OECD’s Economic Survey of the European Union for 2012 examines recent economic developments, policies and prospects. It also includes special chapters covering the single market and labour market mobility.

Table of contents:

 Executive summary

Assessment and recommendations
-The EU needs to tackle the economic crisis and reach a stronger sustainable growth path
-The new growth model should support a fairer and greener economy
-The Europe 2020 strategy sets out ambitious EU reform targets, but will they be achieved?
-The completion of the Single Market is a strong EU-level tool to boost growth
-Europe needs to innovate more and better
-Further progress in trade liberalisation and agriculture would boost growth and raise living standards
-Labour market reforms and removing barriers to intra-EU labour mobility would boost employment, growth and ease adjustments
-An EU-level immigration policy could ease skill shortages due to demographic changes
-Regional policy can contribute more to growth
-Bibliography
Chapter 1. A Single Market for Europe
-How far is the Single Market a single market?
-Deeper integration would have a large impact on growth and living standards
-EU policy to complete the Single Market is moving forward, but slowly
-The Single Market needs to move closer to a Single Rule Book
-Targeted sector-specific measures policies are needed to open some markets fully
-Bibliography
Chapter 2. Mobility and migration in Europe
-EU labour markets are fragmented between and within countries and overall mobility is low
-Mobility is held back by Europe’s diversity but also by administrative obstacles
-Migration from outside Europe can reduce labour market imbalances
-Bibliography
Glossary

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This report analyses the impact of “Shifting wealth” on social cohesion, largely focusing on high-growth converging countries. A “cohesive” society works towards the well-being of all its members, creates a sense of belonging and fights against the marginalization within and between different groups of societies. The question this report asks is how does the structural transformation in converging economies affect their “social fabric”, their sense of belonging or put generally their ability to peacefully manage collective action problems.

Recent events in well performing countries in the Arab world but also beyond such as in Thailand, China and India seem to suggest that economic growth, rising fiscal resources and improvements in education are not sufficient  to create cohesion; governments need to address social deficits and actively promote social cohesion if long-term development is to be sustainable.

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Filed under: Books Download ]]> http://constantdream.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/perspectives-on-global-development-2012/feed/ 0 constantdream 412011021m http://constantdream.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/introduction-to-econometrics-university-of-oregon-online-course/ http://constantdream.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/introduction-to-econometrics-university-of-oregon-online-course/#comments Mon, 04 Jul 2011 06:44:40 +0000 Subhasis Bera http://constantdream.wordpress.com/?p=245 ]]> Course Description :

This course looks at what happens when the conditions are less than ideal due to departures from the assumptions necessary for ordinary least squares to be the best linear unbiased estimator, and provides alternative regression techniques that address problems arising from the violations of the basic assumptions.

Lecture Details :

Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 

Lecture by

Prof. Mark Thoma

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1. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 1
2. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 2
3. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 3
4. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 4
5. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 5
6. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 6
7. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 7
8. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 8
9. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 9
10. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 10
11. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 11
12. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 12
13. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 13
14. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 14
15. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 15
16. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 16
17. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 17
18. Economics 421 – Econometrics – Winter 2009 – Lecture 18

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Combating Poverty and Inequality argues that this is because many current approaches to reducing poverty and inequality fail to consider key institutional, policy and political dimensions that may be both causes of poverty and inequality, and obstacles to their reduction. Moreover, when a substantial proportion of a country’s population is poor, it makes little sense to detach poverty from the dynamics of development. For countries that have been successful in increasing the well-being of the majority of their populations over relatively short periods of time, the report shows, progress has occurred principally through state-directed strategies that combine economic development objectives with active social policies and forms of politics that elevate the interests of the poor in public policy.

The report is structured around three main issues, which, it argues, are the critical elements of a sustainable and inclusive development strategy:

• patterns of growth and structural change (whether in the agricultural, industrial or service sectors) that generate and sustain jobs that are adequately remunerated and accessible to all, regardless of income or class status, gender, ethnicity or location;
• comprehensive social policies that are grounded in universal rights and that are supportive of structural change, social cohesion and democratic politics; and
• protection of civic rights, activism and political arrangements that ensure states are responsive to the needs of citizens and the poor have influence in how policies are made.

The report seeks to explain why people are poor and why inequalities exist, as well as what can be done to rectify these injustices. It explores the causes, dynamics and persistence of poverty; examines what works and what has gone wrong in international policy thinking and practice; and lays out a range of policies and institutional measures that countries can adopt to alleviate poverty.

Download the full report.

Download by chapters.
Contents, acknowledgements, foreword and preface
Overview

Section 1: Socially Inclusive Structural Change
Chapter 1 – Towards Employment-Centred Structural Change
Chapter 2 – Income Inequality and Structural Change
Chapter 3 – Tackling Ethnic and Regional Inequalities
Chapter 4 – Gender Inequalities at Home and in the Market

Section 2: Transformative Social Policy and Poverty Reduction
Chapter 5 – Towards Universal Social Protection
Chapter 6 – Universal Provision of Social Services
Chapter 7 – Care and Well-Being in a Development Context
Chapter 8 – Financing Social Policy

Section 3: The Politics of Poverty Reduction
Chapter 9 – Business, Power and Poverty Reduction
Chapter 10 – Building State Capacity for Poverty Reduction
Chapter 11 – Democracy and the Politics of Poverty Reduction

Concluding Remarks
References, acronyms and list of boxes, figures and tables

Filed under: Report ]]> http://constantdream.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/combating-poverty-and-inequality-structural-change-social-policy-and-politics-unrisd-flagship-report/feed/ 1 constantdream UNRISD Report http://constantdream.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/better-life-initiative-your-better-life-index/ http://constantdream.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/better-life-initiative-your-better-life-index/#comments Mon, 30 May 2011 10:58:56 +0000 Subhasis Bera http://constantdream.wordpress.com/?p=235 ]]> How do you define a better life? What matters most to you – good schools, safe streets or something else?

The OECD Better Life Initiative proposes an interactive tool, Your Better Life Index, which enables you to rate your country on the things you feel make for a better life.

The Index allows citizens to compare well-being across 34 countries, based on 11 dimensions the OECD has identified as essential, in the areas of material living conditions and quality of life:

housing, income, jobs, community, education,environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety, work-life balance.

The OECD is NOT deciding what makes for better lives. YOU decide for yourself.

The Index currently covers the 34 member countries of the OECD.

The Index allows you to put different weights on each of the topics, and therefore to decide for yourself what contributes most to well-being.

Try the Index!

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Assumptions and Conventions

Preface

Foreword

Executive Summary

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A

While all countries and regions have some policy measures in place that are aimed at increasing their attractiveness for innovation, it is less clear if these policies are effective.

This report analyses the current trends in international investment in innovation and the attractiveness policies already implemented. These are often based on the more traditional instruments for attracting international investment. The book also explores in more detail the role of investment incentives that governments tend to give to international investors: their rationale, their impact and their usefulness.

The evidence presented in this report raises clear policy issues and questions existing policies. A number of policy principles are formulated to guide policy makers.

Its an OECD publication.

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Part of the support materials for Eco 101 – Principles of Microeconomics as taught by John Kane of SUNY Oswego. Notes from twenty lectures are available here as ordinary Web pages with graphics, as Flash videos with an audio narration and as PowerPoint presentations.

Online lecture materials

Supplemental Readings

1. Introduction (Chapters 1 and 2) - School vouchers
2. Demand and supply (Chapter 3) - Do slave redemption programs reduce the problem of slavery? (revised topic)
3. Private and public sectors (Chapters 4 and 5) – no supplemental readings
4. Elasticity (Chapter 6) – no supplemental readings
5. Consumer choice and demand – (Chapter 7) - Capital punishment
6. Productivity and costs (Chapter 8) – no supplemental readings
7. Product markets (Chapter 9) – no supplemental readings
8. Perfect competition (Chapter 10) - Should there be a market for human organs?
9. Monopoly (Chapter 11) - Is Microsoft a Monopolist?
10. Monopolistic competition and oligopoly (Chapters 12 and 13) – No supplemental readings
11. Resource markets (Chapter 14) – No supplemental readings
12. Labor markets (Chapters 15 and 16) – No supplemental readings
13. Capital, resource markets, and the environment (Chapters 17 and 18) – No supplemental reading

This is the sixth edition of Society at a Glance, the OECD’s biennial overview of social indicators. As with its predecessors, this report addresses the growing demand for quantitative evidence on social well-being and its trends across OECD countries. It updates some indicators included in the previous five editions and introduces several new ones.

The 2011 report heralds the arrival of four new OECD member countries: Chile, Estonia, Israel and Slovenia. These countries are included in Society at a Glance for the first time. Data on Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Russian Federation, and South Africa are also included separately where available.

This report features a special chapter on unpaid work (Chapter 1.). It also provides a guide to help readers in understanding the structure of OECD social indicators (Chapter 2.), and a summary of the main trends (Chapter 3.). Indicators are then considered. More detailed information on indicators, including some not included in this print edition, can be found on the OECD web pages (www.oecd.org/els/social/indicators/SAG).

This report was prepared by Simon Chapple and Maxime Ladaique. Nabil Ali, Michael De Looper, Michael Förster, Pauline Fron, Herwig Immervoll, Gaetan Lafortune, Thomas Liebig, Pascal Marianna, Veerle Miranda (special chapter), Marlène Mohier, Dominique Paturot, Andrew Reilly, Dominic Richardson, Kim Robin and Olivier Thévenon all made valuable contributions. Monika Queisser, Head of the OECD Social Policy Division, supervised the report.

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