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Sections » Government » Governance
  • Today is IDAHO Day

    This year the parliaments of two OECD member countries passed legislation broadening the institution of marriage to include same sex couples. Such marriage is now legal in 14 countries worldwide, 11 of which are OECD members.

    (211 words)
  • What the BEPS are we talking about?

    Bloomberg’s “The Great Corporate Tax Dodge”, The New York Times’ “But Nobody Pays That” and the Guardian’s “Tax Gap”: these are some examples of the wide media attention given to global tax issues in recent weeks. The public is understandably becoming alarmed, since what is at issue is how profit shifting by multinationals is eroding their national tax bases. OECD initiatives on tax policy can help.

    More ...


     

  • Is evidence evident?

    Science and technology play a central role in our society. They are part of everybody’s life, they help to tackle the grand challenges of humankind and they create innovation and jobs and improve quality of life. Science and technology are part of our culture, and in essence define us as a species that “wants to know”–hence why we are called Homo sapiens. But do we really give science its proper value when it comes to taking political decisions?

    (756 words)
  • ©REUTERS/Mike Segar

    Well-being priority

    A major step forward towards putting the measurement of well-being at the heart of policymaking was taken at the OECD’s World Forum on Measuring Well-Being for Policymaking and Development, a four-day international conference held in New Delhi in October.

    (297 words)
  • Vive la réforme

    People looking for models of public governance reform may not immediately think of France, but perhaps they should think again. In July 2007, France launched a reform programme called “General Review of Public Policies” (Révision Générale des Politiques Publiques, RGPP). Implemented at central government level, it adopts a novel approach that could prove a useful model for other OECD countries.

    (308 words)
  • ©REUTERS/Felipe Caicedo

    Up in the air?

    Taking as many long-haul flights as possible could hold the answer to your knowledge management problems.

    (638 words)
  • ©Saatchi&Saatchi

    Ad sense

    Politicians have long called on the services of public relations firms, design experts and advertising agencies to help them communicate. What impact do they have, and how has their role changed? We asked one of the very biggest in the business, Saatchi & Saatchi, for some insights.

    (977 words)
  • This time it's different - Click to enlarge

    Policy can brighten the economic outlook

    After five years of crisis, the global economy is weakening again. In this we are not facing a new pattern. Over the recent past, signs of emergence from the crisis have more than once given way to a renewed slowdown or even a double-dip recession in some countries. The risk of a new major contraction cannot be ruled out. A recession is ongoing in the euro area, the US economy is growing but below what was expected earlier this year, and a slowdown has surfaced in many emerging market economies.

    (664 words)
  • To be changed

    (198 words)
  • ©OECD, Pittsburgh G20 summit 2009

    President Obama's victory

    OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría has congratulated Barack Obama on his re-election as US president. Mr Gurría said the OECD was proud to have worked with President Obama and his team over the past four years, both on the home front and in international fora such as the G8 and G20 (our photo).

    (145 words)
  • ©Jim Young/Reuters

    Obama vs. Romney: Is it the economy, stupid?

    Are you able to make sense of the barrage of opinion poll data that is currently being published in the lead up to the US presidential election on 6 November? Bruce Stokes, Director of Pew Global Economic Attitudes at the Pew Research Center, sheds light on the poll trends and assesses to what extent issues such as the economy will be deciding factors when voters approach the ballot box.

    (294 words)
  • Resurrecting industrial policy

    Can governments play a positive role in boosting their countries’ industrial sectors?

    (565 words)
  • ©Reuters/Handout

    In Brazil, better lives

    Brazil has experienced a considerable shift over the last decade as a result of its economic growth. Social inequality has decreased and income distribution has become more evenly distributed. These tangible changes are reflected in the increased confidence of the Brazilian population. Demand is higher and priorities have changed, leading to a change in both the government and the private sector as well. 

    (782 words)
  • ©Reuters/Luke MacGregor

    Inequality: Why the struggle matters

    The economic crisis has been rich in history-defining images, from bank collapses and house foreclosures to street protests and growing lines of the unemployed. In 2011 one image stands out: that of protestors “occupying” major financial districts around the world. These protesters are demonstrating against a system that they accuse of having enriched the few at the expense of those at the bottom of the economic ladder. 

    (1515 words)
  • Han Seung-soo ©OECD

    From the Industrial Revolution to a green revolution

    The continuity of our societies and the sustainability of our planet will necessarily depend on how we, as a collective, can devise the solutions to the paramount and multifaceted difficulties that have arisen from the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution. In fact, if we are to successfully transform these challenges into opportunities, what we need is nothing short of another revolution. And in today’s revolution the bayonets, unquestionably, need to be green. 

    (1008 words)
  • ©Reuters/Mainichi Shimbun

    Shock proof?

    Managing risk could absorb more policy time around the world in the 21st century. How can policymakers be prepared?

    (1385 words)
  • Taking a robust stance on bribery

    Bribery is a modern day scourge on international trade. At a time when so many people are struggling through an economic downturn, bribery is a very real disease threatening our prosperity. It poses a serious challenge to the development of economies and contributes to market failure. It distorts competition, damages free enterprise and blights business. It stifles talent and innovation and kills entrepreneurship. In many cases it is the poorest in society who are hit the hardest

    (711 words)
  • ©REUTERS/Andrew Winning

    Occupy: Some lessons for a better tomorrow

    A crisis may focus minds, but it often takes more than that to believe that change is possible. Citizens worldwide have made just that leap of faith. In OECD member countries, a grassroots movement has manifested itself in the overnight occupation of public space and the exercise of direct democracy on the model of what happened in city squares across Spain just over a year ago. After those demonstrations reached Wall Street, Occupy went global and I have been fortunate enough to be involved with the movement as it developed in London.

    (1068 words)
  • Reimagining governance

    Globalisation and the emergence of interlinked yet diverse civil society groups pose a serious challenge to established governance frameworks. Change appears to be the only option. 

    (1099 words)
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    The state’s anti-poverty effect

    Poverty rates are usually a measure of personal income. But how can public services affect relative poverty, that is, when the monetary value of public services, known as “extended income” is brought into the equation? 

    (253 words)
  • Behind closed doors

    “Wise men don’t need advice. Fools won’t take it,” said Benjamin Franklin. Yet, from Machiavelli through Richelieu to Kissinger, people in power have always relied on good advice from people they trust. But where should the line be drawn (rather than blurred) between influence and intrigue, cost and benefit? 

    (343 words)
  • Maria van der Hoeven

    M. van der Hoeven ©OECD

    Energy security: looking towards uncertainty

    Energy markets in 2012, like the broader economic picture, are marked by significant uncertainty. From a policy perspective, global macroeconomic concerns in 2011 diverted attention away from energy policy and could do the same this year. That could have worrying impacts on policy progress, especially as recent months have ushered in record carbon dioxide emissions, worsening energy efficiency and sustained high oil prices. 

    (932 words)
  • ©DR

    A recipe for trust

    Have the policy errors that contributed to the global economic crisis been rectified? Sharan Burrow shares her vision for building trust and restoring confidence in the countries still suffering from the crisis.

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  • How to get it right

    Austerity programmes to restore order to public finances can add to the woes of already struggling economies, leading to more job losses and social hardship. But there are ways for governments to put their fiscal houses in order, while supporting growth and reducing income inequality at the same time.

    The crisis affecting OECD economies is now in its sixth year, yet sizeable efforts are still needed to put government finances back on a sustainable base, while underpinning growth. At the same time, pressure is mounting to tackle the deepening social problems with policies to reduce exclusion and inequality. It is a difficult balancing act, which few countries can ignore. Indeed, the two largest OECD economies, the US and Japan, are among those countries requiring the most fiscal consolidation of all, to the order of 10% of GDP. Consolidation requirements are also large in troubled countries of the euro area and the UK.  

    More...

  • ©DR

    Climate change won't wait

    The European Union may be facing some difficult economic challenges, but that's no excuse for not acting now to create an economy based on resource efficiency and low-carbon development. The benefits are potentially enormous, including lower greenhouse gas emissions, more efficient use of energy and resources, and rising growth and innovation.

    More...

  • ©Reuters/Danish Siddiqui

    The cost of mistrust

    Trust is at the heart of today’s complex global economy. But, paradoxically, trust is also in increasingly short supply in many of our societies, especially in our attitudes towards big business, parliaments and governments. This decline threatens our capacity to tackle some of today’s key challenges.

    More...

  • Green chemistry

    Economic growth over the past decades has led to improved quality of life, increased prosperity and longer, healthier lives in nearly all countries. Resource constraints are making us realise that to continue to enjoy these benefits we will have to change course towards more sustainable or greener growth. 

    (893 words)
  • Rolf Alter

    Rolf Alter

    Public governance: The other deficit

    Frustrated citizens are asking their governments: “When will we see effective policies to support economic growth and generate jobs?” There is an endless debate in individual countries and at the international level, but policy responses to the crisis continue to appear fragmented, timid and sometimes incoherent. 

    (938 words)
  • Mark Pieth

    Mark Pieth ©OECD

    Don’t forget corruption

    The crisis should not divert attention from the fight against corruption.
    Mark Pieth, Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery, talks to Lyndon Thompson about the need to keep the ball rolling.

    (1052 words)
  • Multinational enterprises: Better guidelines for better lives

    The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises have just been updated. What are the main changes and how might they affect international corporate behaviour?

    (1482 words)
  • BIS

    50 years of productive partnership

    Why do some businesses, organisations, economies and even countries succeed in achieving their objectives while others do not? Important insights are provided if we treat each of these entities as a complex adaptive system, subject to the same processes as biological evolution.

    (1068 words)
  • Governments and markets: Time to get serious

    How can we all learn from a crisis? Today, we find ourselves in a disappointing, if not altogether unexpected, predicament. The very governments who took bold and decisive action in the period of the financial crisis 2008-09 to bail out banks and keep financial markets alive now find themselves on the receiving end of severe punishment from financial markets. How could this be?

    (1497 words)
  • News brief - May 2011

    Child poverty warning; Economy; Soundbites; Slower development aid?; Japan rebuilds; Tax burden on the rise; Estonia joins the OECD; Shinier steel outlook; Cities under-served by carbon markets; Brazil and India sign OECD chemical accord; Corruption: governments warned; Plus ça change...

    (1520 words)
  • Better measures for better lives

    The OECD, a pioneer in the quest to measure the progress and well-being of societies, is launching an exciting new initiative, incorporating Your Better Life Index. The initiative is not only a major step forward in assessing people’s true welfare, but involves people in the process too.

    (1541 words)
  • The historic former Hotel Majestic in Paris. See caption 1 at the foot of the article. © AFP

    A majestic start: How the OECD was won

    It would be easy to think that the organisation created in 1961 was the inevitable next stage in the evolution of the OEEC, the European body originally set up to administer the Marshall Plan in 1947. But the OECD did not simply "replace" the OEEC. Nor was its creation inevitable or easy.

    (2119 words)
  • A new global governance?

    Among key orientations presented at the latest session of the yearly Journées de l'économie, are improving global monetary surveillance ans reduction of market brutality.

    (753 words)
  • How to reform and be re-elected?

    “To reform and to perform” is the goal of many a serious politician. It is not an easy task.

    (1335 words)
  • News brief - October 2010

    Slower activity ahead?; Economy; Soundbites; Roundup; Corruption work praised; iLibrary launched; Israel joins the OECD; Secretary-General reappointed; Plus ça change...

    (1473 words)
  • Better policies for better lives!

    As the OECD reaches 50, it must continue to become more relevant, useful and open within a new architecture of global governance, argues Angel Gurría, in this extract from remarks delivered following the renewal of his mandate as OECD secretary-general.*

    (1116 words)
  • Chile: Tackling social changes

    When Chile became the first South American country to join the OECD in 2010, the event was greeted as a seal on years of progress, not to mention hard work. Still, challenges remain, including in the fight against poverty, as Minister of Planning Felipe Kast explains in this interview with the OECD Observer.

    (462 words)
  • The confidence factor

    According to the latest Economic Outlook, growth in the OECD will reach some 2.7% in 2010. But while the global economy may be out of intensive care, it remains very fragile, as underlined by market volatility, rising public debt and high unemployment. A key missing ingredient is confidence. What must be done to restore it?

    (764 words)
  • Clearer lobbying for cleaner policymaking

    The OECD has developed new  guidelines to help make lobbying more  transparent and even-handed.

    (1296 words)
  • Ten years on: The fight against foreign bribery

    There have been major successes since the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention entered into force. But it will take a lot more to clean up unfair business practices.

    (1141 words)
  • Why markets need governments

    The recent economic meltdown was at root not a failure of character or competence, but a failure of ideas.

    (1144 words)
  • Public-private partnerships

    Governments may find public-private partnerships (PPPs) especially tempting in the aftermath of a financial crisis, but how can hasty choices be avoided?

    (1088 words)
  • Public sector governance

    The Egyptian government is focusing on several regulatory reform and improved governance priorities. An initiative now underway, ERRAD, aims to collect and review all legislation and ministerial decrees in the areas of investment, trade and industry.  A Transparency and Integrity Committee was also formed to help establish a national strategic plan for governance in civil service.  Special attention is also given to reforming the social security system.

    (265 words)
  • Fighting bribery

    The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which entered into force 10 years ago this December, was the first global instrument to fight corruption in cross-border business deals. To date, 30 OECD member countries and eight non-member countries-Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Estonia, Israel, Slovenia and South Africa-have adopted the convention.

    (303 words)
  • Cleaning up government

    10 years ago this December the OECD Convention on Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Deals entered into force. The Anti-Bribery Convention requires that its signatory countries make it a crime to bribe a foreign public official in exchange for obtaining, or retaining, international business. Of the 38 countries around the world that have ratified the convention to date, not one is part of the MENA region.

    (1456 words)
  • Mohammed Abbou ©Government of Morocco

    A work in progress

    Morocco is facing the same challenges as most other countries in the MENA region, and hopes to follow the best and most practical paths toward the integrity, transparency, openness and partnership that will promote good governance and development.

    (631 words)
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    Nearing the bottom?

    OECD activity now looks to be approaching its nadir, following the deepest decline in post-war history.

    (1531 words)
  • Good buys

    Governments and state-owned enterprises buy a wide variety of goods and services, from basic computer equipment to the construction of roads. But did you know that such public procurement represents some 10% to15% of GDP across the world?

    (277 words)
  • Struggling with green goals

    Ensuring Environmental Compliance: Trends and Good Practices

    Despite their progress in developing green laws and policies, OECD countries are noton track to achieve some of their key environmental goals and commitments.

    (283 words)
  • ©Larry Downing/Reuters

    A transparent roadmap to recovery

    Governments must put transparency and accountability at the heart of all rescue and reform measures if they are to regain public trust and investor confidence. Here is why.

    (1189 words)
  • ©Dylan Martinez/Reuters

    Pensions

    Pension funds suffered a blow in the financial crisis. So did public confidence. How can pensions be made more secure?

    (1126 words)
  • ©Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

    Clearing up the banks

    If the general consensus is correct-that the roots of global economic crisis are in the financial system-then it follows that to resolve the crisis the global financial governance and financial market regulation must be fixed.

    (741 words)
  • ©Jason Reed/Reuters

    Corporate governance: Lessons from the financial crisis

    If there is one major lesson to draw from the financial crisis, it is that corporate governance matters.

    (1165 words)
  • Early warning

    The trouble with crises is that it is hard to predict which direction they will go. Concerted efforts can help reduce the risk of a deterioriation, but not guarantee it.

    (411 words)
  • China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao (right), greets OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría at the China Development Forum in Beijing. March 2009.

    China’s investment policy

    “The Chinese government rightly advocates firm opposition to trade and investment protectionism, as emphatically stated by Premier Wen Jiabao on several occasions in the past few weeks. As it did a decade ago during the Asian crisis, China has set itself firmly against inward retrenchment in the face of economic downturn. We celebrate this commitment at OECD.

    (669 words)
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    Green convertibles

    Pressure is mounting to arrest climate change, so it's hardly surprising that people around the world are being urged to use public transportation. After all, an overall strategy that includes getting people to give up their trucks and cars to use electric trolley buses, tramways and rail can help make a real dent in pollution, traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. But try telling that to Australians living in the outback, long miles from the nearest bus station. Even most Japanese, who have access to some of the world's best high-speed rail links and urban mass transit, own some type of private vehicle.

    (331 words)
  • Mari Kiviniemi, Finland's Minister of Public Administration & Local Government

    ©Finnish government

    Roundtable on regional policy

    The global economic crisis is affecting families and communities across the planet. With regions bearing the brunt of the crisis, affecting businesses, jobs and people generally, regional policies are very much part of the solution.

    (2753 words)
  • Debt burdens

    The financial crisis and economic downturn are likely to put upward pressure on government debt. The trouble is, according to OECD in Figures 2008, public debt (general government debt, which includes central and local government) had already risen quite sharply in the OECD as a whole since 1987, from 59% of GDP to 75% in 2007. Two decades ago, Belgium had the highest public debt, but today that position is filled by Japan, whose debt rose from below 60% to 170% of GDP. Italy’s debt has also shot above 100% of GDP in the past 20 years.

    (247 words)
  • OECD MNE Guidelines: A responsible business choice

    Far from being a snubbed “CSR Cinderella”, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are being widely used by companies seeking to be recognised as leaders in responsible business practice and sustainable development. But if governments want them to be used even more widely, then they must take action to promote them further.

    (1587 words)
  • New pensions era

    The credit crunch could usher in a new paradigm of stewardship for pension fund trustees and the dawn of a more accountable capitalism.

    (1160 words)
  • ©David Rooney

    The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention 10 years on

    The OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials celebrated its 10th anniversary in November 2007**. A decade on, the aim of the Convention–to fight against active corruption (offering bribes)–is as pertinent as ever.

    (1046 words)
  • Governance initiative launched

    US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shakes hands with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría at the launch of a new multilateral initiative called the Partnership for Democratic Governance (PDG).The new initiative is designed to assist those developing countries that need help to improve governance, strengthen capacity and accountability, and deliver the services that are essential supports of effective government.

    (266 words)
  • South Africa joins convention

    Click to view video

    On 19 June 2007 South Africa became the first African country to join the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention. The still photo shows South Africa's ambassador to France, Nomasonto Maria Sibanda-Thusi, welcomed by OECD secretary-general, Angel Gurría.

     

    (295 words)
  • ©OECD Observer

    Making the world economy work better

    As political leaders gathered in Heiligendamm in northern Germany this June and before that at the OECD in Paris in May, the concern on everyone’s minds was the future shape of the global economy.

    (825 words)
  • The pensions challenge

    Financing retirement was the theme in the latest in a new series of online public discussions, “Ask the economists”. Held in April, OECD experts fielded a dozen questions from readers in Canada, France, Germany, Korea, the UK and the US, as well as the World Bank, about issues such as taxation, equity, early retirement, life expectancy, mortality-linked debt, the role of savings in stocks and real estate, and private versus public provision. The following are just a few extracts from the debate.

    (830 words)
  • ©David Rooney

    The ups and downs of flatter taxes

    Imagine a tax return no longer than a postcard. This at least is what proponents of a “flat tax” system predict.

    (1482 words)
  • ©David Rooney

    Public procurement: Spotting the bribe

    Government contracts generate valuable economic activity, but they are also prone to bribery on a global scale. A new report shows how policymakers might detect bribery in public procurement and suggests ways of defeating it as well.

    (1489 words)
  • The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention

    The 1997 Anti-Bribery Convention was the first global instrument to fight corruption in cross-border business deals. It has since been ratified by all 30 OECD countries and six non-members. National governments and businesses have used the Convention to improve their own legislation and raise standards.

    (660 words)
  • Testing the convention

    The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention is ten years old in November, yet rarely has it been in the public spotlight quite as much as in recent months, thanks to headline-grabbing investigations of possible bribery of foreign officials by companies from member countries. We asked Mark Pieth, chair of the Working Group on Bribery, to explain.

    (1452 words)
  • Bribery dodgers

    Tax inspectors may be an eagle-eyed lot, but in today’s global, technology-sophisticated world, their job has become extra challenging. The OECD’s 1996 Recommendation on the Tax Deductibility of Bribes to Foreign Public Officials is designed to discourage international corruption by disallowing bribes that take the form of tax-deductible expenses, for instance.

    (329 words)
  • Chinese medicine and wisdom

    The report entitled Challenges for China’s Public Spending: Toward Greater Effectiveness and Equity, published earlier this year, identified education and healthcare as priority areas for public spending. Why does China need to spend more on education and health?

    (1094 words)
  • Tax in a borderless world

    Globalisation brings costs and benefits, even for the tax professional. The move towards a borderless world has opened up new opportunities for taxpayers to minimise their overall tax liabilities. Much of this tax planning is legitimate. Good tax planning is driven by the reality of businesses having to operate with increasingly complex laws, particularly affecting international activities, while at the same time wanting to legally minimise their costs, including tax costs.

    (1195 words)
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