The collection and publication of public management data in the OECD could usefully be replicated in non-OECD middle and high income countries for two main reasons. First, there is a potential direct benefit. The public sector reform efforts of these countries can be intrinsically similar to those of the OECD, focusing on second order challenges which build on an entrenched discipline in the behaviour of civil servants and an organisational culture of following the rules.2 The possibility of benchmarking themselves against key developments in OECD member countries is likely to be attractive, providing a spur to country efforts on public sector improvement. Although middle income countries, by definition, have higher per capita incomes, a third of the world’s poor (people living on less than USD$1 a day) live in middle income countries.3 Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector in these settings is an essential component of poverty reduction.