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Governments face increasingly complex, dynamic and ‘wicked’ challenges that require new policy solutions. To help them understand and respond to these challenges, policy makers often rely on evidence from advisory bodies operating at arms' length from government. This report provides a comparative overview and analysis of the important role played by these bodies in public consultation and decision making. It is based on a survey of policy advisory systems in 17 countries and a series of qualitative interviews. The report examines the institutional set up of such systems, and the role they play in the policy cycle. It discusses how to ensure that they contribute to open, inclusive and sound policy making.

The interconnected challenges of our times call for a coherent and multidimensional approach to public governance. The OECD Policy Framework on Sound Public Governance provides governments at all levels with an integrated diagnostic, guidance and benchmarking tool that aims to improve the quality of public governance – an objective that takes on immediate strategic importance for governments as they strive to manage the COVID-19 crisis and plan for a sustainable and inclusive recovery. The Framework builds on OECD legal instruments in the area, on lessons learned over the past decade through the OECD’s Public Governance Reviews (PGRs) and other country and sector-specific assessments. The first part shows the importance of key governance values and provides an overview of enablers of sound public governance that governments can adopt to pursue successful reforms. The second part presents an overview of management tools and policy instruments that can enhance the quality and impact of policy-making at the different stages of the policy cycle. Each chapter poses a number of strategic questions that policy-makers can use to self-assess the institutional and decision-making capacity of their governments in key public governance areas.

This Policy Guidance is a product of the Development Assistance Committee’s multi-year programme of work on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in oil commodity trading. It proposes a set of relevant, feasible actions for providers of official development assistance (ODA) to respond to IFFs in oil commodity trading. The aim is to enhance the mobilisation of domestic resources for the benefit of populations living in oil-producing developing countries, and enable integrity in their energy transition, particularly in carbon trade.

This report responds to the request by G7 Leaders at the Schloss Elmau Summit in June 2015, for the OECD to develop policy guidance on resource efficiency. Establishing a resource efficient economy is a major environmental, development and macroeconomic challenge today. Improving resource efficiency by putting in place policies that implement the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle (the 3Rs) is crucial to improving resource use, security and competitiveness while diminishing the associated environmental impacts.

COVID-19 is likely to leave long-lasting effects on local labour markets. It is accelerating a pre-existing trend towards automation, as firms look even more to new technologies to pandemic proof their operations. While automation offers the opportunity to boost productivity, it can also lead to job polarisation as vulnerable workers who lose their jobs may not have the skills needed in a changing labour market. This OECD report examines the potential impacts of automation on people and places across Australia. It also sheds light on policies and programmes that can help regions and cities to prepare for the future of work.

COVID-19 has led to a labour market shock in Canada and is likely to generate a profound reflection on production and consumption habits. COVID‑19 is also likely to accelerate automation as firms look to new technologies to pandemic proof their operations. While automation offers the opportunity to boost productivity, it can also create losers as vulnerable workers who lose jobs may not have the skills needed in a changing labour market. This OECD report examines the potential impacts of automation on people and places across Canada with a special focus on the Province of Ontario. It also sheds light on policies and programmes that can help regions and cities to prepare for the future of work.

COVID-19 is testing the Basque Country’s (Spain) resilience. Before COVID-19, employment indicators were recovering from the 2008 crisis, while automation of production was underway. Job quality remained low despite rising educational attainment in the region. COVID-19 is likely to accelerate structural changes in the labour market, including automation and digitalisation. Firms may increasingly look to technology as a way to pandemic proof their operations, while individuals may develop preferences for automated services as opposed to face to face contact. This OECD report sheds light on the potential impacts of automation on the Basque labour market, including which types of jobs and groups of workers are most likely to be impacted, in light of COVID-19 and other labour market changes. The report also highlights the critical role to be played by employment services, training policies and social dialogue to help people and firms make labour market transitions while upholding social cohesion. The report delves into how the Basque Country’s employment and skills system can continue to be at the front line as the crisis evolves.

This report exposes how “policy capture”, where public decisions over policies are consistently or repeatedly directed away from the public interest towards a specific interest, can exacerbate inequalities and undermine democratic values, economic growth and trust in government. It maps out the different mechanisms and risks of policy capture, and provides guidance for policy makers on how to mitigate these risks through four complementary strategies: engaging stakeholders with diverging interests; ensuring transparency and access to information; promoting accountability; and identifying and mitigating the risk of capture through organisational integrity policies.

The risk of the Seine flooding the Ile de France region is a major one. In 2014, the OECD estimated that flooding comparable to the historic 1910 flood could affect up to 5 million citizens and cause damage costing up to 30 billion euros. This update tracks the progress made since 2014 and identifies remaining challenges.

Supreme audit institutions can contribute to promoting substantial improvements in public management. In Colombia, the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) has implemented a new preventive and concomitant control function that identifies risks while projects and budgets are being executed. This report reviews the reform so far and highlights its potential for strengthening the public administration and thus enhancing the impact and relevance of CGR’s work. It addresses strategic considerations and provides recommendations on issues such as how to improve internal co-ordination within the CGR, promote behavioural changes, improve co-ordination with internal control units, and use data and innovative technologies for auditing. The report also points to the need for a sound and long-term fiscal management policy in Colombia.

This volume draws together OECD work to date on measures for ensuring effective privacy protection on global networks while continuing to allow the transborder flow of personal data.

It contains specific policy and practical guidance to assist governments, businesses and individuals in promoting privacy protection online at national and international levels. It proposes ways of adopting and posting privacy policies, mechanisms for enforcement and redress, and means of promoting education and user awareness.

City and regional governments as well as development agencies will learn from this report how to develop their own toolbox of instruments and structures for leveraging private finance.  What role can private financing play in local economic development?  To address this issue, this study draws on practical examples from North America and Europe to show how municipal and regional authorities can capitalise on private financing for economic development purposes.  The book is for policy researchers, entrepreneurs, academia and government circles.

This book examines recent progress made in the region’s privatisation effort in Sub-Saharan Africa. 
With cumulative proceeds of privatisation accounting for just $8 billion compared to $46 billion in transition economies over the same period, it is clearly still in its infancy.  The report charts progress, outlines methods used, and questions whether the objectives have been achieved.  It also examines the impact privatisation has had on alleviating poverty.  It is for policy makers, advisers and donors and research institutes involved in the privatisation process.
 

Over the past decade, privatisation has increasingly taken place in the public utility sector. Technological advances and policy shifts have diminished the perception that public utilities are natural monopolies requiring state ownership. However, the privatisation of such state-owned monopolies raises important regulatory issues. In particular, there should be an adequate regulatory framework to promote competition and, especially if rigorous market competition is lacking, to protect the interests of consumers. Therefore, privatisation needs to be pursued in tandem with competition-enhancing policy and the design of an adequate post-privatisation regulatory framework. This volume brings together a number of papers discussing the interrelationship among privatisation, competition and regulation. The papers make reference to the experience of different countries with privatisation in a wide range of infrastructure sectors.

This report contributes to the dissemination of information on OECD privatisation methods and techniques. It primarily draws upon information that has accumulated during the course of the life of the OECD Privatisation Network and its outreach activity. It also uses information from the Advisory Group on Privatisation, from case examples and from member countries. This report focuses on the implementation aspects of privatisation in the OECD experience.