News Briefs
In: Nuclear law bulletin, Band 2021, Heft 1
ISSN: 1609-7378
In: Nuclear law bulletin, Band 2021, Heft 1
ISSN: 1609-7378
In: Nuclear law bulletin, Band 2021, Heft 1
ISSN: 1609-7378
This report provides a new perspective on Africa's urban economies that is unique in its breadth and level of detail. Based on data from more than 4 million individuals and firms in 2 600 cities across 34 countries, it presents compelling evidence that urbanisation contributes to better economic outcomes and higher living standards.
In: Journal of international economic law, Band 25, Heft 4, S. 548-567
ISSN: 1464-3758
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we build a quantitative database of the questions raised in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Agriculture (CoA) matching questions with the corresponding value of trade. Using this newly built database, we are able to show that (i) members' concerns about trade policy measures applied by other members cover on average 16% of global trade in agriculture; (ii) the activity of the committee increases in the aftermath of a new agreement, during a food crisis and has shifted over time from questions about market access (MA) policies to questions on domestic support, thus pointing at the need to further cooperation on some of these issues; (iii) 20% of the questions relate to trade policy measures that have not been notified at the WTO, thus representing a significant source of information for researchers to fill the gaps in notifications; and (iv) there is a strong correlation between members participation in the CoA and their share of trade in agriculture, yet questions on seeds, oils and animal fats, cereals, and beverages are well above what one would expect on the basis of the trade importance of these sectors. These findings illustrate the importance of building quantitative databases from the information collected in WTO committees to analyse trends in trade policy concerns by members and factors affecting these trends and to assess the impact of discussions in committees on trade.
COVID-19 has put renewed focus on the importance of addressing longstanding challenges that OECD governments face in delivering public services, especially in regions with people spread over a wider area where economies of scale are more difficult to achieve. The physical infrastructure needed to provide good quality education and health services can be more complex and expensive in rural and remote regions that also struggle to attract and retain education and health care professionals.
COVID-19 and Well-being: Life in the Pandemic explores the immediate implications of the pandemic for people's lives and livelihoods in OECD countries. The report charts the course of well-being - from jobs and incomes through to social connections, health, work-life balance, safety and more - using data collected during the first 12-15 months of the pandemic.
This publication examines how to strengthen the scope and effectiveness of entrepreneurship policies for women. It examines both dedicated measures for women and ensuring that mainstream policies for all entrepreneurs are appropriate for women. Evidence is offered on the gender gap in entrepreneurship and its causes.
Mental ill-health affects millions of people, and drives economic costs of more than 4% of GDP. A good mental health system helps people stay in good mental health, and connects those in need to appropriate support to manage their mental health condition or even fully recover from it.
In: OECD Economic Surveys: Spain
The Spanish economy entered a deep recession in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A strong government response has protected jobs and firms. However, the crisis has exacerbated long-standing structural challenges, such as high unemployment, inequalities and regional disparities.
Gender equality and environmental goals are mutually reinforcing, with slow progress on environmental actions affecting the achievement of gender equality, and vice versa. Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires targeted and coherent actions.
Food systems around the world face a triple challenge: providing food security and nutrition for a growing global population; supporting livelihoods for those working along the food supply chain; and contributing to environmental sustainability. Better policies hold tremendous promise for making progress in these domains.
Many Latin American countries have experienced improvements in income over recent decades, with several of them now classified as high-income or upper middle-income in terms of conventional metrics. But has this change been mirrored in improvements across the different areas of people's lives? How's Life in Latin America? Measuring Well-being for Policy Making addresses this question by presenting comparative evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with a focus on 11 LAC countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay).
Microplastics are ubiquitous in the natural environment. This report synthesises the current state of knowledge on the sources, fate and risks of microplastics pollution. It then focuses on two sources of microplastics pollution, textile products and vehicle tyres, due to their substantial contribution to global microplastics emissions and currently largely absent policy frameworks to mitigate them.