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Drawing on the OECD’s expertise in comparing country experiences and identifying best practices, the Better Policies series tailors the OECD’s policy advice to the specific and timely priorities of member and partner countries, focusing on how governments can make reform happen.

La Muette, home of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, has a long and rich history. This book tells its story from its inception as a royal hunting lodge to its present-day use as the headquarters of the OECD.  The reader may find it amusing, and sometimes instructive, to meet some of the colourful characters who once roamed its galleries. The place itself has played a significant role in French history; the Château and its extensive park were once the theatre of many a strong sentiment and the locale is impregnated with memories, comic, tragic, venal, lofty, solemn and ludic. These traces of the past are the real substance of La Muette’s charm; they are also the voices that echo through this text and linger in the halls of the Château.

New economic thinking and acting through a systemic approach could outline policy alternatives to tackle the global-scale systemic challenges of financial, economic, social and environmental emergencies, and help steer our recovery out of the current crisis. A systemic recovery requires an economic approach that balances several factors – markets and states, efficiency and resilience, growth and sustainability, national and global stability, short-term emergency measures and long-term structural change. To achieve this, we need to think beyond our policy silos, comprehend our interconnections, and build resilience into our systems.

Financial reporting is one of the foundations of good fiscal management. High-quality financial reports are essential to ensure that a government’s fiscal decisions are based on the most up-to-date and accurate understanding of its financial position. Financial reports are also the mechanism through which legislatures, auditors, and the public at large hold governments accountable for their financial performance. Over the past two decades, a growing number of governments have begun moving away from pure cash accounting toward accrual accounting to improve transparency and accountability and better inform fiscal decision making. This study reviews and compares accounting and budgeting practices at the national government level in OECD countries. It also discusses both the challenges and benefits of accruals reforms. Finally, it looks at some steps countries are taking to make better use of accrual information in the future. This is a joint publication with the International Federation of Accountants and the OECD.

In many countries, public expenditure, including transfers, plays a major role in reducing income inequality. The report reviews the various ways that budgeting can be used to this end. A first includes taking a broad approach to results-based budgeting, taking social and distributional goals into consideration. A second relies on integrating distributional impact analysis directly into the budget process. The report discusses the concrete experience of eight OECD countries in this area, analysing how they are integrating distributional impact assessment in spending and budgeting decisions. Finally, it discusses the tools, frameworks and data that are needed to take distributional considerations into account as part of evidence-informed policy making.

Drawing on the OECD’s expertise in comparing country experiences and identifying best practices, this book tailors the OECD’s policy advice to the specific and timely priorities of Germany and the Euro Area, focusing on how their governments can make reform happen.
 

This report assesses the impact on citizens and businesses of the administrative simplification measures carried out by the Mexican Social Security Institute. Administrative burdens are measured in the time it takes citizens and businesses to complete forms and wait in line to request or deliver information to the government. Using an adaptation of the Standard Cost Model, this report finds that such burdens for users have decreased by at least 25% thanks to the simplification and digitalisation of administrative formalities. It also suggests how the Institute could reduce burdens even further. By promoting the use of online formalities, IMSS could reduce administrative burdens by an additional 11%.

Ageing has a wide range of impacts on individuals and society as a whole. But the consequences for health care, working life, income and well-being in general are not always what many people imagine. OECD Insights: Ageing: Debate the Issues discusses the problems, challenges, and opportunities that ageing brings to citizens and governments in developed and developing countries. Experts on demography, medical research, pensions, employment and other domains from inside and outside the OECD present their latest analyses and views on one of the most important trends shaping our societies.

The report contains revisions to the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines to align transfer pricing outcomes with value creation. The revised guidance focuses on the following key areas: transfer pricing issues relating to transactions involving intangibles; contractual arrangements, including the contractual allocation of risks and corresponding profits, which are not supported by the activities actually carried out; the level of return to funding provided by a capital-rich MNE group member, where that return does not correspond to the level of activity undertaken by the funding company; and other high-risk areas. The report also sets out follow-up work to be carried out on the transactional profit split method which will lead to detailed guidance on the ways in which this method can appropriately be applied to further align transfer pricing outcomes with value creation.

The book introduces several models for assessing health and economic policies in relation to NCDs; shows how the models can be used for different diseases or risk factors; and provides case studies of those models’ application in various countries in the Americas. The ultimate goal is to help policymakers find the best strategies for cost-effective and evidence-based NCD interventions.

This book presents an in depth analysis of the contribution of services to the Australian economy, the regulatory environment of the services sector and its performance in an international context. The analysis highlights the importance of co-ordinated domestic policy action, priorities for promoting behind-the-border regulatory reforms in strategic international markets, and the benefits of an ambitious bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral trade policy agenda that contributes to rules-based certainty and predictability in services trade globally.

Agenda na rzecz zrównoważonego rozwoju 2030 przyjęta przez światowych przywódców w ramach Organizacji Narodów Zjednoczonych w dniu 25 września 2015 r. wyznacza ambitny plan działania służący poprawie życia ludzi na całym świecie. W dniu 14 lutego 2017 r. Rząd RP przyjął Strategię na rzecz odpowiedzialnego rozwoju, w której przewidziano ponad 700 działań ukierunkowanych na zwiększenie dochodu obywateli Polski oraz wzmocnienie społecznej, gospodarczej, środowiskowej i terytorialnej spójności kraju. Przyjmując Strategię na rzecz odpowiedzialnego rozwoju, Polska wykonała pierwszy ważny krok w stronę zmierzenia się z tymi wyzwaniami. Osiągnięcie celów zrównoważonego rozwoju będzie jednak długim procesem z wieloma przeszkodami, podczas którego Polska będzie musiała regularnie dostosowywać swoje strategie, plany działania i środki polityki oraz aktualizować zobowiązania wszystkich interesariuszy. Wymiana doświadczeń z innymi państwami, służąca ustaleniu sprawdzających się i niesprawdzających się rozwiązań, może pomóc Polsce w pomyślnej realizacji tego procesu.

This publication presents a synthesis of the main findings and policy recommendations of China in the World Economy: Domestic Policy Challenges. After more than two decades of progress in market reforms and trade and investment liberalisation, the entry of China into the World Trade Organisation marks a new era for its integration into the world economy. Drawing on the experiences of OECD Members over the past 50 years, and the Organisation’s extensive work with non-Member economies around the world, this publication provides readers with a synthetic view of the interrelated domestic policy issues at stake and with specific recommendations as to actions to be taken. List of themes: Agricultural prospects and policies Rural industries Implications for the rural economy Overview of industry prospects Priorities for industry reorganisation and restructuring Technology challenges for China’s industries Challenges to the banking industry The development of the insurance industry Prospects for the distribution sector Foreign direct investment: prospects and policies An OECD perspective on regulatory reform in China The role of competition law and policy Establishing effective governance for China's enterprises Developing the financial system and financial regulatory policies Priorities for development of China’s capital markets Labour market and social benefit policies Environmental priorities for China’s sustainable development The current tax system and priorities for reform Public sector budget management issues Issues concerning central-local government fiscal relations China's regional development: prospects and policies Macroeconomic policy priorities Annex 1 : Summary of China’s commitments under WTO Annex 2 : Summary of studies of the impact of WTO on China This publication is part of the OECD's ongoing co-operation with non-Member economies around the world.