Browsing by Subject "OECD"
Now showing items 1-16 of 16
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(2023)In response to the increasing need for an effective method to compare student performance on the international scale, the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD) launched the Program for International Student Assessment, better known as the PISA, in 1997. As such, PISA not only establishes an internally agreed upon framework between countries, but it also binds the commitment of OECD member states to regularly assessing the impact of educational systems on student performance. According to the first published PISA results, PISA “aims at providing a new basis for policy dialogue and for collaboration in defining and operationalizing educational goals— in innovative ways that reflect judgment about the skills that are relevant to adult life.” In simple terms, PISA seeks to evaluate how well 15-year-olds are prepared for the challenges they will face in life. Finland has ranked among the top countries since the first administration of the triennial PISA in 2000. Despite measuring well against its OECD counterparts, Finland, which once topped the PISA ranks, has since experienced a relative decline in performance. The mediation of PISA results has undeniably affected Finland’s image of education. This media discourse analysis uses major American newspaper outlets to unearth how Finland’s image has been affected by PISA results. These newspapers’ presentations of Finnish PISA performance further reveal how the US understands its own academic system. Ultimately, PISA asserts that academic institutions can make a profound difference on the individual, country, and global levels. Since PISA results can influence the academic decisions and policies of a given country, then the assessment must also make a difference on the individual, country, and global levels. Since the OECD drives forward the PISA, then the OECD also has an influence on the beforementioned levels. Thus, the OECD not only shapes representations of countries, but it also hinges on media as a vehicle by which to deliver these representations internationally. Although commonly overlooked, the OECD is a relevant and power-wielding actor because its PISA index reinforces and challenges narratives of academic exceptionalism, as exemplified by the case of Finland in this study. Does the OECD’s positioning as an overlooked actor magnify its power?
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(2013)Direct investments are considered the main source of economic growth and are desirable for countries. Factors driving the geographical distribution of direct investments are unknown. Many forest investments are directed to plantations, which have expanded rapidly during the past two decades. The global forestry scheme is changing; until 1990, developed countries accounted for almost all investments. Since then, developing countries have started to employ them at an accelerating rate. The major changes in a world economy are likely to drive this trend in the future. To assess factors contributing to investment in forest plantation, we drew from methods used by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), which developed a forest attractiveness index (IAIF) to ?measure the business climate to sustainable forest business?. In this research, several multiple linear regression models were developed to examine the effects of different variables. As well, different macro-economic, institutional, and forest-sector factors were considered the main components that drive forest plantation development. Factors attracting direct investment in forest plantations are different on a global scale, in developed and developing countries. Therefore, some general trends can be identified: Macro-economic factors are important. Foreign direct investment inflows and area of planted forests are positively correlated, indicating that the investment behavior of forestry investors is not significantly different from other investors‘. Other significant factors are GDP and the exchange rate. GDP was positively correlated with the area of planted forests. Weak currency is desirable in OECD countries, and a strong currency is favorable for plantation investments in non-OECD countries. Institutional factors were not significant, which suggests investments occur despite the country challenges. The human development index was the most significant factor in this category. The human development index had a negative effect on the area of planted forests. The more developed a country, the fewer plantations. The forest-sector factors were the most important factors that determine plantation investment attractiveness. Production capacity and productivity were globally significant. Productivity was not significant in non-OECD countries, which may have equally beneficial circumstances for tree growth. Macro-economic factors are important especially in these countries. The results suggest macro-economic and forestry factors are key determinants of investment attractiveness in forestry. Macro-economic factors cannot be affected by investors. Forestry-factors can be affected by country level decision making. Investors can choose between countries, and sometimes affect these factors. These results may be useful to firms considering foreign direct investment and to policy makers in potential destination countries.
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(2018)I kandidatavhandlingen granskas Finlands biståndspolitik från år 2004 till 2018. Avhandlingen ämnar svara på frågan om vilka Finlands biståndspolitiska mål varit och hur dessa implementerats, samt vilka slags givarmotiv som kan identifieras i de biståndspolitiska programmen och hur de förändrats över tid. Kandidatavhandlingen har upplägget av en empirisk analys, där innehållet i Finlands biståndspolitik granskas både med hjälp av interna och externa dokument. Som interna dokument fungerar de biståndspolitiska programmen från år 2004, 2007, 2012 samt 2016. Externa dokument är bl.a. OECD:s rapporter om medlemsstaternas biståndsarbete. Den teoretiska referensramen bygger på forskning om varför länder ger bistånd, och utifrån denna forskning har fyra kategorier av givarmotiv operationaliserats. Resultaten av den empiriska analysen är att Finlands biståndspolitiska mål hållits relativt lika genom åren, men förverkligandet av målsättningarna har varierat från en regering till en annan. Finland har inte nått alla sina biståndspolitiska mål och det kan sägas att biståndspolitiken utgör en marginal roll i Finland utrikespolitik. Även givarmotiven har varierat mellan regeringar. Allmänna trenden har gått från mera altruistiska givarmotiv till att lyfta fram det instrumentella värdet av att ge bistånd.
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(2018)Wellbeing and its development has gained a remarkable position in welfare policy. Although as an objective for politics it is far from new, I argue, that the objective itself has found new forms and meanings. In my masters dissertation, I see wellbeing as an intrinsically philosophical concept, that when translated to politics takes rather normative forms. Wellbeing as an ideal for education has in itself normative ideas on how children and youths should be and how they should behave. Questioning the concept of wellbeing itself creates a space to examine what do we really improve when improving wellbeing in education and to what ends. By pointing out to the late changes in the welfare state, I suggest that the welfare state has changed to a ‘competitive society’. This, for example, manifests itself as a way of educating children to be self-responsible self-entrepreneurs gaining skills with which to compete in the future labour market. Equality has no space in competition, where only the best are rewarded. This goes against the core values of the welfare state, hence the competitive society. I take to closer examination the OECD report ‘Skills for Social Progress’ (2015), which I analyse discoursively from the point of view of governance. In a future of global challenges, accordinf to the OECD other attributes than cognitive skills will have more meaning in ‘life success’. Cognitive skills are important, but according to the report I have analyzed socioemotional skills have importance in bringing up a ‘happy and successful citizen’. I ask my data the questions (1) what kind of subjectivity takes form for youths in the OECD’s Skills for Social Progress report and (2) how is the developing of wellbeing (socioemotional) skills justified. I argue, that wellbeing as an educational ideal or objective is, instead of actually improving wellbeing, contributing to the neoliberal rationale of creating hard-working, self-entrepreneurial subjectivities. I do not deny that wellbeing could not be improved by these skills, but I argue that wellbeing takes a performative ultra-active form of a way of being. It contributes to the liberal, out-of-date illusion of the American dream ‘work hard and you will succeed’ and does not take into account the various embedded obstacles for ‘life success’.
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(2018)Wellbeing and its development has gained a remarkable position in welfare policy. Although as an objective for politics it is far from new, I argue, that the objective itself has found new forms and meanings. In my masters dissertation, I see wellbeing as an intrinsically philosophical concept, that when translated to politics takes rather normative forms. Wellbeing as an ideal for education has in itself normative ideas on how children and youths should be and how they should behave. Questioning the concept of wellbeing itself creates a space to examine what do we really improve when improving wellbeing in education and to what ends. By pointing out to the late changes in the welfare state, I suggest that the welfare state has changed to a ‘competitive society’. This, for example, manifests itself as a way of educating children to be self-responsible self-entrepreneurs gaining skills with which to compete in the future labour market. Equality has no space in competition, where only the best are rewarded. This goes against the core values of the welfare state, hence the competitive society. I take to closer examination the OECD report ‘Skills for Social Progress’ (2015), which I analyse discoursively from the point of view of governance. In a future of global challenges, accordinf to the OECD other attributes than cognitive skills will have more meaning in ‘life success’. Cognitive skills are important, but according to the report I have analyzed socioemotional skills have importance in bringing up a ‘happy and successful citizen’. I ask my data the questions (1) what kind of subjectivity takes form for youths in the OECD’s Skills for Social Progress report and (2) how is the developing of wellbeing (socioemotional) skills justified. I argue, that wellbeing as an educational ideal or objective is, instead of actually improving wellbeing, contributing to the neoliberal rationale of creating hard-working, self-entrepreneurial subjectivities. I do not deny that wellbeing could not be improved by these skills, but I argue that wellbeing takes a performative ultra-active form of a way of being. It contributes to the liberal, out-of-date illusion of the American dream ‘work hard and you will succeed’ and does not take into account the various embedded obstacles for ‘life success’.
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(2022)Maailmantalouteen vaikuttaa tällä hetkellä kaksi keskeistä muutosta edellyttävää tekijää: globalisaatio ja teknologinen kehitys. Digitalisaatio voidaan nähdä uhkana perinteiselle verotuksen päätehtävälle eli yhteiskuntien toiminnan rahoittamiselle. Keskeinen ongelma nykyisessä kansainvälisessä verotuksessa on se, että yritykset toimivat kansainvälisesti ja pääomia liikkuu valtioiden välillä, mutta verotusta koskeva sääntely on edelleen pitkälti kansallista. OECD:n piirissä kansainvälisen veroyhteistyön painopiste on 2010-luvun puolivälissä siirtynyt kaksinkertaisen verotuksen estämisestä kansainvälisten verosuunnittelumahdollisuuksien rajoittamiseen. Tavoitteen taustalla vaikuttaa kaikkien valtioiden huolenaiheena oleva veropohjien rapautuminen. Globalisaatio ja digitalisaatio ovat johtaneet siihen, että yritysten on yhä helpompaa sijoittautua valitsemaansa valtioon. Verokilpailu aiheutuu siitä, kun jokin valtio alkaa houkutella tuotannollista pääomaa maahan laskemalla yritysten veroastetta. Toiset valtiot puolestaan reagoivat tähän samalla tavalla omassa veropolitiikassaan. Valtioiden erilaisia verojärjestelmiä puolestaan käytetään hyväksi aggressiivisen verosuunnittelun keinoin ja tällöin verotuloja menetetään siellä, missä ne ilman tällaista suunnittelua saataisiin. Aggressiivinen verosuunnittelu on erityisen haitallista, sillä se vääristää kilpailua ja vaikuttaa haitallisesti yleiseen veronmaksuhalukkuuteen ja veromoraaliin. Monikansallisten yritysten voittojen verotus on viime vuosina noussut esille niin poliitikkojen, kansainvälisten järjestöjen kuin mediankin toimesta. Tarve kansainvälisen verotuksen uudistamiselle on ollut ajankohtaista jo pitkään, mutta varsinaiset konkreettiset toimet ovat jääneet laimeiksi. Konkreettisimpana toimena kansainvälisen verotuksen uudistamiselle voidaan pitää OECD:n BEPS-hanketta. BEPS-hanke on OECD:n ja G20-maiden yhteinen hanke, jonka tarkoituksena on estää kansainvälinen verojen välttely. BEPS-hankkeen ensimmäinen toimenpide koskee digitaalisen talouden verokysymyksiä. BEPS-hankkeeseen osallistuvat valtiot esittivät vuonna 2019, että digiverotusta koskevaa uudistusta jatketaan kahden pilarin mallin mukaisesti. Pilari I koskee liityntäkysymyksen ratkaisemista sekä voiton jakamista koskevia periaatteita ja pilari II puolestaan yritysten voittoihin sovellettavaa minimiverotusta. Pilari II koostuu neljästä toisiinsa kytkeytyvästä säännöstä. Käytännössä pilari II:sta koskeva sääntely tulee tarkoittamaan uuden verotusoikeuden syntymistä rajat ylittävissä tilanteissa, joissa verotaso toisessa valtiossa alittaa tosiasiallisen minimiverotason. Valtioiden ei suoraan tarvitse lainsäädännössään soveltaa sovittua minimiveroastetta valtiossaan asuviin yrityksiin. Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastelen OECD:n digiverohankkeen toista pilaria eli minimiveroastetta. Tutkielman tavoitteena on tehdä havaintoja ehdotetun minimiveroasteen sisällöstä ja nykyisestä kansainvälisen yritysverotuksen sääntelystä sekä tämän perusteella tehdä päätelmiä siitä, kuinka kansainvälinen yritysverotus tulee minimiveroasteen toteutuessa muuttumaan. Tutkielmassa on lisäksi tarkoitus arvioida minimiveroasteen vaikutuksia lähemmin tarkasteltuna erityisesti Suomeen. Hankkeen valmistelu on viivästynyt jo moneen otteeseen osaksi COVID-19-pandemian vuoksi. Suunnitelma on hyväksytty G20-maiden johtajien huippukokouksessa lokakuussa 2021. Nyt hankeen valmistelu on tarkoituksena saada valmiiksi vuoden 2022 aikana ja uuden lainsäädännön soveltamisen on tarkoitus alkaa vuoden 2023 alusta.
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(2022)Maailmantalouteen vaikuttaa tällä hetkellä kaksi keskeistä muutosta edellyttävää tekijää: globalisaatio ja teknologinen kehitys. Digitalisaatio voidaan nähdä uhkana perinteiselle verotuksen päätehtävälle eli yhteiskuntien toiminnan rahoittamiselle. Keskeinen ongelma nykyisessä kansainvälisessä verotuksessa on se, että yritykset toimivat kansainvälisesti ja pääomia liikkuu valtioiden välillä, mutta verotusta koskeva sääntely on edelleen pitkälti kansallista. OECD:n piirissä kansainvälisen veroyhteistyön painopiste on 2010-luvun puolivälissä siirtynyt kaksinkertaisen verotuksen estämisestä kansainvälisten verosuunnittelumahdollisuuksien rajoittamiseen. Tavoitteen taustalla vaikuttaa kaikkien valtioiden huolenaiheena oleva veropohjien rapautuminen. Globalisaatio ja digitalisaatio ovat johtaneet siihen, että yritysten on yhä helpompaa sijoittautua valitsemaansa valtioon. Verokilpailu aiheutuu siitä, kun jokin valtio alkaa houkutella tuotannollista pääomaa maahan laskemalla yritysten veroastetta. Toiset valtiot puolestaan reagoivat tähän samalla tavalla omassa veropolitiikassaan. Valtioiden erilaisia verojärjestelmiä puolestaan käytetään hyväksi aggressiivisen verosuunnittelun keinoin ja tällöin verotuloja menetetään siellä, missä ne ilman tällaista suunnittelua saataisiin. Aggressiivinen verosuunnittelu on erityisen haitallista, sillä se vääristää kilpailua ja vaikuttaa haitallisesti yleiseen veronmaksuhalukkuuteen ja veromoraaliin. Monikansallisten yritysten voittojen verotus on viime vuosina noussut esille niin poliitikkojen, kansainvälisten järjestöjen kuin mediankin toimesta. Tarve kansainvälisen verotuksen uudistamiselle on ollut ajankohtaista jo pitkään, mutta varsinaiset konkreettiset toimet ovat jääneet laimeiksi. Konkreettisimpana toimena kansainvälisen verotuksen uudistamiselle voidaan pitää OECD:n BEPS-hanketta. BEPS-hanke on OECD:n ja G20-maiden yhteinen hanke, jonka tarkoituksena on estää kansainvälinen verojen välttely. BEPS-hankkeen ensimmäinen toimenpide koskee digitaalisen talouden verokysymyksiä. BEPS-hankkeeseen osallistuvat valtiot esittivät vuonna 2019, että digiverotusta koskevaa uudistusta jatketaan kahden pilarin mallin mukaisesti. Pilari I koskee liityntäkysymyksen ratkaisemista sekä voiton jakamista koskevia periaatteita ja pilari II puolestaan yritysten voittoihin sovellettavaa minimiverotusta. Pilari II koostuu neljästä toisiinsa kytkeytyvästä säännöstä. Käytännössä pilari II:sta koskeva sääntely tulee tarkoittamaan uuden verotusoikeuden syntymistä rajat ylittävissä tilanteissa, joissa verotaso toisessa valtiossa alittaa tosiasiallisen minimiverotason. Valtioiden ei suoraan tarvitse lainsäädännössään soveltaa sovittua minimiveroastetta valtiossaan asuviin yrityksiin. Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastelen OECD:n digiverohankkeen toista pilaria eli minimiveroastetta. Tutkielman tavoitteena on tehdä havaintoja ehdotetun minimiveroasteen sisällöstä ja nykyisestä kansainvälisen yritysverotuksen sääntelystä sekä tämän perusteella tehdä päätelmiä siitä, kuinka kansainvälinen yritysverotus tulee minimiveroasteen toteutuessa muuttumaan. Tutkielmassa on lisäksi tarkoitus arvioida minimiveroasteen vaikutuksia lähemmin tarkasteltuna erityisesti Suomeen. Hankkeen valmistelu on viivästynyt jo moneen otteeseen osaksi COVID-19-pandemian vuoksi. Suunnitelma on hyväksytty G20-maiden johtajien huippukokouksessa lokakuussa 2021. Nyt hankeen valmistelu on tarkoituksena saada valmiiksi vuoden 2022 aikana ja uuden lainsäädännön soveltamisen on tarkoitus alkaa vuoden 2023 alusta.
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(2020)Kansainvälisillä organisaatioilla on kasvava vaikutus Suomen koulutukseen. Taloudellisen yhteistyön ja kehityksen järjestö OECD on yksi merkittävimmistä Suomen koulutukseen vai-kuttavista kansainvälisistä organisaatioista. OECD:n painoarvo koulutusasioissa tunnuste-taan globaalisti. Järjestöllä on ollut esimerkiksi keskeinen rooli koulutuksen kansainvälisen vertailtavuuden kehittämisessä. Tämän tutkielma arvioi OECD:n vaikutusta Suomen koulutusasioihin. Tutkielmassa selvitettiin, miten OECD on vaikuttanut Suomen koulutusasioihin ja koulutuspolitiikkaan ja miten Suomessa on reagoitu OECD:n toimiin. Lisäksi tutkielmassa tarkasteltiin sitä, mitä vaikutuskanavia OECD:n vaikutukselle Suomen koulutusasioihin ja koulutuspolitiikkaan tunnistetaan tutkimuskirjallisuudessa. Tutkielma toteutettiin systemaattisena kirjallisuuskatsauksena, jonka kautta aineistoksi valikoitui viisi tutkimusta. Tutkielmaan valikoitujen tutkimusten tuli olla vertaisarvioituja ja tieteellisessä julkaisussa julkaistuja. OECD:n vaikutus Suomen koulutusasioihin näkyi siinä, miten koulutusta on Suomessa kehitetty eri osa-alueilla OECD:n näkemykset huomioiden. Vaikutus havaittiin myös koulutusta koskevissa diskursseissa. OECD:n olennaisimmiksi vaikutuskanaviksi koulutusasioissa havaittiin PISA-tutkimukset (Programme for International Students Assessment) sekä maakohtaiset ja teemakohtaiset raportit. Tutkielman perusteella OECD:lla on ollut vaikutus Suomen koulutuksen ja koulutuspolitiikan kehitykseen. Aihepiiriä koskevaa tutkimusta voisi jatkojalostaa kansainvälisen vertailun suuntaan, niin että Suomen lisäksi OECD:n vaikutuksia arvioitaisiin muissa järjestön jäsenmaissa. Lisäksi OECD:n vaikutuksia voisi tutkia rajatummilla koulutuksen osa-alueilla kuten erityispedagogiikassa.
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(2023)Tämä tutkielma keskittyy tarpeeseen muuttaa kansainvälistä verojärjestelmää erityisesti digitaalisten liiketoimintamallien kannalta. Digitalisaatio on mahdollistanut sen että, yritykset voivat tarjoat palveluitaan pelkästään internetin välityksellä. Tämän lisäksi, digitalisaation takia monikansalliset yritykset voivat suunnitella veronsa niin, että yrityksen voitot välttävät verotuksen kokonaan tietyissä maissa. OECD:n BEPS-projekti on luonnostellut sääntöjä Pilari I-hankkeessa verotusoikeuden uudelleenjakamiselle kansainvälisesti. Tämä tutkielma keskittyy ehdotettuihin sääntöihin voitonjaon jakamisesta markkinavaltioihin osalta. Tutkielma pyrkii analysoimaan Pilari 1:n sääntöjä liittyen arvonmuodostukseen yritysten digitaalisissa liiketoimintamalleissa erityisesti, kun arvonmuodostus perustuu käyttäjätietoihin, mainostamiseen verkossa ja pilvipalveluihin. Tämä tutkielma vastaa kolmeen tutkimuskysymykseen. Ensimmäinen tutkimuskysymys pyrkii selittämään miten uudet digitaaliset liiketoimintamallit luovat arvoa yritykselle. Toinen tutkimuskysymys kuvailee yksityiskohtaisesti Pilari I:den liikevaihdon muodostumisen määrittelysääntöjä liittyen käyttäjätietoihin, mainostamiseen verkossa ja pilvipalveluihin. Viimeiseksi tutkielma käy läpi Pilari I:den vaikutukset digitalisiin yrityksiin. Tutkielma tärkein johtopäätös on se, että Pilari I:den liikevaihdon muodostumisen määrittelysäännöt ovat yrityksille erittäin työläät noudattaa ja kyseiset säännöt tarvitsevat vielä uudistamista monella osa-alueella.
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(2021)This study explores how equality of education is addressed in the education policy analysis of the OECD and the European Union, while also assessing what other special educational aspects the analysis highlights. The study examines these questions in the cases of Finland, Estonia and Denmark. In previous literature, the OECD and the EU have been perceived as proponents of neoliberal educational policies, which are built on the principles of economic efficiency and competitiveness. These policies have been considered as potentially conflicting with traditional Nordic educational policies that emphasize equality. This study is a qualitative master’s thesis. The research material consists of the OECD’s Education Policy Outlooks and the European Commission’s European Semester Country Reports. The research method of this study is content analysis. The study showed that the OECD and the EU seem to have four distinct angles to equality of education in their country reports. These were the equality of students with immigrant background, socio-economic status and its effect on equality, gender equality as well as structural policies that can enhance equality. In terms of special education, the organizations emphasized student performance and questions regarding nature of schools and school quality. These two categories are further divided to more specific sub-categories. For student performance, the sub-categories are student learning results and taking part in education, whereas for nature of schools and school quality, the sub-categories consist of participation of the education system as well as schools as learning environments.
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(2021)This study explores how equality of education is addressed in the education policy analysis of the OECD and the European Union, while also assessing what other special educational aspects the analysis highlights. The study examines these questions in the cases of Finland, Estonia and Denmark. In previous literature, the OECD and the EU have been perceived as proponents of neoliberal educational policies, which are built on the principles of economic efficiency and competitiveness. These policies have been considered as potentially conflicting with traditional Nordic educational policies that emphasize equality. This study is a qualitative master’s thesis. The research material consists of the OECD’s Education Policy Outlooks and the European Commission’s European Semester Country Reports. The research method of this study is content analysis. The study showed that the OECD and the EU seem to have four distinct angles to equality of education in their country reports. These were the equality of students with immigrant background, socio-economic status and its effect on equality, gender equality as well as structural policies that can enhance equality. In terms of special education, the organizations emphasized student performance and questions regarding nature of schools and school quality. These two categories are further divided to more specific sub-categories. For student performance, the sub-categories are student learning results and taking part in education, whereas for nature of schools and school quality, the sub-categories consist of participation of the education system as well as schools as learning environments.
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(2018)Over the past decades, there has been an ongoing debate on the need to reform regulatory frameworks in most OECD countries. One of the more recent developments in this field is the emergence of better regulation agenda, which can be defined as form of meta-regulation that sets regulatory principles and tools in order to control the regulatory process from formulation to enforcement. The aim of this study is to problematize and critically explain OECD's better regulation agenda. The method used in this study is poststructural discourse theory and specifically the logics approach developed by Glynos and Howarth, which aims to understand the social, political and fantasmatic logics of a social practice. The different logics were used to characterize and explain the underlying values and norms of better regulation as well as its emergence, change and 'grip'. The analyzed materials consist of the regulatory quality principles that OECD has published since 1995 and some complementary documents. The results show that there are distinct social, political and fantasmatic logics that OECD's regulatory agenda is built on. The social logics of markets, rational choice and public interest indicate that the overall discursive structure of OECD's better regulation can be understood through logics of depoliticization. All the social logics seek to simplify the regulatory process by limiting and structuring the world around the decision-making process and offering ostensibly neutral and objective set of principles to refer to. The logics of depoliticization are supported by drawing political frontiers between the new alternative regulatory tools and old command-and control forms of regulation and by beatific fantasies of prosperity as well as horrific fantasies of stagnation. It is argued that the logics of depoliticization hide the underlying political and communicative nature of the regulatory process. Completely neutral or unbiased principles are argued to be impossible and that defining quality as efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability is a political choice. By structuring the communicative aspects of the regulatory process, better regulation also increases the use of professional power in regulatory decision-making. It should be noted that regulation is seldom only concerned about maximizing welfare and bringing economic benefits. Rather, it should be seen as an organic process that requires balancing competing values and views concerning the society.
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(2019)Objectives. Earlier studies have shown that international education policies are increasingly spreading, and that transnational organizations such as OECD play a key role in this development. This study focuses on locating the main educational policy themes from OECD’s publications and compares them with the educational policy objectives of the government programs of the Finnish governments in the 2010s with the aim of locating the similarities between the educational policy objectives of the government programs and the main themes of the OECD's education policy. The research questions guiding the research are: 1. What are the main educational policy themes that can be identified in OECD educational publications? and 2. What are the similarities between the educational policy themes of the OECD and the educational policy objectives of the Finnish government programs for the 2010s? Methods. The research was carried out as a qualitative study. The research material was collected from the OECD educational publications and from the educational policy objectives sections of government programs of the 2010s. An analysis method used in this study was data-driven thematic content analysis. The analysis first highlighted the main educational policy themes from OECD's educational publications, and then compared these themes with the educational policy objectives of the government programs of the 2010s to identify the similarities between them and the OECD’s main educational policy themes. Results and conclusions. In response to the first research question, seven main educational policy themes themes emerged from the OECD’s publications. The main themes are competitiveness and work life, equality, educational performance, innovation, lifelong learning, educational coverage and internationality themes. In response to second research question, the main educational themes of OECD’s publications in comparison to the educational policy objectives of the government programs of the 2010 government of Finland revealed several substantive similarities between the main themes and the educational policy goals of government programs. The purpose of the results is to stimulate an education-related debate on transnational educational policy guidance.
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(2018)This study provides an analysis on the role of communications in enhancing tax compliance from building an overall view of OECD’s Forum of Tax Administration’s member countries’ tax administrations’ perceptions about communications’ role on improving tax compliance. Prior to this study, there was no comprehensive view about the state of communications in the aforementioned countries. This study examines the perceptions of tax administration communications departments on whether tax compliance can be improved by means of communication. In the recent tax-related theories, there are two ways of encouraging the payment of taxes: coercive power and trust. According to theories, trust can be increased by the transparency that modern government communication is nowadays very much aimed towards. The tax communication units of OECD’s Forum of Tax Administrations' member countries' tax administrations were viewed in regards of organisational factors, communication practices and strategic approaches. This study has been carried out as a quantitative observational study targeting the members of the aforementioned network. An online survey was used to collect the data and was sent to the member countries in 2017 and 2018. This way it was possible to gain further insight with the year-by-year comparison. In addition, the data obtained through the survey was compared to other materials such as the OECD's Tax Administration Series. Key concepts and theories are related to tax compliance, government communication as well as transparency and trust. One of the key findings of the study is that the size of the tax administrations does not have impact on communications departments’ perceptions or activities on enhancing tax compliance with communications. Seems that tax administrations have not been able to leverage the economics of scale communications-wise. All of the tax administrations perceived their communications to be successful despite the variance in their actual performance within strategic goals, usage of different media channels or monitoring their performance. However, tax administrations’ attitudes towards transparency have moved in a positive direction within one year. According to the results, communication measurements are underutilised, as they could be reflected more with the goals and directions of communication strategies. The link between strategic objectives and practice is broken, despite the fact that tax administrations use a wide range of different service channels, marketing communicational tools as well as social networks when communicating towards tax payers and stakeholders. With this in mind, it can be said that on a general level, tax administrations are well prepared for the challenges of the new information age and its pressures for more transparency, but do not necessarily have the optimal organisational setting for it yet.
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(2018)This study provides an analysis on the role of communications in enhancing tax compliance from building an overall view of OECD’s Forum of Tax Administration’s member countries’ tax administrations’ perceptions about communications’ role on improving tax compliance. Prior to this study, there was no comprehensive view about the state of communications in the aforementioned countries. This study examines the perceptions of tax administration communications departments on whether tax compliance can be improved by means of communication. In the recent tax-related theories, there are two ways of encouraging the payment of taxes: coercive power and trust. According to theories, trust can be increased by the transparency that modern government communication is nowadays very much aimed towards. The tax communication units of OECD’s Forum of Tax Administrations' member countries' tax administrations were viewed in regards of organisational factors, communication practices and strategic approaches. This study has been carried out as a quantitative observational study targeting the members of the aforementioned network. An online survey was used to collect the data and was sent to the member countries in 2017 and 2018. This way it was possible to gain further insight with the year-by-year comparison. In addition, the data obtained through the survey was compared to other materials such as the OECD's Tax Administration Series. Key concepts and theories are related to tax compliance, government communication as well as transparency and trust. One of the key findings of the study is that the size of the tax administrations does not have impact on communications departments’ perceptions or activities on enhancing tax compliance with communications. Seems that tax administrations have not been able to leverage the economics of scale communications-wise. All of the tax administrations perceived their communications to be successful despite the variance in their actual performance within strategic goals, usage of different media channels or monitoring their performance. However, tax administrations’ attitudes towards transparency have moved in a positive direction within one year. According to the results, communication measurements are underutilised, as they could be reflected more with the goals and directions of communication strategies. The link between strategic objectives and practice is broken, despite the fact that tax administrations use a wide range of different service channels, marketing communicational tools as well as social networks when communicating towards tax payers and stakeholders. With this in mind, it can be said that on a general level, tax administrations are well prepared for the challenges of the new information age and its pressures for more transparency, but do not necessarily have the optimal organisational setting for it yet.
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(2016)In my thesis, I scrutinized the World Bank, OECD and UNICEF's aims to achieve legitimacy in Brazilian education policy by using knowledge-related governance strategies. In theoretizing the concept of legitimacy, I've employed perspectives from soft governance and knowledge governance. Thus, I was empirically interested in the question of which strategies international organizations (IOs) use to construe knowledge and 'truth' about Brazilian education, as well as how they rationalize and constitute meanings and essentiality of knowledge. My analytical angles to investigate knowledge governance are different strategies of quantification and comparison, so-called 'best practices', depolitization and acting as a spokesperson. The research is stemming from Foucauldian governance studies and is inspired by the triangle of knowledge, truth and power. I used discourse analytical analysis method with an understanding of discourse as a historical and cultural concept that displays, produces and re-produces different power relations. My method of analysis lies in between theory- and data-driven; on one hand, I used comprehension of knowledge governance and legitimacy in reading the data, on the other hand, the final theoretical perspective came to be as it is only after initial analysis. The data consisted of both interviews with the IOs and documents produced by the IOs. According to my study, there are seven different strategies of knowledge and truth governance. Those are capacity building, evidence-based policymaking, national sovereignty, public and local advocacy, external evaluator, global competition and numeric truth. The essential and intriguing part in those strategies is the positioning of oneself in relation to Brazil: knowledge is often produced either together, involving local actors, or clearly from outside, by performing as a neutral and distant expert. However, from perspective of governance studies, these positions are all different strategies of governance, which constitute the truth that serves also – or foremost? – IOs' own agendas. Therefore, I conclude the research in a discussion on how knowledge production could, at least in theory, become more democratic.
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