The OECD research shows that there are only two factors which are consistently related to differences in economic growth across the OECD countries – trade exposure i.e. those countries which had opened up their trade to international trading grew faster, and human capital development i.e. those countries that increased the level of education in their population were the ones whose economies gre...

The Local Lymph Node Assay (LLNA) is the official method for assessing the allergic contact dermatitis potential of chemicals for the purposes of REACH regulation. The LLNA went through a validation process that allowed the delineation of a robust protocol for performing new tests. The OECD accepted this method in 2002 and published OECD TG 429. The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) recently publ...

Chapter 5 looks at a study within the OECD of the application of RIA in the field of the regulation of corporate governance. Noting that the requirement to undertake RIA is an established part of the regulatory systems of OECD members, this chapter examines examples of the application of RIA by financial services regulators to strengthen their evidence-based policy-making. It draws on examples ...

This paper examines the extents and determinants of intra-industry textile and clothing trade for the OECD countries. Trade overlap is used as the measurement of intra-industry trade (IIT). The general trend of intra-OECD trade and the extents of IIT for textile and clothing trade in year 2000 were examined. Hypotheses relating to 5 country-specific variables tested showed strong significance r...

This document provides a summary of the progress on OECD/CERI work on mapping trends in international quality assurance, accreditation and recognition of qualifications. In particular, it describes the work on developing guidelines on consumer protection in cross-border higher education. Countries have recently agreed that the OECD, in co-operation with the UNESCO, would work to develop this no...

1. OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals are periodically reviewed in the light of scientific progress and animal welfare considerations. The original acute Dermal Toxicity Guideline TG 402 (1) was adopted in 1987. Development of a dermal Fixed Dose Procedure (FDP) was considered appropriate, following adoption of the revised Oral FDP, OECD Guideline 420 (2) and deletion of OECD Guidelin...

This article presents data on health care spending for 30 OECD countries from OECD Health Data 2003, the latest edition of OECD's annual data collection on health systems across industrialized countries. OECD data show health care expenditures as a proportion of gross domestic product at an all-time high, due to both increased expenditures and overall economic slow-down. The article discusses s...

I use bilateral import data to test for the role of trade costs and asset market frictions in impeding international consumption risk sharing. Trade costs play a significant role. I do not reject the null of optimal risk sharing within OECD countries, though I do reject for the world as a whole. I calculate the impact on ex-post welfare of moving from historical asset market frictions to optima...

This paper extends the literature on productivity spillovers from inward FDI. We use comparable industry level data for 17 OECD countries and investigate the importance of horizontal and vertical spillovers, and differences between CEEC and other OECD countries. Results show that there is evidence for spillovers through vertical backward linkages between multinationals and domestic firms for al...