Ministers responsible for regional, urban and territorial development from around the world will gather in Marseille, France on 5-6 December 2013 to share good practices and future opportunities in three areas: effective public investment strategies, inclusive growth in cities and regions, and new frameworks for fitting policies to places.

The economic crisis has hit certain regions and cities harder than others in the OECD area, calling for better regional policies across levels of governments to foster an inclusive and sustainable recovery, according to two new OECD reports.

The metropolitan region of Aix-Marseille in the south of France needs to tackle its fragmentated governance if it is to return to more inclusive and sustainable economic growth, according to a new OECD report.

This blog, by Wikichild co-ordinator Melinda George, takes a look at the well-being aspects and the quality of public service provision in the OECD's "Government at a Glance 2013" report. The post is part of Wikiprogress' December spotlight on governance.

In many OECD countries, government debt reached levels over recent years that call for reduction over the medium to longer term to ensure public finance sustainability. This paper investigates the international transmission of fiscal consolidation shocks via trade flows.

Using panel data for OECD countries, this study investigates the extent to which changes in government spending on education, health and other areas influence long-term growth.

Strengthening OECD firewalls can only do so much to combat a phenomenon which thrives on weak governance. This report highlights that donor agencies can support this goal through their central role in linking OECD and developing countries, and using their aid to support governments willing to tackle these issues.

This blog post on trust in governments is a compilation of presentations given at the OECD Workshop entitled "Joint Learning for an OECD Trust Strategy", held on 14 October 2013.

In the wake of the financial crisis there has been renewed focus on the importance of a country’s net external debt position in determining domestic interest rates and, relatedly, its vulnerability to a crisis. This paper extends the panel estimation of OECD countries described in Turner and Spinelli (2012) to investigate the effect of external debt and its interaction with government debt on the interest-rate-growth differential.

The OECD has launched a public consultation on its draft principles on the governance of critical risks.

Recommendation of the OECD Council on Effective Public Investment Across Levels of Government

Spain’s planned public sector reforms should help make the country’s institutions stronger and more effective, and proposals to increase transparency and root out corruption will do much to restore public trust, according to a new OECD report.

The OECD Recommendation on the Governance of Critical Risks seeks to foster future cooperation between countries and with key partners,including the private sector, building common ground and promoting continuous improvement regarding the governance and management of critical risks.

This is the spring 2014 edition of the regional development policy newsletter.

The policy forum officially launches the conceptual framework to the public and offers an opportunity for participants to discuss the key issues for emerging Asia: housing, buildings and energy, land use and transport, water and waste management, green goods and services.

World Economic Forum: Global Agenda Council Launches Guide to Good Government and Trust-Building

Co-organised by the Italian Co-Chair of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group and the OECD, participants discussed progress in advancing the key elements of the global anti-corruption agenda and innovative solutions to address the latest challenges facing countries, business and civil society.

Workshop held in The Hague on 17-18 June 2014 to evaluate stakeholder engagement in regulatory policy

Whistleblowing is an essential element for safeguarding the public interest and for promoting a culture of public accountability and integrity. The majority of OECD countries have recently passed legislation protecting whistleblowers and yet, despite being high on the agenda, successful whistleblowing stories are rare.

The OECD Framework for Regulatory Policy Evaluation assists countries in systematically evaluating the design and implementation of regulatory policy, against the achievement of strategic regulatory objectives.

Latin American and Caribbean countries need to do more to improve budget management, tax collection and public sector pay equality if they are to catch up with advanced economies in terms of government performance, according to a joint report by the OECD and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Life expectancy, air quality, safety and other indicators of well-being can vary dramatically within countries, depending on which region you live in. Looking beyond national averages is vital to get an accurate picture of quality of life and to guide local government policy.

The OECD Recommendation on Digital Government Strategies aims to support the development and implementation of digital government strategies that bring governments closer to citizens and businesses.

Uncertainty faced by households and firms affects economic activity. The rise in uncertainty since the beginning of the sovereign debt crisis in Greece could be one factor that has contributed to the steep and long-lasting recession. This paper presents a brief empirical analysis quantifying this phenomenon and compares it with developments in Ireland and Portugal.

This study analyses the economic rent generated by the exploitation of a non-renewable resource, and the taxation of this rent.

The Municipality of Hermosillo in Mexico shows a 12% progress in the implementation of OECD recommendations to simplify formalities to boost entrepreneurship and create employment.

3-4 September 2014, Phnom Penh, Cambodia: This conference focused on the key levers for restoring trust in government and building trust by and in the private sector and civil society.

Turkey recovered swiftly from the global financial crisis but sizeable macroeconomic imbalances arose in the process.

The International Forum on Open Government gathered open government leaders from around the world in order to debate the contribution of the principles of transparency, accountability and citizens’ participation to good governance and socio-economic development.

Living standards continue to diverge within many economically advanced countries as poorer regions struggle to catch up with richer ones. Half of the 34 OECD countries have seen the income gap between their best-off and worst-off regions widen since the 2008 crisis, according to new OECD research.

The 34-member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development welcomed a Memorandum of Understanding between the OECD and Ukraine which will help Ukraine’s efforts to tackle corruption, strengthen its tax system and promote competitiveness.

Jointly organised by the OECD, Duke University and IRGC, this international conference will identify, evaluate and discuss the relevance and effectiveness of new approaches to improving risk governance, both as they result from responding to and learning from crises, and as deliberate innovations in how regulatory power is exercised and shared.

The Japan-OECD Policy Forum on Urban Development and Green Growth will address cities’ unique role in creating synergies between environmental and economic objectives to advance green growth. Asian cities in particular are at the centre of this challenge. This event is organised as a commemorative event for the 50th Anniversary of Japan's Accession to the OECD.

This International Roundtable will provide a platform for policy dialogue on addressing the challenges of ageing societies.

This workshop provided practical information and learning through case studies, group exercises and presentations from government officials with extensive experience in applying regulatory impact assessment (RIA) systems.

An overview of vents and reports on Regional Development Policy for Autumn 2014.

Better policies for better lives: this time, in your region - Insights Blog

While the outlook for many OECD countries remains subdued, Emerging Asia is set for healthy growth over the medium term. Annual GDP growth for the ASEAN -10, China and India is forecast to average 6.5% over 2015-19. Growth momentum remains robust in the 10 ASEAN countries, with economic growth averaging 5.6% over 2015-19.

“Life is full of alternatives but no choice.” G20 leaders at the summit in Brisbane, Australia, in November should reflect on these words by Australian writer Patrick White, a Nobel Laureate, as they prepare their economic strategies for the years to come.

MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries are looking for ways to build a strategic public sector capacity to enable full women’s empowerment in society and public life in a sustainable manner. They also seek to ensure conformity with international standards related to issues of gender equality and human rights.

Trust is the glue that holds societies together. It is essential for most social and economic relations. Since the beginning of the economic crisis, OECD countries have been under pressure to restore trust in their institutions, especially in their governments.

OECD Forum on Financing Democracy and Averting Policy Capture

The second progress report in the implementation of regulatory improvement actions shows a 52% progress for the Municipality of Hermosillo.

This working paper takes a comparative snapshot of social media use in and by OECD governments. The focus is on government institutions, as opposed to personalities, and how they manage to capture the opportunities of new social media platforms to deliver better public services and to create more open policy processes.

The tramitesmetepec.mx website organises formalities by “life events”, facilitating the search of information for citizens and entrepreneurs, and reducing the cost of regulatory compliance.

The objective of this workshop was to provide basic facts and theory related to RIA and best practices when undertaking RIA.

This Recommendation provides clear and effective guidance on how to implement a public procurement system that uses state-of-the-art tools and techniques to use public funds sustain-ably and efficiently.

The world is experiencing a wave of urbanisation that has the potential to greatly benefit residents, countries and the planet at large. This report analyses the secrets of successful cities and the policies that contribute to their success.

This chapter begins with a brief socio-economic and institutional overview of the Daejeon metropolitan region. It then explores the current status of inter-municipal collaboration in two major sectors for urban development: transport and land use. Finally, it reviews existing metropolitan collaboration tools.

This report is the first joint OECD Public Governance Review between two countries. The Report discusses challenges in whole-of-government strategy steering and the opportunities of digital government.