Reports

In the wake of the technological revolution that began in the last decades of the 20th century, labour-market demand for information-processing and other high-level cognitive and interpersonal skills have been growing substantially. Based on the results from the 33 countries and regions that participated in the 1st and 2nd round of the Survey of Adult Skills in 2011-12 and in 2014-15, this report describes adults’ proficiency in three information-processing skills, and examines how proficiency is related to labour-market and social outcomes. It also places special emphasis on the results from the 3rd and final round of the first cycle of PIAAC in 2017-18, which included 6 countries (Ecuador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru and the United States). The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), was designed to provide insights into the availability of some of these key skills in society and how they are used at work and at home. The first survey of its kind, it directly measures proficiency in three information-processing skills: literacy, numeracy and problem-solving in technology-rich environments.

This edition of the Reader’s Companion accompanies Skills Matter: Additional Results from the Survey of Adult Skills that reports the results from the 39 countries and regions that participated in the 3 rounds of data collection in the first cycle of PIAAC, with a particular focus on the 6 countries that participated in the third round of the study (Ecuador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru and the United States). It describes the design and methodology of the survey and its relationship to other international assessments of young students and adults.The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), was designed to provide insights into the availability of some key skills in society and how they are used at work and at home. The first survey of its kind, it directly measures proficiency in several information-processing skills – namely literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments.

This report examines land-use trends, policies and practices in Korea, in particular in the city of Busan, through the lens of urban regeneration and citizen participation. Land-use planning is critical for the efficient and inclusive management of cities, pursuing sustainable and balanced development and improving quality of life and regional competitiveness. Korea has benefitted from comprehensive and well-structured, hierarchical land-use planning and urban regeneration frameworks. However, faced with a series of demographic and economic challenges, together with geographic factors and historical developments, Korea needs to re-evaluate land-use management and urban regeneration to leverage inclusive growth and boost competitiveness in Korean cities. This report argues that involving citizens in land-use planning and urban regeneration is essential to collect better quality information as a basis for plans, decisions and outcomes. This report is of relevant to urban planners, land use especialists, and city managers who work on urban regeneration projects and citizens’ participation.

The series Investing in Youth builds on the expertise of the OECD on youth employment, social support and skills. It covers both OECD countries and key emerging economies. The report on Korea presents new results from a comprehensive analysis of the situation of young people in Korea, exploiting various sources of survey-based and administrative data. It provides a detailed assessment of education, employment and social policies in Korea from an international perspective, and offers tailored recommendations to help improve the school-to-work transition. Earlier reviews in the same series have looked at youth policies in Brazil (2014), Latvia and Tunisia (2015), Australia, Lithuania and Sweden (2016), Japan (2017), Norway (2018), and Finland and Peru (2019).

Korean families are changing fast. While birth rates remain low, Koreans are marrying and starting a family later than ever before, if at all. Couple-with-children households, the dominant household type in Korea until recently, will soon make up fewer than one quarter of all households. These changes will have a profound effect on Korea’s future. Among other things, the Korean labour force is set to decline by about 2.5 million workers by 2040, with potential major implications for economic performance and the sustainability of public finances. Since the early 2000s, public policy has changed to help parents reconcile work and family commitments: Korea has developed a comprehensive formal day-care and kindergarten system with enrolment rates that are now on par with the Nordic countries. Korea also has one year of paid parental leave for both parents, but only about 25% of mothers and 5% of fathers use it, as workplace cultures are often not conducive to parents, especially fathers, taking leave. Cultural change will take time, but this review suggests there also is a need for additional labour market, education and social policy reform to help Koreans achieve both work and family aspirations, and contribute to the rejuvenation of Korean society.

This reliable source of yearly data covers a wide range of statistics on international trade of OECD countries and provides detailed data in value by commodity and by partner country. The first four volumes of International Trade by Commodity Statistics each contain the tables for six countries, published in the order in which they become available. The fifth contains seven countries and the sixth volume also includes the OECD country groupings OECD Total and EU28-Extra.For each country, this publication shows detailed tables relating to the Harmonised System HS 2012 classification, Sections and Divisions (one- and two- digit). Each table presents imports and exports of a given commodity with more than seventy partner countries or country groupings for the most recent five-year period available.

The ASEAN+6 group comprises the ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six other countries in the Asia-Pacific region: Australia, the People’s Republic of China ('China'), India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. This group includes the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic energy consumption centres. They are led by China, India and ASEAN, the emerging Asian economies, whose share of global energy demand is expected to reach 40% by 2040, up from only 20% in 2000.Energy demand in the ASEAN+6 countries is set to take diverse paths. In India, for example, low per capita energy use and a high population growth rate indicate the potential for substantial energy demand growth. In Japan, by contrast, a declining population and increasing energy efficiencies are contributing to a continuous fall in energy consumption. Countries of the region also differ in their natural resource wealth and their levels of socio-economic and technological development.These countries share common challenges, however, in ensuring the security of their energy supplies. Given their shared geographical location, they could help one another meet these energy security challenges by deepening regional co-operation.This report starts by giving an overview of the energy security issues of the region. Subsequent chapters cover the key energy sectors of oil, natural gas and electricity. They identify the main energy security issues, including a high level of vulnerability to natural disasters and heavy dependence on imports of fossil fuels, which must pass through major global chokepoints. The report provides policy advice, primarily for the region’s developing countries, based on the emergency response systems and accumulated experience in energy security of the International Energy Agency and its member countries.