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.

Portugal has one of the most unequal income distributions in Europe and poverty levels are high. The economic crisis has halted a long-term gradual decline in both inequality and poverty and the number of poor households is rising, with children and youths being particularly affected. Unemployment is one of the principal reasons why household incomes declined.

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.

The FAO, OECD and UNCDF launched a joint multi-year initiative to assess Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) policies from a territorial perspective. This joint initiative will assess, scale up, and pilot innovative policy approaches and governance mechanisms to improve food security and nutrition in rural areas, in both emerging and developing countries.

Recent reforms have made pension systems more financially sustainable and pensioners have higher living standards than ever before. But future generations are likely to find their pension entitlements much less generous than today’s and many may face a serious risk of pensioner poverty, 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.

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 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.

OECD countries have agreed to work towards greater gender equality in public life – including in governments, parliaments and judiciaries – with concrete measures to improve women’s access to leadership and decision-making roles and integrate more of a gender perspective into public policies.

International trade is a motor of the global economy and represents increasingly large volumes of exchanged goods, services, and financial flows. Yet, corruption in the trade chain hampers economic activity and entails important health and safety risks for societies.The 2016 OECD Integrity Forum will put the spotlight on this hidden tariff.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

The Municipality of Torreon has reached 49% progress in implementing the 267 recommendations delivered by OECD to improve its regulatory framework.

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 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.

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

Towards Gender Equality before the Law

The 2017 OECD Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum will tackle issues related to fair competition and economic growth, the inequality gap, a level playing field for business, the public interest in policy making and trust in government and politics

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.

Tax reforms are crucial to promoting inclusive growth in India.

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.

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

This publication reviews provisions covering related party transactions and the protection of minority shareholder rights in 31 countries. It includes in-depth reviews of Belgium, France, Italy, Israel and India.

This brochure describes the multiple domains where the OECD is engaged in fighting corruption and boosting integrity. It relates how the CleanGovBiz initiative is drawing together for the first time these anti-corruption tools under a single umbrella.

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

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.

This paper charts the key changes in equity markets over the last decade or so which may affect the conditions for corporate governance. It also provides a brief overview of related policy discussions and selected national initiatives that have been taken as a response to equity market developments.

This article provides both an analytical framework for the role of public policy in corporate governance and a description of the empirical context that influences the conditions for that policy.

This Global Forum plays an important role as the tool for on-going dialogue on responsible business conduct. I am pleased to announce that today, Ministers from over 20 countries are coming together to discuss how to integrate responsibility considerations throughout government policies. Their work will contribute to protect internationally recognised fundamental rights and to ensure good governance, fair regulations, and transparency.

This survey was presented at the Informal ministerial meeting on responsible business conduct held in Paris on 26 June 2014.

Investment treaties are often thought to be silent on investors’ responsibilities to host societies and on their contributions to sustainable development. This paper establishes a factual and statistical basis for understanding the relationship between investment treaty law and governments’ ability to advance the sustainable development agenda and promote responsible business conduct.

This book presents the findings of an OECD policy dialogue with Indian stakeholders on policies to improve the monitoring and prevention of abusive related party transactions in India.

This joint OECD-UASA publication contains the results of a survey on the regulatory treatment of related part transactions (RPTs) in the Middle East and North Africa region. It concludes with recommendations to policymakers designed to ensure adequate oversight of RPTs in order to promote market integrity in the region.

With a focus on the Asia-Pacific region, this conference addressed what the Sustainable Development Goals will mean for business and how business sustainability strategies can be aligned to support their implementation.

The private sector plays an important role in economic development. However to be beneficial to local populations, business must act responsibly. Part 1 of this blog discusses how business can do this, as laid out in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and make a positive contribution to economic, environmental and social progress with a view to achieving sustainable development.

The private sector plays an important role in economic development. However to be beneficial to local populations, business must act responsibly. Part 2 of this blog focuses on how community engagement can help business achieve this, in harmony with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and reinforce the link between responsible business and inclusive growth.

This report takes stock of corporate practices tying business integrity considerations into corporate governance frameworks, strategy and operations. It also assesses what factors influence business decisions to implement business integrity measures in practice. This report is a timely response to a succession of disturbing corporate scandals to which no industry or country appears to be immune.

Is there a role for trade liberalisation and facilitation in zeroing in on corruption and supporting integrity in trade? Yes – and a greater one than you might think.

From the early 2000s, sustainability has emerged as a central policy-making consideration as climate change and population growth have heightened concerns about already-stretched natural resources.

21/05/2016 - It is seven years since the global crisis and despite easy monetary policy, financial regulatory reform, and G20 resolutions favouring structural measures, the world economy is not making a lot of progress. Adrian Blundell-Wignall gives a preview of what’s in the 2016 edition of the OECD Business and Finance Outlook.

This stocktaking report first presents a chronology of how systems for the liability of legal persons have evolved among the 41 Parties to the Anti-Bribery Convention. It then presents a “mapping” of the features of these systems for the 41 Parties.

9 December 2016, Paris: Held on International Anti-Corruption Day, this roundtable provided an opportunity for governments, the private sector, civil society, and the media, to reflect on the liability of legal persons following more than 15 years of work by the OECD Working Group on Bribery to promote its application for foreign bribery.