International efforts to improve transparency via automatic exchange of information on financial accounts are improving tax compliance and delivering concrete results for governments worldwide, according to new data released today by the OECD.

Japan must step up enforcement of its foreign bribery laws and strengthen the capacities of its law enforcement agencies to proactively detect, investigate and prosecute the foreign bribery offence, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2011.

Austria should eliminate subsidies which encourage early retirement and target social transfers more effectively, according to the OECD’s latest economic survey.

This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2012.

Austria has achieved high levels of economic growth and well-being, but must address serious demographic, environmental and globalisation challenges if future generations are to share the same prosperity, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of Austria.

There are few OECD countries where vocational education and training (VET) is held in such high regard or takes so many forms as in Austria. Some 60 percent of young Austrians aged between 25 and 34 have completed a VET course below tertiary level (vocational school or technical college).

Environmental goods and services are now a bigger driver of Austria’s economy and job market than traditionally strong sectors like tourism and construction, thanks to the government’s policy of subsidising green investments, a new OECD report shows.

This publication highlights new evidence on policies to support job creation, bringing together the latest research on labour market, entrepreneurship and local economic development policy to help governments support job creation in the recovery. It also includes a set of country pages featuring, among other things, new data on skills supply and demand at the level of smaller OECD regions (TL3).

Austria’s transition to a digital economy and society is progressing but is slower than in the most advanced economies. A whole-of-government approach should help embrace change and facilitate the flourishing of innovative businesses, work practices and lifestyles throughout Austria.

The Co-operative Research Programme (CRP)'s Call for Applications for conference sponsorship and research fellowships for funding in 2019 is now CLOSED. The CRP supports work on sustainable use of natural resources in agriculture, forests, fisheries and food production.

The Austrian standard VAT rate is 20.0%, which is above the OECD average. The average VAT/GST¹ standard rate in the OECD was 19.3% as of 1 January 2019. The previous standard VAT rate in Austria was 18% in 1983. It changed to the current level in 1984. Austria applies reduced VAT rates of 10% and 13% to a number of goods and services as well as one specific regional rates.

Housing Index in Uruguay increased to 273.05 Index Points in the fourth quarter of 2013 from 217.47 Index Points in the second quarter of 2013. Housing Index in Uruguay averaged 140.18 Index Points from 1991 until 2013, reaching an all time high of 273.05 Index Points in the fourth quarter of 2013 and a record low of 43.35 Index Points in the fourth quarter of 2003. In Uruguay, Housing Index is measured by the Index of New Housing Construction Volume with the base value of 100 in 1990. This page provides - Uruguay New Housing Construction Index - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

G20 finance ministers have agreed new principles on financial consumer protection developed by the OECD. “Without consumer trust and confidence we could jeopardise the basis for global economic recovery and growth,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría.

The Latin American Economic Outlook 2013: SME Policies for Productive Development will be launched at the Ibero-American Summit in Cadiz, Spain, on Friday 16 November. This long-standing flagship of the OECD Development Centre is co-published with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

This conference in Nairobi, Kenya, addressed specific issues relating to financial literacy in Africa and the MENA region. It presented the output of the Russia/OECD/World Bank Trust Fund on Financial Literacy and Education.

This conference, taking place on 4-5 March 2013 in New Delhi, India, addressed specific issues relating to financial literacy in India and the Asia region. It presented the output of the Russia/OECD/World Bank Trust Fund on Financial Literacy and Education.

London, UK. Discussions at this event focused on how to make Defined Contribution pensions work better for members, designing Defined Ambition pension plans, guarantees v. risk sharing pension deals and pensions communication and individual behaviour.

This article by OECD Deputy Secretary-General Rintaro Tamaki focuses on three issues that will be important in shaping the future of the Asian economic and financial community: trade, funding long-term investment and strengthened regional financial co-operation.

This conference in Moscow explored strategies for developing financial literacy and capability and building effective consumer protection systems.

The financial crisis has shown that many people need to have a better understanding of the financial issues in order to make informed decisions on matters such as savings, investments, pensions and credit, according to a report to be presented to G20 leaders in Saint Petersburg this week.

This paper looks at macro-prudential policies in the light of empirical evidence on the determinants of bank systemic risk, and the effectiveness of capital controls. It concludes that complexity and interdependence is such that care should be taken in implementing macro-prudential policies until much more is understood about these issues.

This paper investigates whether countries that had controls on inflows in place prior to the crisis were less vulnerable during the global financial crisis. More generally, it examines economic growth effects of such controls over the entire economic cycle, finding that capital restrictions on inflows (particularly debt liabilities) may be useful in good times but may have adverse effects in a crisis.

The main hallmarks of the global financial crisis were too-big-to-fail institutions taking on too much risk with other people’s money: excess leverage and default pressure resulting from contagion and counterparty risk. This paper looks at whether the Basel III reforms address these issues effectively and proposes improvements to the current reform proposals.

This event addressed cutting-edge policy issues and research ideas to advance consumer protection globally. Discussions will focus on mobile, online and digital payment systems; behavioural and decision-making insights; and, frameworks for treating consumers fairly.

Organised in Istanbul, this event focused on financial education across Europe and in Turkey, the role(s) of the private and not-for-profit sectors in financial education, financial literacy and innovation for young people and financial education for migrant workers and their families.

Low growth, low interest rates and low returns on investment linked to the slow global economy are now compounding the problems of population ageing for both public and private pension systems, according to a new OECD report.

“Why do financial institutions and investors see so little risk, while companies investing in the real economy see so much risk?” This is perhaps the most important question facing policy makers today. This paper sets out some of the possible hypotheses for lack of investment in the world economy. It uses data drawn from 10 000 global companies in 75 advanced and emerging countries.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are fundamental for inclusive growth and jobs, but they need to broaden their sources of finance in order to reduce their vulnerability to volatile credit market developments, according to two new OECD reports.

Responsible business conduct (RBC) is an essential part of an open international investment climate. The activities of multinational enterprises often span multiple countries and many cultural, legal, and regulatory environments.

The reforms to the pensions system in Mexico, especially the introduction of a system of individual defined contribution accounts, have significantly improved the system’s financial sustainability.

Paris, 19-20 November 2015: Bringing together senior executives representing the world’s largest institutional investors, senior policy makers and regulators, debates focused on issues affecting long-term investment, including: asset allocation concepts; regulation; governance; energy and natural resources; and, brownfield and greenfield infrastructure.

Climate change is a major political and economic challenge. This paper sketches out its relevance for the financial sector. Necessary low-carbon investments imply a significant yet manageable financing gap. Beyond capital mobilisation that has attracted most attention until now, the main challenge is ensuring a transition-consistent capital reallocation.

4-5 February 2016 - Mumbai, India‌‌: This seminar addressed emerging frameworks for financial consumer protection across Asia; financial markets and better outcomes for consumers; improving policy by analysing consumer complaints data; technology and alternative delivery channels and promoting financial consumer protection, inclusion and investor education.

What is blocking business investment and productivity growth? OECD Business and Finance Outlook 2016 will focus on fragmentation at all levels of the global economy: heterogeneous policies, rules, laws and industry practices that create perverse incentives and block business efficiency.

Malaysia has sustained over four decades of rapid, inclusive growth, reducing its dependence on agriculture and commodity exports to become a more diversified, modern and open economy.

In 2014, the Financial Stability Board (FSB), in collaboration with the IMF and OECD, prepared a report for G20 leaders that sought to assess the cross-border consistencies and global financial stability implications of structural banking reform measures. To further examine structural banking reform measures taken since 2008, the OECD circulated a survey. This report describes the outcome of this survey.

This working paper explores the role of public debt managers in contingent liability management based on the results of a background OECD survey and the information provided by seven task force countries. The results indicate that there are certain roles and responsibilities assumed by the public debt managers in this field, while the degree of involvement differs widely across countries.

Paris, 8 March 2017: Taking place on International Women's Day, this OECD-hosted conference considered questions such as gender differences in financial literacy and inclusion; women working in the informal economy and the role of business: gender differences in the changing pensions landscape; empowering women to fight back against corruption and engaging men to support gender equality in the workplace.

This paper looks at the application of behavioural economics in the area of financial consumer protection and how numerous governments are testing and implementing its application for policies promoting financial consumer protection. It highlights the opportunity for behavioural economics to help provide cost-efficient ways of making policy more effective at promoting positive outcomes for consumers.

Promoting responsible business conduct in the financial sector is vital to building a sustainable global economy. This paper will help institutional investors implement the due diligence recommendations of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in order to prevent or address adverse impacts related to human and labour rights, the environment, and corruption in their investment portfolios.

This report discusses the implications of the digitalisation of finance for financial education and relevant consumer protection issues and provides an overview of digital financial services around the world.

Drawing on data presented in the 2017 OECD Business and Finance Outlook, this article looks at some of the forces influencing recent economic developments and asks what can be done to ensure a “fairer” global economy.

The global economy is expected to pick up moderately but greater efforts are needed to ensure that the benefits from growth and globalisation are more widely shared, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Outlook.

‌07/09/2017 - Flooding is one of the most common, wide-reaching and destructive natural perils, affecting on average about 250 million people around the world each year. OECD work on the financial management of flood risk has identified a number of ways that policy makers can improve the way they manage the financial implications of floods.

Hanoi, Vietnam, 3-4 October 2017. This conference provided a forum to discuss best practices on developing financial education and consumer protection in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.

25-26 January 2018 - The first annual meeting of the G20 Global Infrastructure Connectivity Alliance will bring together policy makers and practitioners to discuss the state of play in global connectivity, innovative practices and the outlook for connectivity.

22-23 February 2018, Paris - The potential role of the nascent cyber insurance market in enhancing cyber resilience is increasingly being recognised by policy makers. This conference provided an opportunity to exchange knowledge and share experiences on addressing the challenges impeding the development of the cyber insurance market.

Although financial inclusion levels have improved in all Southeast Asian countries in recent years, levels remain relatively low in some countries. This report evaluates current levels of financial inclusion and financial literacy in Southeast Asia and describes the policies and programmes developed to support financial inclusion, education and consumer protection.

Paris, 25 May 2018 - Following a keynote speech from Emmanuelle Auriol, Professor at Toulouse School of Economics and Chair of Women in Economics of the European Economic Association, discussions at this event will explore some of the issues emerging from the gender biases evident in the field of economics.