Mayors and local leaders from around the world launched today a plan of action to help tackle inequality, boost job creation and harness economic development.

The effect of the size and mix of public spending on growth and inequality

This paper seeks to identify the conditions under which raising public investment can sustainably lift growth without deteriorating public finances.

Public investment benefits current as well as future generations.

To investigate how public finances could best be designed to promote long-run growth and address inequality, it is essential to have comprehensive, cross-country comparable data on government spending and revenues, along with structural and policy indicators.

This paper reviews the key issues concerning the impact of public spending and taxation on long-run growth and inequality and takes stock of existing theoretical and empirical studies.

An estimated baseline convergence model capturing the long-term effect of human capital and physical investment on potential output for a panel of OECD countries is augmented with public investment and its components.

This paper provides evidence on the effects of the size and the composition of public spending on long-term growth and inequality.

For the last five years the global economy has been in a low-growth trap, with growth disappointingly low and stuck at around 3 per cent per year. Persistent growth shortfalls have weighed on future output expectations and thereby reduced current spending and potential output gains.

Governments in Latin America will need to improve public sector management and capacity – including budget allocation – to compensate for the pressure on public finances from sliding commodity prices, according to a new report by the OECD and Inter-American Development Bank covering more than 15 countries in the region.

The Global Forum provides a unique opportunity for OECD countries to engage with non-members, as well as parliaments, justice institutions, civil society and the business world, to discuss public governance issues and global concerns.

Spending on public administration itself is relatively low and so are indicators of its performance.

Spending on public administration itself is relatively low and so are indicators of its performance.

A roundup of OECD news & events on regional issues - December 2016

Comments on the draft OECD Best Practice Principles on Stakeholder Engagement in Regulatory Policy are to be sent to regstakeholders@oecd.org by 15 March 2017.

On January 26th and 27th the Ministry of Regional Development of Ukraine and the OECD organised a seminar in Kiyv focusing on recent decentralisation and territorial reforms in Ukraine and in OECD countries.

Towards Gender Equality before the Law

Seminar on Innovations and challenges in the management of a regional policy held in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 22 February 2017

Women’s representation in parliaments remains a global issue. In 2016, women constituted 23% of parliamentarians over both upper and lower houses combined, with the Pacific, Arab States and Asia having the lowest representation (16.4%, 18.2%, and 19.2% respectively).

This seminar was held in Mykolaiv on 5 March, 2017. Ukrainian sub-national officials, policy makers and other stakeholders shared their experience in decentralisation reform and its impact with respect to administrative capacity, investment capacity and service delivery capacity, particularly at the local level.

In 1998 Indonesia embarked on an ambitious course of decentralisation. Over a period of a few years, facilitated by financial transfers from the central government, responsibility for many public services and administrative tasks were devolved to local authorities.

Indonesia's fiscal position is generally sound and policy making prudent. However, the country still faces important challenges in terms of economic and social development.

The third version of the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Reference Guide provides the most relevant examples, references and resources to help readers inform themselves on key PPP topics.

A Job for Life? The old notion of a safe job in the civil service is profoundly changing - OECD Insights blog by Bill Below.

The Second International Conference on National Urban Policy was held in Paris France on 15-16 May 2017. The conference was a joint initiative of the OECD, UN Habitat and Cities Alliance.

Information is in no short supply these days. Indeed, as comedian Joey Novick has pointedly remarked: “The information in the world doubles every day. What they don’t tell us is that our wisdom is cut in half at the same time.”

This OECD review underlines the success of Chile’s infrastructure policies which have served as a backbone for it's rapid economic development and social welfare reforms - but also highlights the need to update public investment processes to reflect a more integrated approach to long-term development.

It is hardly surprising that rising inequality has translated into growing political disaffection, anti-market sentiment and disenchantment with globalisation. In such a context, we desperately need to take action to promote inclusive growth and restore public confidence in the power of policymakers to improve people’s lives.

The OECD assessed the legal framework of key anti-corruption related legislation in the Slovak Republic in order to set the ground for strengthening integrity in the Slovak public sector and beyond.

This seminar series is part of the OECD project, Supporting Decentralisation in Ukraine. The 2nd seminar on Strengthening the Subnational Partnership, took place in Mykolaiv ON 15 March 2017.

The event, organised by the OECD Directorate for Public Governance in cooperation with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Campbell Collaboration and the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA), developed a strategic agenda for the OECD on how to connect policy evidence on what works and what doesn’t.

In relation to GDP, India's public debt and interest payments are high compared with most other emerging economies and rating agencies have put India's sovereign debt at the lowest investment grade.

Combatting corruption and restoring trust in institutions by upholding the principles of public integrity will be at the heart of a major conference in Athens from 11-12 July 2017.

At the leader’s summit in Hamburg on July 7-8, 2017, the G20 High Level Principles on Combatting Corruption Related to Illegal Trade in Wildlife and Wildlife Products were launched as an annex to the Leaders’ Declaration. The Task Force on Countering Illicit Trade (TF-CIT) provided substantive input to this document throughout its development.

The OECD was invited to assess key elements of the Second Irish Public Service Reform Plan (PSRP 2014-2016), with a view to informing future public service reform efforts in Ireland.

Governments have responded differently to new demands on them since the global crisis, with many raising spending on social services, some trimming public sector employment and most stabilising day-to-day running costs at a lower level.

This side event at the "High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development" will provide a focused discussion on how governments can tackle the governance challenges in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

This OECD assessment of the Constitutional Process Open to Citizens in Chile, identifies the lessons learned and advises on how to further improve citizen engagement in the policy making processes.

Description of regulatory policy activities in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The OECD is now developing a new Recommendation on Open Government, which aims to help the countries that will adhere to it design and implement successful open government reforms by identifying a clear, actionable, evidence-based, and common framework for the governance of open government* .

This OECD project on Linking indigenous communities with regional development aims to develop policy recommendations for OECD and partner countries to improve economic outcomes for indigenous communities by better linking them with regional development efforts.

The 2017 edition of the OECD E-Leaders meeting will discuss how governments can best adapt to the growing role of advanced technologies in service delivery. Delegates will discuss the implications of the digital transformation in governments, including the skills base, the data infrastructure and approaches to the commissioning of ICT goods and services.

The 2011 annual report on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises focuses on adhering countries' committment to new, stronger standards of corporate behaviour in the updated OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

This guidance addresses the unique due diligence challenges posed by gold, such as its intrinsic high-value and fungible nature, the non-linear structure of its supply chain, and its multiple downstream uses.

This publication catalogues national practices that illustrate implementation of aspects or elements of competitive neutrality and highlights examples of challenges that may be encountered.

The 2012 annual report on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises provides an account of the actions taken by the adhering governments over the 12 months to June 2012 to enhance the contribution of the Guidelines to the improved functioning of the global economy and focuses on how NCPs are working to improve their mediation skills.

With growing integration via trade and investment, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that have traditionally been oriented towards domestic markets increasingly compete with private firms in the global market place. This paper discusses the extent of state ownership in the global economy, the advantages and disadvantages that SOEs can face, and how potential SOE advantages can generate cross-border effects.

Government, business, trade and civil society representatives came together at this panel session to discuss the first year of implementation following the 2011 Update of the Guidelines.

Participants in this multi-stakeholder meeting launched the Gold Implementation programme and advanced implementation of due diligence in the 3Ts supply chain to ensure that companies avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral or metal purchasing decisions and practices.

The recent scandal over the use of horsemeat in readymade meals that has shaken the entire European continent has revealed not only the complexity and opacity of our food supply chain, but also–and above all–the shortcomings of European food law.