Browse by: "R"

At a time when public expenditure is undergoing change to accommodate new needs, this report studies the impact of four institutions of the budget process upon re-allocation:  medium-term expenditure frameworks, rules of budgetary discipline, the Minister of finance, and programme review.  It develops a micro-economic classification of public expenditures and gives insight into the shifting pattern of central government expenditure in the last 20 years in 12 selected OECD countries on the basis of that classification.

This study examines the Spanish Information Society strategy plan Avanza 2. Upon request from Spain, focus has been on two selected perspectives corresponding to overall objectives of the Plan Avanza 2: Improving the communication infrastructures and  achieving a paperless administration. The e-government section on a paperless administration is grounded in the two areas of e-taxation and e-justice. Thus the study is not a comprehensive review of Plan Avanza 2 – only of selected parts.

This Recommendation is the first international instrument to address regulatory policy, management and governance as a whole-of-government activity. It sets out the measures by which governments can implement or advance regulatory reform.

This report compares urbanisation trends in OECD countries on the basis of a newly defined OECD methodology which enables cross-country comparison of the socio-econimic and environmental performance of metropolitan areas in OECD countries. The methodology is presented and results from its application to 27 OECD countries are discussed together with policy implication both on national growth and governance of cities. The report also includes three original papers that present the urbanisation dynamics and prospects in China and South Africa and the governance challenges resulting from the new policy agenda on cities in the United Kingdom.

This publication reports on current definitions and uses of functional regions in the OECD countries. It sets forth the reasons that prompt countries to formulate such entities, takes stock of responsibilities and prerogatives existing at these echelons, and tallies their financial resources.The publication is an assessment of the relevance of using these regions as analytical territorial entities in the OECD countries, and as a framework for the application of certain territorial policies.

Since 1999, the Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance has brought together the most active and influential policy makers, practitioners and experts on corporate governance in the region, as well as from OECD countries and relevant international institutions. Participants exchange experiences and push forward the reform agenda on corporate governance while promoting awareness and use of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance as well as the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises. This Report supports decision-makers and practitioners in their efforts to take corporate governance to a higher level. It reflects the discussions and conclusions of various recent Roundtable. The next phase of the Roundtable will focus on how to change behaviour to achieve better outcomes.

This book describes and examines reforms of fiscal federalism and local government in 10 OECD countries implemented over the past decade. The country chapters identify common patterns and factors that are conducive to reforms of the intergovernmental fiscal framework, using a common methodological approach. The summary chapter highlights the cross-cutting issues emerging from the country chapters and shows the key factors in the institutional, political, economic and fiscal areas that are supporting reform success. The report’s approach results in valuable insights for policy makers designing, adopting and implementing fiscal federalism and local government reforms.

This review analyses public procurement policies and practices of ISSSTESON, the institution providing health and pension services to the workers of the State Government of Sonora, Mexico. It benchmarks ISSSTESON practices against the 2015 Recommendation of the Council on Public Procurement to help the institute upgrade its procurement operations and increase efficiency, in a difficult financial environment. It also examines the revenue structure of the Institute and suggests reforms for the pension scheme, which is too generous compared to national and international experience.

This report presents progress made by OECD countries and other economies on their adherence to the 2015 Recommendation of the Council on Public Procurement. The Recommendation provides strategic guidance in addressing challenges encountered in public procurement and identifies good procurement practices in order to ensure a strategic and holistic use of public procurement. This report discusses the Recommendation's continued relevance, how widely it has been disseminated, and whether it requires updating or revision.

Infrastructure sectors -- particularly railroads, telecommunications, electricity and natural gas -- are vital in providing necessities of life to the Russian Federation’s citizens and key inputs into the rest of the economy. A top priority of the current government in Russia is to reform the infrastructure sectors, specifically in such sectors as rail transport and electric power, to create an efficient and effective regulatory regime that supports the creation of competition where possible and provides more effective protection to consumers in those spheres where competition is not possible. This book compiles the proceedings of four meetings held at the request of the Minister for Antimonopoly Policy of the Russian Federation, on the reform of railroads, telecommunications, electricity and natural gas, during December 2000-September 2001. This review is part of the OECD's ongoing co-operation with non-Member economies around the world.

This report assesses the state of Armenia’s sanitation services, which are in poor shape, and proposes ways forward for reforming the sector by: ensuring equitable access by all and identifying solutions that work for the poorest and most remote communities; generating economies of scale and scope, and reducing both investment and operational costs for the efficient delivery of sanitation services; and moving towards sustainable cost recovery for the sanitation sector, by identifying how much funding can be mobilised from within the sector and how much external transfers are required. The state of Armenia’s sanitation services are inadequate, with 51% of the population in rural areas using unimproved facilities, causing direct damage to the environment and exposing inhabitants to health risks, and better access but degraded sewerage-system infrastructure in urban areas, posing health hazards due to potential cross-contamination between sewage and drinking water. According to preliminary estimates, EUR 2.6 billion of investments will be required to meet Armenia’s sanitation needs, with approximately EUR 1 billion needing to be spent in the next 7 to 10 years. Given the country’s current economic situation, this investment will have to be spread over time and targeted to avoid further deterioration of infrastructure and increase of the financing gap.

The Welsh Government is refining its approach to regional development, adopting a regional lens directed to four regions to better allocate resources and address local needs. This OECD Multi-level Governance Study – a follow up to the 2020 OECD report The Future of Regional Development and Public Investment in Wales, United Kingdom – summarises the progress Wales has made to advance this regional lens, and identifies key areas of attention going forward. It synthesises the results of a vision-setting exercise, capacity-building workshops with the national government and regional bodies, and a multi-stakeholder workshop on collaborative working among Welsh regional development actors. This report identifies enablers for the effective use of a regional lens in Wales, including robust regional data, long-term and future-oriented objectives, effective co-ordination across Welsh Government policy areas related to regional development, capacitated regional structures, and trust and collaborative working among levels of government. The report's insights on establishing strategic direction and fostering collaboration among national, regional, and local levels could be valuable for countries exploring ways to optimise regional development policy, including in the face of resource constraints.

In recent decades, federal and unitary countries have increasingly adopted or deepened regional governance reforms, especially in the OECD and Europe, but also in Asia, America and to a lesser extent Africa. Approximately two-thirds of countries around the world have increased the power of regions over the last 50 years. This trend has happened in parallel with countries increasingly embedding a territorial approach into policy-making at the national and subnational levels. This process, however, does not follow a linear path. The rationale behind regional governance reforms differs from country to country, and over time, leading to a broad spectrum of governance models with varying institutional and financing arrangements. Taking stock of these trends, this report provides key data on regional governance reforms and their drivers, with a focus on the role of regions in the COVID-19 crisis response. The report also presents an innovative typology of regional governance models across OECD countries and the multi-level governance instruments that enable sound regional governance and help ensure these arrangements effectively serve their purpose.

Some manufacturing activities are among the most difficult human activities to make climate neutral and they are typically regionally concentrated. Across Europe these regions are often socioeconomically relatively weak. Yet these sectors provide relatively well-paid jobs in many of these regions. Some of these regions may also have more difficult access to infrastructure to provide the hydrogen, carbon capture and storage and zero-emission freight, which can be important to some of these activities. Industrial transitions to climate neutrality therefore have regional development implications. Since regions differ in their socio-economic conditions, understanding these regional development implications will help policy makers prepare a just transition. This publication identifies manufacturing activities that are particularly difficult to decarbonise and the transformations they require. It shows how these activities are distributed across European regions, focusing on employment at emission-intensive production locations. It identifies conditions for getting access to needed infrastructure and how access conditions differ across regions. It investigates the socio-economic vulnerabilities of affected regions, their manufacturing businesses and workers. In some regions, workers and firms may be particularly vulnerable, for example, because of low-skill jobs, type of employment contract or low productivity.

To make the most of its longstanding tradition of manufacturing and innovation, Piedmont, Italy, is undertaking a process of industrial transition, the success of which may be linked to an updated approach to its regional innovation policy. This should include promoting technology and non-technology driven innovation, building the innovation competences of micro- and small enterprises in addition to medium and large ones, better connecting regional innovation actors, and ensuring that innovation contributes to the region’s broader development goals such as sustainable regional development. It also requires diversifying the role of Piedmont’s innovation clusters and reinforcing the multi-level governance system for innovation policy. This report features a comparative perspective of the trends, challenges and opportunities for innovation-led growth in Piedmont, and highlights how Piedmont could build a dynamic innovation ecosystem based on its smart specialisation strategy, a fresh perspective on innovation, and future-oriented innovation cluster organisations. The report provides actionable recommendations and offers insights into making the most of innovation policy as a lever for place-based regional development.

This report, published by the OECD's International Futures Programme in co-operation with the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre in Australia, aims to stimulate informed debate about the main integration issues facing the Asia-Pacific region in the decades ahead.  It examines such issues as how the region compares to other regions of the world in terms of economic and political integration; regional co-operation on trade, investment and environment; and security and transportation concerns.  The book concludes with Mike Moore's "Reflections on Asia Pacific Integration".

An analytical framework for assessing and managing the relationship between regional agreements and the world multilateral trading system. Regional trade agreements (RTAs) are increasingly portrayed as a threat to the free global exchange of goods and services. Moreover, should the WTO-approved Doha Round of multilateral talks end in deadlock, many member countries would likely place even greater emphasis on regional agreements. This book provides WTO members with an analytical framework for assessing and managing the relationship between regionalism and the world multilateral trading system.