Publications & Documents

This report looks at a range of key labour market, economic and social indicators related to Canada’s growing Indigenous population, which comprises First Nations, Inuit and Métis. In 2016, there were over 1.6 million Indigenous People in Canada, accounting for 4.9% of the total population, which is a significant increase from 3.8% in 2006. The report looks at the implementation of the federal government’s Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Strategy through in-depth analysis across four case study areas, including 1) the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resources and Development in Winnipeg, Manitoba; 2) Community Futures Treaty Seven in Calgary, Alberta; 3) MAWIW Council in Fredericton, New Brunswick; and 4) Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (KKETS) in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The report highlights critical success factors to better link Indigenous People to high quality jobs while also providing recommendations regarding future labour market and skills programming for Indigenous People in Canada.

This report looks at the fiscal, environmental and social impacts of energy subsidy reform in Moldova with a particular focus on energy affordability. Reduced value added tax (VAT) rate on natural gas consumption and a VAT exemption on electricity and heat consumption by domestic users represent the largest fossil-fuel consumer subsidies in Moldova. Reforming these will imply an increase of the VAT rate, which will lead to an increase of gas, electricity and heat tariffs for households, and will in turn affect household consumption levels, related expenditures and energy affordability. If reform measures are to work, they will need to be accompanied by a carefully-designed social policy to protect poor households.

This report is part of the OECD Tax Policy Reviews. The Reviews are intended to provide independent, comprehensive and comparative assessments of OECD member and non-member countries’ tax systems as well as concrete recommendations for tax policy reform. By identifying tailored tax policy reform options, the objective of the Reviews is to enhance the design of existing tax policies and to support the adoption of new reforms.This report provides a comprehensive tax policy assessment of the taxes paid by individuals in Slovenia and makes tax reform recommendations. The report is divided into six chapters, with a summary of the main findings upfront, followed by more detailed recommendations at the end of chapters 3 to 6.  Chapter 1 sets the scene for tax reform in Slovenia. Chapter 2 focuses on the labour market, social policy and tax policy related challenges. The ensuing chapters assess the financing of the social security system (Chapter 3), identify strategies to strengthen the design of personal income tax (Chapter 4), indirect taxes (Chapter 5), and the taxation of capital income at the individual level (Chapter 6).

In Barcelona, the rate of foreign residents has quintupled since 2000, and in 2017, 23% of the population was foreign-born. From the late 1990s until today, the municipality has followed an intercultural strategy to implement inclusive measures for local migrant integration. These measures have been recently reinforced to welcome asylum seekers who tripled between 2015 and 2017. For this group, the municipality set up targeted housing and reception policies that complement the national reception system. Migrants have access to municipal measures in key sectors such as housing, minimum living allowances and labour market integration - by the employment service Barcelona Activa - on the same basis as the other residents. Further, Barcelona has developed sensitization initiatives to curb discrimination and improve service delivery in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The municipality has developed local coordination mechanisms with migrant associations and non-governmental organisations that aim to share information, avoid duplication and maximise the access to services such as language classes for migrants. Yet, migrants are particularly affected by socio-economic inequalities particularly following the economic crisis. This report sheds light on how the municipality and non-state partners work together with the other levels of government for sustainable migrant and refugee integration.

Ce rapport sur L’articulation entre productivité et inclusivité rassemble les toutes dernières évidences empiriques sur les principaux facteurs du ralentissement des gains de productivité et des fortes inégalités ; il suggère de possibles liens et fondements communs à ces deux tendances ; il dégage de premières conclusions sur les ensembles de mesures à mettre en œuvre et sur les implications qui en découlent pour l’élaboration des politiques ; en outre il propose des domaines précis qui pourraient faire l’objet de recherches plus approfondies.Le principal message de ce rapport est un appel aux responsables de l’action publique afin qu’ils adoptent une approche plus globale et plus inclusive de la croissance de la productivité visant à développer tous les actifs productifs d’une économie en développant les compétences, en mettant en place un environnement où toutes les entreprises peuvent prospérer et en investissant dans les régions à la traîne. L’objectif premier de cette approche est d’élargir la base productive de l’économie de façon à générer à terme des gains de productivité solides et durables auxquels chacun soit en mesure de contribuer tout en s’assurant par ailleurs que chacun, dans la société, puisse en bénéficier et voir s’améliorer son niveau de vie et ses perspectives. Pour ce faire, il faudra établir un cadre d’action complet qui tienne compte de l’ensemble des interactions entre inégalités et productivité, et du jeu de ces interactions au sein des pays, et entre les régions, les entreprises et les individus. Un tel cadre peut aider les responsables de l’action publique à mettre en place des mesures ex ante et ex post visant à promouvoir les synergies, et à gérer les situations dans lesquelles les politiques à l’appui de la productivité ont un impact sur les inégalités.

Fast population growth in the city of Vienna is largely related to international migration.  Long-standing migrant communities represent half of Vienna’s population. In 2016, 50% of the inhabitants had migrant backgrounds, and since 2015, the number of refugees and asylum seekers in the city has increased. Since 1971, the city has developed dedicated administrative structures and local policies for migrants. A dedicated municipal unit (MA17) oversees how departments achieve migration-sensitive standards in their respective policy fields and produces the yearly Vienna Integration and Diversity monitoring report. A good practice is 'Start Wien',  a comprehensive coaching and information programme addressing newcomers (including asylum seekers) for the first two years after arrival. After that, foreign residents benefit from non-targeted measures, for instance from a programme fighting labour market exclusion of low-skilled groups. Vienna has avoided high segregation due to its large and well spread social housing. However migrants can only access it after five years of residency in the city, before which they rely on private rental market. Vienna establishes close contacts with migrant associations and NGOs at the district level and engages public consultations when formulating integration concepts. This report sheds light on how the municipality and non-state partners work together with the other levels of government for sustainable migrant and refugee integration.

Migrants, including native-born children with migrant parents, account for 23% of Athens’ population (664 046 people), while the number of refugees and asylum seekers has rapidly increased since 2015 and is currently estimated at 18 000. To respond to the refugee inflow, Athens developed bold and innovative initiatives, often beyond their direct responsibilities, and sought supra-national and non-state sources of funding (i.e. Stavros Niarchos Foundation, British American Tobacco, etc.). This emphasis on reception and integration of newcomers is the result of strong political will and cooperation with non-state actors, in line with the city's broader priorities since 2010 including anti-discrimination and improving equal access to social services. Integrating newcomers through jobs is particularly challenging given the high unemployment rate that Greece has experienced. In addition, newcomers often have the desire to continue their journey towards northern European countries, reducing their incentives to integrate and learn Greek.
While identifying various innovative practices, the OECD case study of Athens highlights the need for more reliable sources of financing and dialogue among levels of government. Data on migrant integration at the local level would support more evidence-based national, regional and local policy making.