheteurs de médicaments dans des systèmes de santé financés sur fonds publics. Dans un premier chapitre, cette etude décrit des tendances récentes des dépenses pharmaceutiques et du financement. Un second chapitre discute l'économie des marchés du médicament. Un troisième chapitre offre une revue des politiques nationales et de leurs efforts pour équilibrer les objectifs publics et privés.Les dépenses pharmaceutiques ont vu leur part du PIB s'accroître constamment depuis 1970. Cependant, la part des dépenses de santé s'est aussi accrue. Il en résulte que les dépenses de médicament ont dans l'ensemble maintenu leur part au sein des dépenses de santé, proche de 15 %. Les dépenses de ...
Creation-Date: 2000-04-17
Number: 40
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:40-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Jane Jenson
Author-Name: Stephane Jacobzone
Title: Care Allowances for the Frail Elderly and Their Impact on Women Care-Givers
Abstract: This report discusses the impact of care allowances on women care-givers. These programmes, involving some payment for care in informal care settings, have recently been introduced in several OECD Member countries. While their primary goal has been to help older persons in need of care, their consequences for the persons providing care also deserve to be analysed. The bulk of informal care is provided by women care-givers. In this respect, long-term care systems involve a partnership between formal care systems, the state, and the family, in order to provide a continuum of care. This also renders the analysis very complex. The main objective of the paper is to answer the question: what is the impact for women care-givers of various models of care allowances for the frail elderly? These care allowances have been primarily instituted to address the needs of older persons for care, as well as to offer some compensation for caring responsibilities. Apart from these initial goals ...<BR>Ce rapport discute de l'impact pour les aidants informels féminins des allocations de soins. Ces programmes qui impliquent des formes de paiement pour les soins dans un contexte de soins informels, ont été récemment introduits dans plusieurs Pays Membres de l'OCDE. Tandis que leur but principal a été d'aider des personnes âgées ayant besoin de soins, leurs conséquences pour les personnes procurant les soins méritent aussi d'être analysées. L'essentiel des soins informels est procuré par des aidants féminins. Dans cette mesure, les systèmes de soins dépendance impliquent des partenariats entre les systèmes de soins formels, l'État et la famille, afin d'offrir un continuum de soins. Ceci rend aussi l'analyse très complexe. L'objectif principal de cette étude est de répondre à la question: quel est l'impact pour les aidants féminins de divers modèles d'allocation de soins pour les personnes âgées dépendantes? Ces allocations de soins compensatrices ont été principalement mises en ...
Creation-Date: 2000-07-11
Number: 41
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:41-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Michael Förster
Title: Trends and Driving Factors in Income Distribution and Poverty in the OECD Area
Abstract: This paper summarises trends and driving factors in income distribution and poverty in 21 OECD Member countries analysing separately the working- and the retirement-age populations. Shifts in relative incomes in the past ten years generally favoured prime-age and elderly age groups. Persons living in multi-adult households have seen their income shares rise somewhat, especially in households without children, or when there are two or more earners present. On the other hand, younger age groups generally lost ground, and relative income levels of single parents and persons in households with no earners tended to weaken further in many countries. There has been no generalised long-term trend in the distribution of disposable household incomes since the mid-1970s. However, during the more recent period (mid-1980s to mid-1990s), income inequality has increased in about half of the OECD countries studied, while none of the remaining countries recorded an unambiguous decrease in ...<BR>Ce document résume les tendances et les facteurs d'évolution dans la distribution des revenus et pauvreté dans 21 pays Membres de l'OCDE, en analysant séparément la population d'âge actif et la population à la retraite. Au cours des dix dernières années, l'évolution des revenus relatifs a été, de façon générale, favorable aux groupes des personnes d'âge très actif et des personnes âgées. Les personnes vivant dans des ménages de plusieurs adultes ont vu leurs parts de revenu augmenter quelque peu, en particulier dans les ménages sans enfant et dans les ménages à deux revenus ou plus. En revanche, les groupes d'âge plus jeunes ont perdu du terrain et les niveaux de revenus relatifs des parents isolés et des personnes vivant dans des ménages sans apporteurs de revenus ont eu tendance à s'affaiblir encore. Depuis le milieu des années 70, il n'y a pas eu d'évolution généralisée durable de la distribution du revenu disponible des ménages. Toutefois, sur la période la plus récente ...
Creation-Date: 2000-08-11
Number: 42
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:42-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Drusilla K. Brown
Title: International Trade and Core Labour Standards: A Survey of the Recent Literature
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of the current debate and recent literature on several aspects of international core labor standards. We attempt to address two basic issues. One strand of the literature examines the role that international trade plays in mediating international differences in wages, levels of development, labor law and cultural practices. In this context, we examine the theory and evidence concerning the impact of differing labor standards for international trade and whether such trade has implications for the income distribution in OECD countries. We also consider the impact of heterogeneous cross-country labor standards and practices for legal institutions relating to labor standards and industrial relations. In particular, we are interested in whether cross-country differences in labor standards must inevitably give rise to a race to the bottom in labor protections and what any consequent decline in standards might imply for broader ...<BR>L’objet de cet ouvrage est de soumettre à une analyse critique les arguments avancés dans le débat en cours sur plusieurs aspects de la question des normes internationales fondamentales du travail, ainsi que les études qui leur ont récemment été consacrées. Deux thèmes essentiels y sont traités. Une partie de ces études s’intéresse à l’influence qu’exercent les échanges internationaux sur les differences existant entre pays quant aux salaires, au niveau de développement, à la législation du travail et aux pratiques culturelles. Dans cette optique, nous examinons les théories et les faits observés concernant les effets de la diversité des normes du travail sur les échanges internationaux, en tentant de déterminer si ces derniers ont une incidence sur la répartition du revenu dans les pays de l’OCDE. Nous étudions également l’impact que peuvent avoir des normes du travail et des pratiques en matière d’emploi variables d’un pays à l’autre s’agissant des institutions juridiques ...
Creation-Date: 2000-10-04
Number: 43
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:43-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Claire Gudex
Author-Name: Gaétan Lafortune
Title: An Inventory of Health and Disability-Related Surveys in OECD Countries
Abstract: There is strong policy interest in monitoring trends on the prevalence of chronic diseases and disability rates, both nationally and internationally, in light of rising life expectancy and population ageing. However, international comparisons of health and disability survey data are difficult because different instruments are used to measure various health and disability dimensions in national surveys.This inventory examines the comparability of survey instruments used to measure health and disability in various OECD countries. It extends a similar inventory prepared by the Danish Institute of Public Health for Eurostat in 1999. Some 30 surveys from 23 OECD countries are reviewed in detail and compared. These include a mix of cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys, general health and disabilityspecific surveys, and surveys covering the entire population and some targeting the elderly population only. The domains covered include selected health conditions (chronic physical ...<BR>On constate un intérêt politique marqué à mesurer l’évolution de la prévalence des maladies chroniques et de l’invalidité, tant au niveau national qu’international, en raison de l’accroissement de l’espérance de vie et du vieillissement de la population. Toutefois, il est difficile présentement de faire des comparaisons internationales des données des enquêtes nationales sur la santé et sur l’invalidité parce que les instruments de mesure varient d’une enquête à l’autre.Cet inventaire a pour but d’examiner la comparabilité des instruments de mesure de la santé et de l’invalidité dans les enquêtes nationales de différents pays de l’OCDE. Il prolonge un inventaire similaire préparé par l’Institut danois de santé publique en 1999 pour le compte d’Eurostat. Quelques 30 enquêtes de 23 pays de l’OECD sont examinées et comparées en détail. Celles-ci comprennent des enquêtes transversales et longitudinales, des enquêtes générales de la santé et d’autres portant spécifiquement sur ...
Creation-Date: 2000-10-06
Number: 44
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:44-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: John M. Evans
Author-Name: Douglas C. Lippoldt
Author-Name: Pascal Marianna
Title: Trends in Working Hours in OECD Countries
Abstract: In recent years, the decline in average annual hours of work per person in employment, which can be traced back for over a century, has slowed. In some countries, there has even been an increase in the average annual hours per person employed. In countries where continuing falls can be observed, this can be traced to legal action (for example, France, Japan and Portugal) or to particularly vigorous negotiation between the social partners (for example, Germany and the Netherlands). The United States and Sweden both show an increase in average annual hours, in the first case due partly to an increase in overtime hours, in the second to an increase in the hours worked by part-time workers. For the European countries, the paper shows how the pattern of change in weekly working hours can be linked, inter alia, to the institutional arrangements applying in the different countries.Part-time working has both exerted downward pressure on average working hours and been an important ...<BR>Entamée depuis plus d’un siècle, la baisse du temps de travail annuel par personne disposant d’un emploi s’est ralentie depuis quelques années, et s’est même inversée dans certains pays. Dans ceux où elle se poursuit, c’est suite à une action du législateur (France, Japon, Portugal) ou à des négociations vigoureuses entre les partenaires sociaux (Allemagne et Pays-Bas). Les États-Unis et la Suède enregistrent l’un comme l’autre une augmentation de la durée annuelle moyenne du travail. Dans le premier cas, c’est en partie dû à une progression des heures supplémentaires, dans le second, à un accroissement de la durée moyenne du travail à temps partiel. Pour les pays européens, cet article montre que l’évolution de la durée de travail hebdomadaire peut être reliée aux dispositifs institutionnels applicables à l’échelon national.Le temps partiel est responsable d’une baisse de la durée moyenne du travail et constitue une source majeure de création d’emplois dans la plupart des pays ...
Creation-Date: 2001-03-30
Number: 45
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:45-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Zeynep Or
Title: Exploring the Effects of Health Care on Mortality Across OECD Countries
Abstract: Two of the most important questions facing health policy makers in OECD countries are: whether the increasing sums of money devoted to health care are yielding commensurate value in terms of improvements in health status; and whether different ways of financing and delivering health care -and, hence, health care reformsmake a difference to health. This paper explores the effect of variations in the volume of health care and in certain characteristics of health systems on mortality across 21 OECD countries over the past 25 years, after controlling for certain other determinants of health status. It builds on previous research on the determinants of health outcomes in OECD countries (Or, 2000). In contrast to the earlier work, it concentrates on a non-monetary measure of health care supply – number of doctors – to avoid a number of measurement issues. It also uses a range of summary measures of mortality to assess the performance of health care systems and incorporates a ...<BR>Deux questions primordiales auxquelles doivent faire face les responsables des politiques de santé dans les pays de l’OCDE sont: Dans quelle mesure les investissements croissants dédiés aux soins en santé mènent à une réelle amélioration en terme d’état de santé; et dans quelle mesure les différents types de financement et d’approvisionnement des soins de santé – et donc, les reformes de santé – apportent une différence à la santé d’une population. Le présent rapport explore l’effet des variations dans le volume des service de soins et de certaines autres caractéristiques des systèmes de santé sur la mortalité à travers 21 pays de l’OCDE sur les 25 dernières années, après un contrôle sur d’autres déterminants d’état de santé. Il poursuit la recherche sur les déterminants de l’état de santé dans les pays de l’OCDE (Or, 2000). A l’encontre de l’étude précédente, il se concentre sur une mesure non-monétaire de ressources médicales -nombre de médecin- pour éviter un certain ...
Creation-Date: 2001-01-10
Number: 46
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:46-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Jeremy Hurst
Author-Name: Melissa Jee-Hughes
Title: Performance Measurement and Performance Management in OECD Health Systems
Abstract: Health systems in OECD countries are under pressure to improve their performance. Against that background, this paper has three main aims: To compare concepts of the ‘performance’ of health care systems developed by the WHO and by the OECD, with ‘performance frameworks’ adopted in selected OECD countries. To compare the key indicators of performance derived from these proposed performance concepts. A secondary objective, here, is to try to identify new performance variables that might eventually be included in OECD Health Data. To compare and contrast the different performance management arrangements in the selected OECD countries, and to evaluate the extent to which there is evidence that new indicators and new institutions have been brought together successfully to improve performance itself. In order to achieve these aims, the paper reviews the performance frameworks and some of the performance indicators adopted recently by WHO, OECD, Australia, Canada, the UK and ...<BR>Toutes sortes de pressions s’exercent actuellement pour que les systèmes de santé des pays de l’OCDE s’améliorent. Dans ce contexte, on a adopté dans la présente étude trois principaux objectifs, à savoir : Comparer la définition de la performance des systèmes de santé élaborés par l’OMS et l’OCDE avec les cadres d’évaluation de la performance adoptés dans plusieurs pays de l’OCDE. Comparer les indicateurs clés de performance établis à partir de ces définitions proposées. Un deuxième objectif dans ce contexte, pourrait être d’identifier de nouveaux paramètres de performance qui pourraient éventuellement être inclus dans Eco-Santé OCDE. Comparer les différents mécanismes de gestion de la performance dans les pays de l’OCDE retenus et faire ressortir les différences ; évaluer dans quelle mesure les faits indiquent que de nouveaux indicateurs et de nouvelles institutions ont été mis en œuvre avec succès pour améliorer la performance elle-même. On a étudié les cadres ...
Creation-Date: 2001-01-29
Number: 47
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:47-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: John M. Evans
Title: Firms' Contribution to the Reconciliation between Work and Family Life
Abstract: One of the most striking, long-term trends in the labour market has been the increase in the proportion of parents at work. This has been reflected in the increase in the proportion of dual-earner couple families and of lone-parent families where the parent is working. A growing proportion of the workforces of firms is thus heavily involved in family life and responsibilities, in addition to their jobs. The way in which the working arrangements in firms adapt in response to these changes is of crucial importance for the work/family reconciliation. Whatever government policies are put in place, the detailed aspects of the reconciliation are worked out at the level of the workplace, and the job. This paper provides an international comparison of these “family-friendly” work arrangements voluntarily introduced by firms, and discusses some of the factors which might influence and encourage their development.Detailed information on family-friendly arrangements in enterprises is ...<BR>L’une des tendances sur longue période les plus marquantes touchant l’évolution du marché du travail est l’augmentation de la proportion de parents qui travaillent. Elle se traduit par le poids croissant des ménages bi-actifs avec enfants et des familles monoparentales dont le parent travaille. Les enterprises comptent donc parmi leur personnel de plus en plus de personnes qui s’investissent beaucoup dans leur vie familiale tout en exerçant une activité professionnelle. La façon dont les entreprises s’organisent face à ces évolutions revêt une importance cruciale pour la conciliation de la vie professionnelle et de la vie familiale. Quels que soient les dispositifs mis en place par les pouvoirs publics, leurs conditions précises de mise en œuvre sont définies au niveau de l’entreprise et du poste de travail. Ce document présente une comparaison internationale des dispositifs “favorables à la famille” volontairement introduits par les entreprises, et s’intéresse à quelques-uns des ...
Creation-Date: 2001-02-28
Number: 48
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:48-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Peter Scherer
Title: Age of Withdrawal from the Labour Force in OECD Countries
Abstract: The age of withdrawal from the labour force is an issue of great policy importance. As populations age, an accurate understanding of trends and cross-country differences has become important. However, the age of withdrawal from the labour force cannot be measured directly using cross-sectional data only. Direct observation of net withdrawal rates are needed. This paper presents estimates of these rates derived from comparisons of activity rates at five year periods. A method is proposed (in the Annex) for using data on the stock of people employed at age 65 and above to derive estimates of the net rate of withdrawal at ages 65 and above. The results indicate that net age of withdrawal for men and for women is similar in most countries, and that both show strong cyclical fluctuations ...<BR>L’âge de retrait de la population active est une question d’une grande importance politique. Alors que la population vieillit, une juste compréhension des tendances et des différences internationales est devenue importante. Toutefois, on ne peut pas mesurer directement l’âge de retrait de la population active en utilisant uniquement des données en coupe. Des observations directes des taux nets de retrait sont nécessaires. Ce document présente des estimations de ces taux, dérivées des comparaisons des taux d’activité par périodes de cinq ans. Une méthode est proposée (en Annexe) pour utiliser les données concernant les personnes employées à l’âge de 65 et plus afin d’arriver à des estimations sur les taux nets de retrait à l’âge de 65 ans et plus. Les résultats montrent que l’âge net de retrait est similaire pour les hommes et les femmes dans la plupart des pays. De fortes fluctuations cycliques sont en outre enregistrées à la fois pour les hommes et pour les femmes ...
Creation-Date: 2002-01-11
Number: 49
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:49-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Elena Arnal
Author-Name: Wooseok Ok
Author-Name: Raymond Torres
Title: Knowledge, Work Organisation and Economic Growth
Abstract: It is sometimes asserted that an era of faster economic growth has come about --the so-called New Economy. New technology, notably information and communications technology (ICT), is seen as a key factor at work, together with international economic integration. This report examines the issue from a labour market perspective. The findings suggest that sanguine predictions about the New Economy are unlikely to materialise unless the appropriate policy environment is in place, notably as regards employment and human capital development policies.New technology holds the promise of higher economic growth, ...True, new technologies hold the promise of higher economic growth and improved living standards. Besides the potential impact of technology on efficiency gains, ICT may provide opportunities for better utilising existing skills. In this regard, the availability of telework to groups so far underrepresented in the labour market is a positive phenomenon. Also, new technology will ...
Creation-Date: 2001-06-05
Number: 50
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:50-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Roman Arjona
Author-Name: Maxime Ladaique
Author-Name: Mark Pearson
Title: Growth, Inequality and Social Protection
Abstract: Economic growth is, ultimately, the result of the myriad of transactions which take place in a market economy. Similarly, the distribution of income depends on who has ownership of factors of production, how much they can sell them for, and whether the resultant income is redistributed or not. It would be surprising were economic growth and income distribution not to be linked. But how exactly they might be linked has been the topic of many competing theories and empirical evaluations. Unfortunately, the studies have not led to a convergence on a common view that there is, or is not, a trade-off between the two goals of an equitable society and a rich one. This lack of enlightenment becomes less surprising once the empirical studies are examined in detail. Many empirical studies have looked at the final distribution of income, when some of the theories make stronger predictions about the links between growth and the distribution of income before taxes and transfers; similar ...<BR>La croissance économique est, en fin de compte, la résultante des multiples transactions qui se déroulent dans une économie de marché. De même, la distribution du revenu dépend de l’identité des propriétaires des facteurs de production, du revenu qu’ils peuvent escompter de la vente de ces facteurs et du point de savoir si ce revenu est redistribué ou non. Il serait étonnant qu’il n’y ait pas de lien entre la croissance économique et la distribution du revenu. Quant à savoir quel est exactement ce lien, c’est là un thème auquel ont été consacrées maintes théories et évaluations empiriques concurrentes. Malheureusement, ces études n’ont pas permis d’aboutir à des conclusions convergentes sur le point de savoir s’il y a ou non relation inverse entre ces deux objectifs que sont une société équitable et une société riche. Cette situation apparaît moins surprenante lorsqu’on examine précisément les études réalisées. De nombreuses études empiriques considèrent la distribution finale ...
Creation-Date: 2001-06-29
Number: 51
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:51-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Willem Adema
Title: Net Social Expenditure: 2nd Edition
Abstract: This document is the 2nd edition of the Net Social Expenditure paper published in 1999 (Adema, 1999). It contains an overview of net (after tax) public and private social expenditure indicators. These indicators have been developed to supplement available historical information on gross social expenditure trends by accounting for the varying impact of the tax system across countries. Tax systems can affect social spending in three ways: Governments levy direct taxes and social security contributions on cash transfers. Governments levy indirect taxes on goods and services bought by benefit recipients. Governments may award tax advantages similar to cash benefits and/or grant tax concessions aiming to stimulate the provision of private social benefits. The document summarises the methodological framework as previously developed, but extends coverage to eighteen countries for which information for 1997 is now available: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech ...<BR>Ce document est la 2ème édition du rapport sur les dépenses sociales nettes publié en 1999. Il comprend un exposé sur les indicateurs des dépenses sociales totales nettes (publiques et privées). Ces indicateurs ont été développés afin d’apporter un supplément aux informations historiques disponibles sur les tendances des dépenses sociales totales brutes, en tenant compte de l’impact qui varie selon le régime fiscal des différents pays. Le régime fiscal peut avoir une incidence sur les dépenses sociales de trois façons : Les gouvernements perçoivent des impôts directs et des cotisations de sécurité sociale sur les transferts en espèces. Les gouvernements perçoivent des impôts indirects sur les marchandises et les services achetés par les bénéficiaires. Les gouvernements peuvent accorder des déductions fiscales similaires à des prestations en espèces et/ou accorder des allégements fiscaux dans le but d’inciter les agents (instituts et/ou individus) privés à avoir recours aux ...
Creation-Date: 2001-08-29
Number: 52
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:52-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Francesca Colombo
Title: Towards More Choice in Social Protection?: Individual Choice of Insurer in Basic Mandatory Health Insurance in Switzerland
Abstract: There is a considerable interest in some OECD countries in understanding how greater choice in health markets can be combined with the equity and efficiency goals of health systems.This paper reviews the system of free choice of insurer in basic mandatory health insurance that was introduced in Switzerland with the 1994 Health Insurance Law (LAMal). The thrust of the reform was to increase solidarity in basic health insurance while enhancing choice among individuals and competition on quality-price ratios among insurers. The reform encompassed regulatory mechanisms to facilitate the switching mechanism and choice-led competition, such as measures to ensure cross-subsidisation across individuals of different risk and income, information disclosure requirements for insurers, and the mandatory participation to a risk equalisation mechanism for all insurers offering basic health insurance.The analysis presented in this paper suggests that some features of the individual choice ...<BR>Certains pays de l'OCDE manifestent un très grand intérêt à comprendre comment un plus grand choix sur les marchés de la santé peut aller de pair avec des objectifs d'efficacité et d'efficience des systèmes de santé.Ce rapport examine le système de libre choix du fournisseur de l'assurance-maladie de base obligatoire qui a été introduite en Suisse avec la loi sur l'assurance-maladie de 1994 (LAMal). Le but de la réforme était d'augmenter la solidarité de l'assurance-maladie de base tout en offrant un plus large choix à chaque individu ainsi qu'une concurrence au niveau qualité/prix parmi les assureurs. La réforme englobait des dispositifs régulatoires pour faciliter le mécanisme de changement ainsi que les mesures pour assurer un échange de subvention parmi les individus ayant des niveaux de risques et de revenus différents, des besoins en transparence d'informations pour les assureurs et la participation obligatoire dans un mécanisme d'égalité des risques pour tout assureur ...
Creation-Date: 2001-09-18
Number: 53
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:53-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Peter Hicks
Title: Public Support for Retirement Income Reform
Abstract: The OECD has undertaken a comparison of the resources of older people in nine OECD countries – Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States – and has examined how the incomes of older people are influenced, directly and indirectly, by government policies. The study finds that a new policy agenda is emerging, one that is likely to focus on how policy can support: A transition from full-time work to retirement that is later, on average, than at present and that provides greater opportunities for more flexible and gradual pathways to full retirement. There would be a realistic possibility for many people to have a continued attachment to the labour force, and an active life in society, well into later life. However, highest priority would be on encouraging later retirement for those who now retire well before age 65. A diversified system of income support for older people during retirement (and the transition to ...<BR>L’OCDE a entrepris de comparer les ressources des personnes âgées dans neuf pays de l’OCDE - - Allemagne, Canada, Etats-Unis, Finlande, Italie, Japon, Pays-Bas, Royaume-Uni et Suède --, cherchant, en particulier, à voir comment les revenus des personnes âgées subissent, directement ou indirectement, l’incidence des politiques publiques2. Cette étude met en évidence l’apparition d’un nouveau défi pour les pouvoirs publics, qui devront s’efforcer d’accompagner certaines évolutions : Faire que le passage d’une activité à plein temps à la retraite s’effectue plus tardivement, en moyenne, que ce n’est le cas actuellement, et selon des modalités plus souples et plus graduelles avant d’en arriver à une cessation complète d’activité. Ainsi, de nombreuses personnes pourraient continuer de garder un lien avec le monde du travail et continuer de mener une vie active au sein de la société jusqu’à un âge avancé. Cependant, la première priorité serait d’encourager les personnes ...
Creation-Date: 2001-12-17
Number: 55
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:55-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Hyoung-Sun Jeong
Author-Name: Jeremy Hurst
Title: An Assessment of the Performance of the Japanese Health Care System
Abstract: There is much interest in the Japanese health care system from the perspective of other OECD countries. The Japanese health care system appears to perform well. What explains this apparently good performance? This paper aims both to provide a description of how the Japanese health system works and an assessment of its performance in the context of an international comparison.The Japanese health care system is characterised by public health insurance with mainly private providers. Japan has universal public health insurance with coverage of a comprehensive range of services and only modest cost sharing by patients. It has mainly private providers paid mainly by fee-for-service. The share of its population that is elderly is above the OECD average. Such a combination would usually be associated with high levels of health expenditure. Yet less is spent on health care in Japan than would be expected for an OECD country with its standard of living. Cost containment seems to have been ...<BR>Le système de santé du Japon suscite beaucoup d'intérêt de la part d'autres pays de l'OCDE. Le système de santé du Japon semble atteindre une performance remarquable. Quels sont les facteurs qui permettent d'expliquer cette dernière? Cet article vise à offrir une description de la façon dont le système de santé du Japon fonctionne et à évaluer sa performance exécution dans le contexte d'une comparaison internationale.Le système de santé du Japon se caractérise par une assurance maladie publique et des offreurs de soins privés. La couverture maladie est universelle et offre une couverture large de services, avec seulement de modestes tickets modérateurs. Les offreurs privés sont payés principalement à l'acte. La part de sa population qui est âgée est au-dessus de la moyenne de l'OCDE. Une telle combinaison serait habituellement associée à des niveaux élevés de la dépense de santé. Pourtant le Japon dépense moins pour sa santé qu'il n'en serait attendu pour un pays de l'OCDE avec son ...
Creation-Date: 2001-12-06
Number: 56
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:56-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Zeynep Or
Title: Improving the Performance of Health Care Systems: From Measures to Action (A Review of Experiences in Four OECD Countries)
Abstract: There is growing interest in improving the performance of health systems in OECD countries. Many countries are developing initiatives to measure performance to guide and inform the improvement process. Indeed, measurement and improvement are increasingly linked, as is indicated by familiar phrases such as ‘evidence-based medicine’ and ‘evidence-based policy’.This paper summarises the findings of an investigation of recent initiatives to better measure and improve health performance in four OECD countries: France, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden. It highlights a number of case studies in these countries, which have been chosen to illustrate initiatives to improve performance, which paid greater or lesser attention to measurement issues. An attempt has also been made to describe the role of institutional arrangements as well as various policy and management “levers” which are used to bring about change. The case studies and discussion presented in this paper draw upon a more ...<BR>Les pays de l’OCDE sont de plus en plus soucieux d’améliorer les performances de leur système de santé. De nombreux pays prennent actuellement des initiatives pour que la mesure des performances puisse orienter et éclairer leurs efforts d’amélioration. De fait, la mesure des performances et l’amélioration des systèmes sont de plus en plus liées, ainsi qu’en témoignent des expressions comme médecine et/ou politique fondée sur des données objectives.Le présent document résume les résultats de recherches portant sur des initiatives récentes visant à mieux mesurer et à améliorer les performances de système de santé de quatre pays de l’OCDE: la France, la Nouvelle-Zélande, les Pays-Bas, et la Suède. Il met en lumière un certain nombre d’études de cas retenues pour illustrer les initiatives qui ont été prises pour améliorer les performances en accordant une plus ou moins grande attention aux questions de mesure. Il tente également de mettre en lumière le rôle du contexte ...
Creation-Date: 2002-01-25
Number: 57
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:57-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Willem Adema
Author-Name: Donald Gray
Author-Name: Sigrun Kahl
Title: Social Assistance in Germany
Abstract: This paper follows the framework developed in past OECD studies for analysis of social assistance programmes that aim to provide low-income clients with adequate financial support while simultaneously promoting their reintegration into labour market and, where necessary, mainstream society. Increasingly, jobless citizens in Germany rely on social assistance: a role for which the programme was never intended. Indeed, there are two other programmes that serve the unemployed in Germany, and this paper discusses social assistance in the context of its relationship to Unemployment Insurance and Assistance benefits.First, this study provides a concise overview of Germany’s public social system, and discusses federal relations inasmuch they have a bearing on the delivery of public assistance benefits. The study discusses the nature of benefits available to social assistance clients in general, and related support measures for particular client-groups, for example, lone parent families ...<BR>Ce document s’intègre dans le cadre développé dans les dernières études de l’OCDE d’analyses des programmes d’assistance sociale mis en place afin de fournir aux bas revenus une aide financière adéquate tout en s’appliquant à promouvoir leur intégration sur le marché de l’emploi et, quand c’est nécessaire, leur intégration sociale. De plus en plus, les citoyens sans emploi allemands ont recours à l’aide sociale : rôle pour lequel aucun programme n’a jamais été mis en place. Ainsi, il y a deux autres programmes prévus pour le chômage en Allemagne et ce document débat de l’assistance sociale dans le contexte de sa relation avec l’assurance chômage et les prestations sociales.D’abord, cette étude fournit une vue concise du système public social en Allemagne et débat de ses relations avec les autorités fédérales dans la mesure où celles ci ont un rôle à jouer dans l’octroi de prestations. L’étude discute de la nature des prestations disponibles pour l’assistance sociale des ...
Creation-Date: 2003-01-09
Number: 58
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:58-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Siv S. Gustafsson
Author-Name: Eiko Kenjoh
Author-Name: Cécile M. M. P. Wetzels
Title: Postponement of Maternity and the Duration of Time Spent at Home after First Birth: Panel Data Analyses Comparing Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden
Abstract: This paper analyses the postponement of first births of the 1990s compared to the 1980s, using panel data from four countries, namely, Germany (GSOEP), Great Britain (BHPS), the Netherlands (OSA) and Sweden (HUS). We find substantial postponement of maternity in all four countries for all educational groups with the most pronounced postponement among highly educated women in all four countries. However the mean age of the mother when giving birth to the first child reamained the lowest in Great among the four countries in both decades.Theoretically we can distinguish two motives for postponing maternity, namely, the consumptionsmoothing motive and the career-planning motive. In this paper we concentrate on an important determinant of the maternal time costs: the time spent out of paid employment.We make use of longitudinal information about the number of months elapsed since first birth until the mother is observed working in the labour market. We estimate parametric duration ...<BR>Ce papier analyse le recul des premières naissances de 1990 avec celles de 1980 en utilisant des panels de données de quatre pays, soit, l’Allemagne (GSOEP), la Grande Bretagne (BHPS), les Pays-Bas (OSA) et la Suède (HUS). Nous trouvons un recul important de la maternité dans ces quatre pays, pour tous les groupes d’éducation avec un recul prononcé parmi les femmes ayant suivi des hautes études. Toutefois, la moyenne d’âge de la mère à la naissance du premier enfant était le plus bas en Grande Bretagne, à la fois en 1980 et en 1990.Théoriquement, on peut distinguer deux raisons de différer une maternité : le maintien du niveau de consommation et un plan de carrière. Dans cette étude, nous nous concentrerons sur un point déterminant les coûts engendrés par une maternité : le temps passé hors du marché de l’emploi.Nous utilisons des informations longitudinales sur le nombre de mois écoulés entre la première naissance et le retour de la mère sur le marché de l’emploi. Nous estimons ...
Creation-Date: 2002-10-14
Number: 59
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:59-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Bernard Casey
Author-Name: Atsuhiro Yamada
Title: Getting Older, Getting Poorer?: A Study of the Earnings, Pensions, Assets and Living Arrangements of Older People in Nine Countries
Abstract: Ageing involves not one but several transitions. People move from working to not working, from relying upon labour income to relying on transfers. They also tend to live in smaller households, not only because any children will have moved away but also because, at some stage, a spouse dies. People move homes and sometimes they move back to live with their now grown-up children.This paper examines the wellbeing of people as they pass through the later stages of their life and through different labour market statuses and domestic statuses. It examines and compares nine countries – Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. It draws particularly from a special analysis of micro-data sets that report on incomes, but it complements this with an analysis of data on wealth, on consumption, on housing and on the use of in-kind services provided by the state.The paper is original in more than one way. First, its analysis is based upon the ...<BR>Le vieillissement de la population n’entraîne pas une mais plusieurs transitions. Les personnes passent du monde du travail a un monde sans travail et ils doivent dorénavant compter sur les transferts de revenus plutôt que sur la perception d'un salaire. Les tendances sont aussi à des foyers plus petits, le résultat non seulement généré par le départ des enfants mais aussi par le décès à un moment donné de l'époux/épouse. Quelquefois, les personnes déménagent pour revenir vivre avec leurs enfants adultes.Ce document examine le bien être des gens à travers les différents stades de la deuxième partie de leur vie ainsi qu'à travers des statuts domestiques et professionnels différents. Neuf pays sont examinés et comparés : le Canada, la Finlande, l'Allemagne, l'Italie, les Pays-Bas, la Suède, le Royaume-Uni et les Etats-Unis. Le document s'appuie plus particulièrement sur l'analyse des micro-données contenues dans le rapport sur les revenus, mais ces informations sont complétées par ...
Creation-Date: 2002-08-14
Number: 60
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:60-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Daniela Del Boca
Title: Low Fertility and Labour Force Participation of Italian Women: Evidence and Interpretations
Abstract: In Italy, as well as in other Southern European countries, low labor market participation rates of married women are observed together with low birth rates. Our proposed explanation for this apparent anomaly involves the Italian institutional structure, particularly as reflected in rigidities and imperfections in the labor market and characteristics of the publicly-funded child care system. These rigidities tend to simultaneously increase the costs of having children and to discourage the labor market participation of married women.We analyze a model of labor supply and fertility, using panel data from the Bank of Italy which have been merged with regional data describing the available opportunities in each sample household’s environment. The empirical results show that the availability of child care and part time work increase both the probability of working and having a child. Policies which would provide more flexible working hours choices and greater child care availability ...<BR>En Italie comme dans les autres pays de l’Europe du Sud, on observe un faible taux de participation à l’emploi des femmes mariées lié à un faible taux de naissances. L’explication mise en avant pour cette apparente anomalie suppose l’implication de la structure institutionnelle italienne, qui présente quelques rigidités et imperfections sur les questions du marché de l’emploi et les caractéristiques du système de garde d’enfants prises en charge par l’état. Ces rigidités tendent à accroître simultanément les coûts liés à un enfant et la démobilisation sur le marché du travail des femmes mariées.Nous analyserons un modèle d’offre de main d’oeuvre et de fertilité en utilisant des données de panel de la Banque d’Italie qui ont été associées à des données régionales décrivant les opportunités disponibles dans chaque échantillon de l’environnement des ménages. Les résultats empiriques montrent que la disponibilité pour un enfant et le travail à temps partiel augmentent tous deux les ...
Creation-Date: 2002-10-16
Number: 61
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:61-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Edith Gray
Author-Name: Peter McDonald
Title: The Relationship Between Personal, Family, Resource and Work Factors and Maternal Employment in Australia
Abstract: The factors associated with mothers’ attachment to the labour force are of interest to social researchers and policy makers. Previous research conducted had found that factors such as mother’s education, number of children, partner’s employment and gender role attitudes were related to employment of mother’s. This paper adapts a theoretical model of the effect of family-household and work system factors on job turnover, to examine maternal employment in Australia using nationally representative longitudinal data. It is found that education, financial situation, the number of young children and attitudes are important factors in understanding maternal employment ...<BR>Les chercheurs sociaux et les décideurs politiques ont étudié les facteurs qui conditionnent les mères de famille sur le marché de l’emploi. Selon les premiers résultats, ces facteurs varient selon l’éducation de la mère, le nombre d’enfants, le travail du conjoint et les comportements sociaux. Ce document adapte un modèle théorique de l’effet famille-ménage et des facteurs de l’emploi sur la rotation de la main d’oeuvre pour examiner l’emploi des mères en Australie en utilisant des données nationales longitudinales représentatives. Il en ressort que l’éducation, la situation financière, le nombre d’enfants et les comportements sociaux sont des facteurs importants s’il on veut comprendre l’emploi maternel ...
Creation-Date: 2002-10-29
Number: 62
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:62-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Atsuhiro Yamada
Title: The Evolving Retirement Income Package: Trends in Adequacy and Equality in Nine OECD Countries
Abstract: In 1998, the OECD issued a report, Maintaining Prosperity in an Ageing Society, on the widespread policy implications of ageing. This study is a background paper for one of the follow-up studies, Ageing and Income: Financial Resources and Retirement in Nine OECD countries, which was published by OECD in 2001. Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in this activity. Japan played a major role in initiating and funding the project. This paper explores various questions related to the income situation of persons at retirement-age It is based on the most comprehensive data available for the nine participating countries (including, for the first time, Japanese data) in a consistent and comparative way. Recently developed techniques were employed to examine the interactions between the evolution of the retirement income package, and trends in income adequacy and equality. There are four main ...<BR>En 1998, l’OCDE a publié un rapport, Préserver la prospérité dans une société vieillissante, sur les conséquences importantes du vieillissement sur les politiques. Cette étude a servi de document de base pour une des études qui a suivi, Vieillissement et revenus – Les ressources des retraités dans 9 pays de l’OCDE, qui a été publiée par l’OCDE en 2001. Le Canada, la Finlande, l’Allemagne, l’Italie, le Japon, les Pays-Bas, la Suède, le Royaume-Uni et les Etats-Unis ont participé à cette activité. Le Japon a lui joué un rôle majeur dans le lancement et le financement du projet. Ce document explore diverses questions liées à la situation financière des personnes en âge de la retraite. Il se base sur les données les plus complètes disponibles pour les neuf pays participant (y compris, pour la première fois, les données du Japon) d’une manière comparative et constante. Des techniques récemment élaborées ont été utilisées pour examiner la relation qui existe entre l’évolution de ...
Creation-Date: 2002-09-13
Number: 63
Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:63-EN