The role of international organisations (IOs) is critical in the development of rules and standards that can help advance the well-being of citizens in an increasingly globalised world.

The Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA) has devoted its 9th Annual Conference to opening direct channels of discussion on experiences, methodologies and innovative practices in the process of optimization of public administration in the Western Balkans.

Using fiscal levers to escape the low-growth trap

The role of fiscal policy has been at the heart of the policy debate since the financial crisis. With the global economy stuck in a low-growth trap and monetary policy overburdened, it is time to re-assess the use of fiscal policy levers.

To what extent can public deficits increase without putting fiscal sustainability at risk, given the specific current macroeconomic situation of protracted low growth and low interest rates, combined with relatively high government debt levels?

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 OECD was part of the multi-stakeholder Advisory Board to help prepare the Global Risks 2017 report.

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.

Adopted by the OECD Council on 23 February 2017, this Recommendation provides high-level policy guidance for designing a strategy for addressing the financial impacts of disasters on individuals, businesses and sub-national levels of governments, as well as the implication for public finances.

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.

Nearly one in five mobile phones and one in four video game consoles shipped internationally is fake, as a growing trade in counterfeit IT and communications hardware weighs on consumers, manufacturers and public finances, according to a new OECD report.

OECD blog on the current dwindling levels of trust and what governments can do to help rebuild public trust.

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.

Independent fiscal institutions (IFIs) serve to promote sound fiscal policy and sustainable public finances. This report outlines good practices for their effective design and operation.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) coordinates global disaster risk reduction efforts among United Nations agencies and international organisations. The OECD is hosting an event to see how governments and stakeholders can best work together to strengthen economic and social resilience through improve risk governance.

Tax reforms are crucial to promoting inclusive growth in India.

The 6th OECD workshop on Strategic Crisis Management will bring together government crisis managers and practitioners from international organisations, industry and leading think-tanks to discuss the key challenges faced by governments in managing critical infrastructure crises.

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.

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.

The OECD is working with Tunisia to develop a system of subnational indicators.

This paper investigates the factors that shape governments’ capacity to collect revenue.

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.

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.

Boards of directors of SOEs play a fundamental role in corporate stewardship and performance. Over the last decade, OECD governments have sought to professionalise SOE boards, ensure their independence and shield them from ad hoc political intervention. In general these approaches have worked; yet, more remains to be done. This report seeks to shed slight on good practices drawing on national practices from over 30 economies.

Legislative and regulatory policy options for sustainable capital markets - A good corporate governance framework should combine transparency, accountability and integrity and this requires knowledge of beneficial ownership. This report assesses the costs, benefits and practicalities of different approaches, suggesting policy options to better identify ultimate beneficial ownership in Indonesia.

SOEs are an important feature of the economic landscape in the MENA region. This report examines their contribution to industrial development, diversification, poverty elimination and the provision of goods and services. It assesses ownership and governance practices and makes recommendations to policymakers, managers and boards.

This report analyses the supervision and enforcement of rules and practices relating to related party transactions, takeover bids and shareholder meetings in 27 jurisdictions and includes in-depth reviews of practices in Brazil, Turkey, and the United States.

This report evaluates the corporate governance practices of Colombian SOEs against the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises. The assessment was prepared based on information provided by the Colombian authorities, an analysis of the available literature and interviews with authorities, consultants, academics, and company as well as stakeholder representatives.

The 2013 Annual Report describes the activities undertaken to promote the observance of the Guidelines during the implementation cycle of June 2012-June 2013. This includes the launch of the Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC), the establishment of a Working Party on RBC, and the elaboration of a robust multi-stakeholder proactive agenda to promote the observance of the principles and standards found in the Guidelines.

This report explores the efforts of MENA stock exchanges to restructure their ownership through regional comparisons and case studies, situating this process within the global transformation of the stock exchange industry over the past two decades.

This report analyses the corporate governance framework and practices relating to corporate risk management, in the private sector and in state-owned enterprises. The review covers 26 jurisdictions and is based on a general survey of all participating jurisdictions, as well as an in-depth review of corporate risk management in Norway, Singapore and Switzerland.

This workshop focused on how to comply with international regulations on conflict-free gold supply chains and how to make the most of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas.

Available in several languages, this booklet provides basic information about the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the most comprehensive set of government-backed recommendations on responsible business conduct in existence today. Adhering governments aim to encourage the positive contributions MNEs can make to sustainable development and to minimise the difficulties to which their various operations may give rise.

This statement was adopted by National Contact Points on 25 June 2014 during their 15th Meeting.

Communiqué by Ministers participating in the informal ministerial meeting on responsible business conduct that took place at the OECD on 26 June 2014.

The OECD made the draft text of the revised OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises available for public comment between May and September 2014. The public consultation is now closed.

This report analyses a dataset detailing the size of national state-owned enterprise (SOE) sectors (by number, value and employment) and their composition by sector and corporate forms for 34 countries.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría today welcomed the passage into law of Latvia's “Public Persons Enterprises and Capital Shares Governance Law”.

26-27 November 2014 – Lusaka, Zambia: This meeting focused on combating corruption and promoting responsible business conduct in SOEs and was followed by a workshop on the governance of SOEs operating in the power generation industry. Participants launched and adopted the Guidelines on the Governance of State-Owned Enterprises in Southern Africa.

Today the discourse on “conflict minerals” has changed. It’s not just about conflict-free, it's about promoting responsible sourcing of minerals from conflict areas, despite the challenges. This blog discusses the urgent need to create responsible supply chains of artisanal gold, and support the livelihoods of miners in the informal gold industry, and how OECD guidance can help companies do this.

This article by Roel Nieuwenkamp talks about the trend of hardening of soft law in the domain of responsible business conduct. It argues that legislative proposals related to existing international instruments should not seek to reinvent the wheel, but to reinforce it. Existing instruments that are widely recognised and proven to be effective and reasonable should represent a foundation for their legally-binding counterparts.

The OECD’s Annual Meeting at Ministerial Level reinforced member governments’ support across a broad range of key OECD work.

This report evaluates the corporate governance framework for the Colombian state-owned enterprise sector relative to the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises. The report was prepared at the request of the Republic of Colombia. It is based on a review involving all OECD countries.

This brochure explains the major changes introduced in the OECD’s 4th Benchmark Definition of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which saw widespread implementation in 2014, and assesses the impact on FDI statistics.

OECD Corporate Governance Working Paper No.17. This report examines the influence of institutional shareholders and their activities towards good corporate governance, the historical changes to practices within shareholder meetings and the role that institutional shareholders have played in the improvement of corporate governance within Japanese listed companies.