TThe economic literature suggests that a revenue-neutral shift of tax revenues from income taxes to property taxes would increase GDP per capita in the medium term. This paper analyses for Ireland the consequences of such a shift in the tax mix.

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.

Reforms over the past two decades have produced a well-balanced, modern tax system. However, considerable revenues will be needed in the years ahead to expand social spending and infrastructure in order to raise growth and well-being. The challenge is to generate these revenues without penalising growth or exacerbating inequality.

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 report analyses the strengths and weaknesses of Ireland’s system of parliamentary engagement in budgeting, and outlines a number of proposals for reform.

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 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.

Despite having low government spending, Switzerland scores highly in various public policy outcomes, including health, education and transportation. But, as the population grows and ages, efficiency of public spending will have to rise to maintain low tax rates.

This paper analyses two-way interactions between monetary policy and inequality in selected advanced economies. In the context of a highly accommodative monetary stance over recent years, the analysis focuses on the effects of monetary policy on inequality over the business cycle via its impacts on returns on assets, the cost of debt servicing and asset prices.

16 March 2016, Paris: Chaired by the Italian Minister of Justice, Andrea Orlando, the OECD will host a Ministerial Meeting on the Anti-Bribery Convention to discuss measures to strengthen implementation of the Convention and to exchange ideas on combating foreign bribery and emerging issues.

Mayors from cities across the United States, Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America gathered in New York to launch a global campaign to address rising inequalities and foster inclusive growth in their cities, in their countries and worldwide.

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.

Japan must make revitalising growth its number one priority with reforms to boost productivity and encourage more women and older people into jobs to compensate for its rapidly shrinking labour force, according to the OECD.

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.

The world cannot resolve today’s development challenges with purely national approaches. We need to complement them with local approaches, too. We live in an era of enormous transformations, in which our traditional political structures and forms of democratic participation must adapt. That means casting a bigger focus than ever on the important role of local power and communities.

Blog article asks if our democratic processes are more responsive to the rich than they are to the poor and the middle class?

While infrastructure investment remains a key focus of international efforts to jump start growth in OECD countries and trigger sustainable economic development elsewhere, it presents a range of challenges for policy makers. This report finds that in many cases, it is governance problems rather than financing, that are responsible for sub-optimal outcomes.

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.

In Hungary, young people want to have bigger families, but concerns over issues like housing and striking a work-life balance appear to be obstacles. In response, the government has introduced a range of family-friendly policies–a vital step in helping families fulfil their dreams and in meeting the challenge of a rapidly ageing population.

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.

Launch of the OECD review of the risk management policies in Morocco. The review provides an objective assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Morocco's risk management policies by international experts.

Sound public policies grounded in evidence – and implemented effectively – will be crucial for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This document outlines four broad areas for future action for the OECD, highlighting what it could do more of – or do differently – to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. C/MIN(2016)6.

This tooklit is a collection of good practices to help co-operation and exchange of ideas across countries on risk governance policies.

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.

Income inequality is worsening within many countries, and regional disparities in housing, safety and air quality inside countries are also growing wider in many cases, according to a new OECD report.

Significant corruption, labour, human rights and environmental risks are associated with the organisation of large sporting events. The OECD has instruments and expertise in implementation of complex projects can help host governments, event organisers and their business partners ensure that the world of sport remains associated with the traditional values of excellence and fair play.

Internet access and use is growing in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), but the region needs to move faster in adding broadband infrastructure, expanding access and services and equipping people with the right skills for firms and households to fully benefit, according to a new OECD report.

Ministers and high-level representatives from 41 countries and the European Union committed today at the closure of the OECD’s 2016 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting in Cancun, Mexico, to work together to preserve an open Internet, close digital divides, promote digital skills and generally do more to seize the potential of the digital economy.

To achieve a euro area fiscal stance that fosters the recovery, countries with fiscal space under the Stability and Growth Pact rules should use budgetary support to raise growth, and existing incentives and flexibility should be taken advantage of to pursue reforms of tax and spending policies.

The Municipality of Torreon sets the foundations to address and implement the 267 recommendations delivered by the OECD in February 2016

OECD Insights blog on how new sources of urban data and urban scaling phenomenon can inform planners and urban developers.

The global economy remains in a low-growth trap. In our latest Interim Economic Outlook global GDP growth is set to remain flat around 3% in 2016 and improve modestly to 3.2% in 2017.

Middle Eastern and North African countries should press ahead with further economic and structural reforms to boost flagging trade and investment, restore public trust and create jobs for the region’s young population, the OECD told ministers from the region today.

The OECD and the Greek Government, with the support of the European Commission, today launched a collaboration project to strengthen Greece’s action plan to fight corruption.

Fiscal decentralisation can lead to a more efficient provision of local public goods and services and promote a better match between policies and citizens’ preferences.

This paper investigates the relationship between fiscal decentralisation and economy-wide disposable income inequality.

The scale of the transition to a green, low-emissions and climate-resilient economy is enormous – it is the biggest structural adjustment ever proposed in the field of international governance. The OECD Centre will catalyse and support the transition to a green, low-emissions and climate-resilient global economy through the development of effective policies, institutions and instruments for green finance and investment.

Governments should rethink city housing, transport and other urban systems to ensure that fast-growing cities do not become inequality traps, according to a new OECD report showing that a majority of cities have higher levels of inequality than the national average.

The OECD Governance and Territorial Development Directorate has worked closely with United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) on urban development issues. This webpage highlights the complex governance challenges that cities present and offers guidance on how they may be overcome.

OECD will measure the impact of digitalising the Mexican Social Security Institute formalities and guide future efforts on simplification

"Indonesia is well placed to be a strong advocate for open government reforms, and to link such reforms to other multi-lateral reform efforts" - OECD Insights Blog by Luiz De Mello.

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.

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.

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 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.