Through measurement, reviews, the identification of good practices and policy dialogue, the OECD seeks to better understand, track and help to improve access to justice.

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.

Across the OECD, GDP per capita is converging. In contrast, regional disparities – or differences in GDP per capita across jurisdictions – are rising, mainly as a result of widening productivity differences. Fiscal decentralisation could help reduce them again. According to new OECD research, assigning more ownsource revenue to sub-national governments dampens regional GDP disparities and underpins regional convergence.

The growth pattern of OECD countries and their sub-national entities is puzzling. Between-country differences in GDP per capita are declining, yet the differences across jurisdictions within those countries tend to rise.

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.

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.

La inversión pública en Colombia ha aumentado sustancialmente en los últimos años hasta alcanzar casi el 4% del PIB, una cifra superior a la media OCDE de 3.2%. Sin embargo, según indica un nuevo informe de la OCDE, para hacer frente a la brecha en infraestructuras y para superar las desigualdades territoriales será necesario que el país mantenga y amplíe sus esfuerzos en materia de inversión.

The Danish financial sector is big and there is a high degree of inter-connectedness between banks, mortgage institutions and pension funds.

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.

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.

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.

A roundup of OECD news & events on regional issues - December 2016

Comments on the draft OECD Best Practice Principles on Stakeholder Engagement in Regulatory Policy are to be sent to regstakeholders@oecd.org by 15 March 2017.

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.

This paper exploits firm-level data from the ORBIS database to assess international tax planning by multinational enterprises (MNEs).

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) manipulate the location of their debts to reduce their corporate tax burden. Indeed, by locating debts in higher-tax rate countries, MNEs can deduct interest payments against a higher tax rate. This paper provides evidence of such manipulation of debt location.

Towards Gender Equality before the Law

This paper surveys the theoretical and empirical research on the relationship between local taxation, land use regulation and land use patterns.

Behavioural economics incorporates behavioural, social and cognitive dimensions into economic thinking, and its practice has grown as economists strive to improve their models, forecasts and policies. Today it is making a measurable difference in policy effectiveness around the world.

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.

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.

The third version of the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Reference Guide provides the most relevant examples, references and resources to help readers inform themselves on key PPP topics.

Information is in no short supply these days. Indeed, as comedian Joey Novick has pointedly remarked: “The information in the world doubles every day. What they don’t tell us is that our wisdom is cut in half at the same time.”

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.

Democracy is a living organism; it is made by and for the people. And encouraging more people to participate surely strengthens democracy.

This Experts Meeting took place in Reykjavik, Iceland on 18-19 May 2017. Delegates from OECD countries shared practical experiences – successes and challenges – in implementing Gender Budgeting.

The first generation of those born into the internet age is already joining the workforce and yet the internet still manages to disrupt. The phenomenon of fake news is one of the by-products of digital transformation and it is worth taking a look at what is new, and not so new, and how it fits in to the rest of what some are calling the “post-truth world”.

The 2017 OECD Forum takes place after a series of political upheavals few would have predicted scarcely twelve months ago. Divides have become more apparent between metropolises and capital cities on the one hand, and towns and villages on the other, between Millennials and pensioners, between the haves and the have-nots, between the best and the rest.

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.

The event, organised by the OECD Directorate for Public Governance in cooperation with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Campbell Collaboration and the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA), developed a strategic agenda for the OECD on how to connect policy evidence on what works and what doesn’t.

In relation to GDP, India's public debt and interest payments are high compared with most other emerging economies and rating agencies have put India's sovereign debt at the lowest investment grade.

At the leader’s summit in Hamburg on July 7-8, 2017, the G20 High Level Principles on Combatting Corruption Related to Illegal Trade in Wildlife and Wildlife Products were launched as an annex to the Leaders’ Declaration. The Task Force on Countering Illicit Trade (TF-CIT) provided substantive input to this document throughout its development.

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.

OECD work on the independence of regulators and how to protect them from undue influence. Information includes new data from a survey of 48 regulators across the world.

This OECD project on Linking indigenous communities with regional development aims to develop policy recommendations for OECD and partner countries to improve economic outcomes for indigenous communities by better linking them with regional development efforts.

The 2017 edition of the OECD E-Leaders meeting will discuss how governments can best adapt to the growing role of advanced technologies in service delivery. Delegates will discuss the implications of the digital transformation in governments, including the skills base, the data infrastructure and approaches to the commissioning of ICT goods and services.

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.

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.

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.

Slovenia is facing the legacy of a boom-bust cycle that has been compounded by weak corporate governance of state-owned banks. The levels of non-performing loans and capital adequacy ratios compare poorly in international perspective and may deteriorate further, which could require significant bank recapitalisation.

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.

18 November 2013 - Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Week 2013 opened in Bangkok today with a regional conference on responsible business practices jointly organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

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.

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.