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The precautionary principle has been an important aspect of regulatory delivery for nearly four decades. Now widely applied and with a global reach, the principle is often invoked whenever the scientific evidence surrounding the safety of a given technology is not conclusive. It is often applied where a safety risk is known to exist, but the probability and magnitude of harm are uncertain or unknown. The principle thus supports — and is an important element of — risk-based regulation. It is an important principle for the energy transition, in particular, though it is complex to apply in practice. The safety risk of technologies supporting the energy transition is immediate, which can lead regulators to operate and apply the principle over-cautiously — sometimes to the extent of complete inaction. This report examines how the precautionary principle can be used to support flexible decision making by helping regulators and operators manage risk through positive action.
The erosion of public trust challenges government’s capacity to implement policies and carry out reforms. While Korea has achieved and maintained rapid economic growth and development, and performs comparatively well in several existing measures of the quality of public administration, trust in government institutions is relatively low. This pioneering case study presents a measurement and policy framework of the drivers of institutional trust and explores some policy avenues Korea could take to restore trust in public institutions.
The multidimensional and intergenerational nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls for integrated policies. Progress made in a particular social, economic or environmental area or individual goal may generate synergies and trade-offs across dimensions (spillover effects), and steps taken in one country could have positive or negative impacts beyond national borders (transboundary effects). Assessing the multidimensional and cross-border effects of policies has become even more urgent in the context of COVID-19 containment measures. However, there are gaps in governance and analytical tools for identifying and managing spillover and transboundary effects, posing challenges for governments in designing and implementing sustainability strategies. This book, a collaborative effort by the OECD and the European Commission-Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC) presents a set of new governance and analytical tools, lessons learned from country experiences, and good emerging practices for managing spillover and transboundary effects in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
This report discusses challenges and opportunities in assessing the impacts of science-industry knowledge exchange on innovation. The report provides new evidence on joint industry-science patenting activity and academic start-ups, as well as on the impact of geographical proximity between research institutions and industry on local innovation. The report explores the complex set of knowledge-transfer channels, such as collaborative research, co-patenting, academic spinoffs, and their relative importance across science fields and industry sectors. It also experiments with using labour force survey data to assess the contributions of graduates in social sciences to different industries.
Different policy mixes are used in OECD countries to stimulate science-industry knowledge transfer. This report presents a taxonomy of 21 policy instruments, which include grants for collaborative university-industry research and financial support to university spin-offs, and discusses their possible positive and negative interactions. Based on a number of country case studies, the report also sheds light on new policy approaches to support spin-off creation. The report also explores recent trends on the governance of public research of high relevance to science-industry knowledge transfer using newly developed policy indicators for 35 OECD countries.
The Brussels-Capital Region has witnessed significant improvements in its labour market over the past decade. Local job creation has been driven by ample opportunities for highly-skilled workers whom the Brussels-Capital Region attracts from its surrounding regions, the European Union, and beyond. However, not all of the region’s population has seen their labour market prospects improve equally. Many workers with lower levels of education continue to compete for a small number of vacancies, despite the increasingly tightening labour market.
A future vision for the Brussels-Capital Region, therefore, needs to be built on recognising and addressing the multiple and often distinct challenges faced by its young and diverse population. In a labour market that offers high rewards for skills formation, tailoring continuous education and training offerings to different groups while removing barriers to participation in such programmes will need to take priority. Simplifying processes for accessing employment services, streamlining labour market policies, supporting the geographic mobility of less-educated jobseekers, and removing barriers to employment for its migrant population could serve as building blocks to increase labour force participation and improve the employment quality of all local talent.
In the midst of a global slowdown in productivity, unlocking the innovative potential of rural places is more important than ever. As part of a series on supporting to help rural areas thrive, this thematic report provides the latest analysis and research on rural innovation, and proposes ways to overcome the growing gaps between rural and urban places that are contributing to the geographies of discontent. It first explores the multi-facetted innovative practices that are already occurring in rural places, and proposes alternative indicators beyond the traditional science and technology measures to capture them. Then, it identifies policy drivers and bottlenecks to help rural entrepreneurs, firms and people fully mobilise their growth potential. Results and recommendations are drawn from research and fact-finding missions from select OECD member countries.
Subnational governments carry out more than 60% of total public procurement in OECD countries. As such, public procurement can offer a powerful tool for cities to boost local growth and advance their strategic priorities, ranging from innovation and inclusion to the transition to a low-carbon economy. Bratislava, the most populated and richest municipality in the Slovak Republic, carried out 39% of its expenditures through public procurement in 2019. The COVID-19 crisis has enhanced both the urgency and the opportunity to improve the city's procurement system and to rethink "what" and "how" to procure. In this context, Bratislava is developing new directives to make its procurement processes more efficient. This report offers recommendations on how Bratislava can use public procurement strategically to identify value-for-money solutions, foster competition, and promote sustainable urban development. The report also includes a concrete case study on Bratislava’s public procurement for street lighting, which provides methodological guidance on the analysis of needs, market engagement, and tender design.
The OECD report Urban-Rural Linkages in Poland analyses the potential of urban and rural territories for development and improved well-being. Urban and rural areas have different yet often complementary assets, and their better integration is important for socio-economic and environmental performance. The report argues that local governments need to engage in partnerships where all parties are equal, as a higher form of urban-rural co-operation. Building urban-rural partnerships in Poland would help territories enhance the production of public goods; achieve economies of scale in public service provision; co-ordinate decisions where cross-boundary effects are important and increase the capacity of the partners. Yet a lack of trust and of policy integration hinder the effectiveness of partnerships. The report found that the main incentive for Polish local governments to enter into a partnership is access to EU funds. However, while Poland has developed solid experience in the management of EU funds, it would benefit from deepening the integration and complementarity among funding streams. Moreover, the report argues that strengthening metropolitan governance will underpin efforts to facilitate the formation and management of urban-rural partnerships.
"Highly informative and equally persuasive."
-Adam Przeworski, Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Politics, New York University
"Should be required reading by all who publish or use governance indicators, especially those who are making policy or offering policy advice."
-John D. Sullivan, Executive Director, Center for International Private Enterprise
“Given the proliferation of governance indicators, Arndt and Oman offer a welcome assessment of how existing studies are best interpreted and used by scholars, aid agencies, governments and businesses. This careful appraisal of present knowledge will be the basis for launching the next round of inquires.”
-Hilton L. Root, Former U.S. Treasury Department Official, Author of Capital and Collusion, Princeton University Press.
“A seminal study. Extremely thorough. Should reach a very wide audience”
-François Roubaud, Director of Research, Développement Institutions et Analyses de Long terme (DIAL)
Questo rapporto offre una panoramica sul sistema di pianificazione delle infrastrutture verdi e sull’uso di soluzioni basate sulla natura in Italia. Identifica le sfide e le criticita’ principali per la loro realizzazione e delinea una serie di raccomandazioni volte a promuovere l’utilizzo di questi due strumenti a diversi livelli di governo. Il rapporto analizza anche quattro casi di studio individuati in accordo con il Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti: il Nodo Verde di Bari, la linea M4 della rete metropolitana di Milano, la diga di Ridracoli in Emilia-Romagna e la linea ferroviaria Bicocca-Catenanuova.
Los gobiernos pueden utilizar la inteligencia artificial (IA) para diseñar mejores políticas, tomar decisiones más acertadas y específicas y mejorar la comunicación con los ciudadanos y la calidad de los servicios públicos. La región de América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) está tratando de aprovechar el potencial de la IA para promover la transformación digital del sector público. La OCDE, en colaboración con CAF, Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina, preparó este informe para entender la línea base de acciones estratégicas y capacidades para la IA en el sector público; identificar los enfoques y acciones específicas para usar esta tecnología en la construcción de gobiernos eficientes, eficaces y receptivos; e impulsar la colaboración en la búsqueda de una visión regional para la IA en el sector público. Este informe incorpora un balance de las estrategias y compromisos de cada país en torno a la IA en el sector público, incluyendo su alineación con los Principios de IA de la OCDE. También incluye un análisis de los esfuerzos realizados para crear capacidades clave de gobernanza y poner en marcha los facilitadores críticos de la IA en el sector público. Concluye con una serie de recomendaciones para los gobiernos de ALC.
The Public Management Occasional Papers are specialised reports prepared for the work of the OECD's Public Management Committee. Member countries are increasingly financing government services through user charging. The objective of user charging is not only to achieve cost recovery from users, but also to make government services more effective and efficient. This report presents the OECD Best Practice Guidelines for User Charging for Government Services and accompanying case studies.
Government consumption of products and services in OECD Member countries is estimated to be responsible for 9 to 25% of GDP. Given the importance of public purchasing, national and local authorities have been paying increasing attention to the opportunities to improve the environment by selecting environmentally sounder products. This publication describes the successes, the efforts and the difficulties encountered within Member countries by focusing on the role and concerns of the officials that operate purchasing. Also, it shows how greener public purchasing can support a number of other crucial policy objectives such as the reduction of government operating costs, the improvement of governance, and the reduction of greenhouse gases.