Labor market skills. The OECD Skills Outlook 2013 illustrates how different countries invest in the skills of their populations by effectively using global value chains, socially and economically. The OECD Skills Outlook 2013 distinguished three crucial labor market skills: numeracy, literacy, and problem-solving. For all three skills, the OECD report scores the proficiency of 16- to 65-year olds at five different levels, ranging from Level 1 (able to read relatively short texts to identify information that is identical to what is given in the question or directive) to Level 5

(able to make complex inferences and evaluate subtle truth claims or arguments in written texts). The following table contains scores from a subset of countries.

Countries Japan Finland Australia The USA Italy Skills Category Below Level 1 1 3 3 4 6 Level 1 4 8 9 14 22 Level 2 23 27 29 33 42 Level 3 49 41 39 34 26 Level 4/5 23 22 17 12 3 No data 1 0 2 4 1

a) Would you expect the distribution of literacy skills to be roughly the same over different countries? Why or why not?

b) The table shows the percentages of skill levels for each country. Are these row percentages, column percentages, or total percentages?

c) Does the data support the OECD’s advice that some countries (several southern European countries among them) would profit from school reforms? Explain.