This conference provided a multi-disciplinary forum to discuss issues of regulatory reform involving both government and non-government actors.

The OECD is supporting Malaysia to implement regulatory reforms supporting the country’s economic, social and environmental goals, as well as regional and global competitiveness.

The government’s current review of the federal system, focusing on both spending and tax responsibilities, is welcome, as is the “whole of government” approach to the process.

When we think about water scarcity, we tend to focus on drinking water. But in terms of global usage, drinking water accounts for only 8% of water use, with 22% used by industry and 70% for farming and irrigation. Effective water governance must mediate across a broad set of actors and needs that cut across all economic sectors.

From oceans and vast rivers to the spring in the garden, we must safeguard our water as a source of well-being, prosperity and progress.

Rapid population growth, ageing infrastructure and new weather risks are straining the ability of cities in OECD countries to provide clean water and to protect against floods and droughts, according to a new OECD report. Cities will need large-scale investment and more effective tariffs and taxes to pay for upgrades to water systems.

The main objective of this meeting was to create a Latin American Network to contribute to the better functioning of markets and the improvement of public services in Latin American countries.

Measuring regulators’ performance can strengthen the contribution of regulatory policies to sustainable growth and development. While measuring a regulator’s performance is a fundamental function of a “world class” regulator, it is challenging, starting with the definition of what should be measured and including the attribution of outcomes to regulators’ actions and the availability of robust and evidence-based evaluation

The OECD Secretary-General, Mr. Angel Gurría, chaired several high-level panels; the OECD actively participated through a series of events, the launch of four new reports and by taking part in a number of workshops and seminars throughout the forum. ‌

The Colombian corporate tax system is highly complex and distortive. The effective tax burden on businesses is very high due to the combined effect of the corporate income tax, the corporate surtax introduced in 2012 (CREE), the net wealth tax on business assets and the value added tax (VAT) on fixed assets.

The OECD and Ukraine today signed an Action Plan for strengthening co-operation to help tackle corruption, improve public governance and the rule of law, boost investment and foster a dynamic business environment.

Financial crises do more than impose huge costs: they have bigger and more insidious effects. We face big challenges in maintaining the supply of global public goods as the world integrates. But these challenges will not be managed successfully if we do not first overcome the legacy of the crisis.

Colombia has engaged in a sustained process of fiscal decentralisation over the past decades. Evidence is presented that the current framework is conducive to fiscal sustainability, especially after the reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

This report shows that cities in advanced economies are growing older more quickly than rural areas. In OECD cities, 14% of people were over 65 in 2011 up from 12% in 2001. The trend will put pressure on cities to rethink some infrastructure and plan for an ageing labour force, change in revenue lower tax revenues, rising demand for social housing and higher spending on health and social care.

As the OECD celebrates its 10th Rural Conference this edition will look at the next steps for the OECD Rural Policy Programme and consider the direction for future work.

Report comparing Hungary on key indicators of government activities with its neighbouring countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia) as well as the OECD average.

In January of this year I visited the Mexican state of Tabasco– a state crossed by rivers and facing the Gulf of Mexico. The state’s population has doubled over the past 30 years and its economy relies heavily on oil and natural gas resources. It has its challenges as well: unemployment, poverty and a lack of resources.

This paper contributes to the scarce literature on the macroeconomic effects of property taxes, in particular on the relationships between property taxes, house prices and the wider economy.

OECD Insights Blog on the benefits to governments that pursue open government data initiatives.

Ministers from OECD’s 34 member countries today welcomed the new OECD Principles on Water Governance, which set standards for more effective, efficient and inclusive design and implementation of water policies, and encouraged governments to put them into action.

Launch of the OECD programme for regulatory improvement in the Municipality of Torreon, Mexico.

Better access to and use of public sector information (PSI), including open government data, are inter-related parts of the shift towards knowledge-based economies, and drivers of innovation, growth and employment. PSI can be used directly to generate products and services, and it contributes in a wide variety of ways to improving efficiency and productivity across the economy (including within the public sector).

The Municipality of San Luis Potosi scores an 87% progress in implementing the OECD Guide to Improve the Quality of State and Municipal Regulations.

This paper examines the various issues in defining and measuring debt, and explores other data which could be useful, both within and beyond the general government debt concept, to better track and analyse fiscal risks and sustainability issues.

There are concrete steps that can be taken in achieving a culture of integrity. To achieve this, we work with countries to adopt a whole-of-society approach. That means all stakeholders, public, private and civil society, must work together to make it happen.

Report looks at how to create the environment in government where innovation is encouraged and nurtured.

Blog post reviewing the recent trends in the use of social media by governments. The article includes a look at the the top 30 government Twitter a/c's and the fastest growing accounts.

This working paper explores avenues to improve public sector efficiency in Latvia, a catching-up and ageing economy where spending needs are large.

The recent droughts in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states have exposed the need to shift from crisis management to effective risk governance of the country’s water resources, according to a new OECD report.

With gross government debt of 226% of GDP, Japan’s fiscal situation is in uncharted territory and puts the economy at risk. Japan needs a detailed and credible fiscal consolidation plan, including specific revenue increases and measures to control spending to restore its fiscal sustainability.

Digital security risk should be treated as an economic rather than a technical issue, and should be part of an organisation’s overall risk management and decision-making, according to a new OECD Recommendation to member countries.

Governments should do more to improve the design and delivery of new laws, as even small efforts to fix regulatory shortcomings can have a tangible positive impact on economic activity and well-being, according to a new OECD report.

This paper analyses income inequality in Ireland using a new panel dataset based on the administrative tax records of the Revenue Commissioners for Ireland.

The Regional Development Policy Division was honoured to have been selected by the Regional Studies Association (RSA) to receive the Institutional Ambassador Award 2015 on 18 November. The award is in recognition of the high calibre of reports and measurement tools produced by the Regional Development Policy Committee and its supporting Working Parties.

This Recommendation offers a whole-of-government policy arsenal commonly agreed upon among OECD Members that governments can use to close remaining gender gaps in public life, scale up inclusive approaches to policy making and public service delivery, and monitor continuous progress.

This paper re-estimates the elasticities of government revenue and expenditure items with respect to the output gap for OECD countries. These elasticities are used by the OECD to calculate cyclically adjusted fiscal balances. The study updates the earlier 2005 study using the most recent datasets and tax codes, the coverage being confined in this paper to 35 countries, the 34 OECD member states and Latvia.

This OECD Regulatory Policy Working Paper presents the methodology, key results and statistical analysis of the 2015 Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG) to complement the OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook 2015.

This OECD Regulatory Policy Working Paper relies on an empirical stocktaking of mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) among selected OECD countries. It aims to build a greater understanding of the benefits and pitfalls of one of the 11 mechanisms of international regulatory co-operation.

Many economically advanced countries are failing to fully enforce regulations on political party funding and campaign donations or are leaving loopholes that can be exploited by powerful private interest groups, according to a new OECD report.

Study outlining how OECD countries are dealing with the challenges of Open Government Data with a special chapter on the policy context of OGD in the United Arab Emirates.

This paper examines the potential contribution of RIA to better incorporating the inclusive growth perspective in regulatory decision-making.

This paper uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess the efficiency of welfare spending in a sample of OECD countries around 2012, focussing on health care, secondary education and general public services.

Paris, 8 March 2016: Organised on International Women's Day, the OECD hosted a conference to consider policy approaches to closing leadership gender gaps in the public and corporate sectors.

One of the key institutions that can play a role in steering the delivery of the SDGs by highlighting trade-offs, enabling policies across issue areas to address multiple and sometimes competing objectives is the Centre of Government.

Chile has improved its regulatory policy in recent years, but could see benefits from further measures and a comprehensive effort to improve the way it prepares and issues new laws and regulations, according to a new OECD report.

Discussion of progress to enhance regulatory quality and promote inclusive economic growth in the Latin American region.

This event to be held on 21 June 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal, will discuss the preliminary findings of the OECD project "Resilient Cities" and share cities' experience on enhancing resilience.

The OECD has been selected to co-lead one of the ten policy units contributing Habitat III taking place in Quito, Ecuador from 17-20 October 2016.

Chile has established itself as a regional leader and has been rapidly closing the gap with other OECD countries in the field of digital government.

14-16 June 2016, Paris: The OECD hosted an International Anti-Corruption Conference organised by the French Ministry of Justice, and with the support of the World Bank and the United Kingdom. This conference brought together representatives from anti-corruption authorities worldwide responsible for investigating and prosecuting corruption.