Almost two-thirds of public investment is undertaken by sub-national governments and major projects often involve multiple government levels. This report dissects the relationships different government actors form vertically, across levels, and horizontally, across both sectors and jurisdictions
This report offers a comprehensive overview of decentralisation policies and reforms in OECD countries and beyond. Sometimes called a "silent" or "quiet" revolution, decentralisation is among the most important reforms of the past 50 years. The report argues that decentralisation outcomes - in terms of democracy, efficiency, accountability, regional and local development - depend greatly on the way it is designed and implemented. Making the most of decentralisation systems is particularly crucial in the context of a "geography of discontent" and growing divides between places that feel left behind by globalisation and technological change and those that may benefit from the opportunities offered by megatrends. The report identifies 10 guidelines for making decentralisation work and allowing it to be conducive to regional development. Beyond the guidelines, the report proposes concrete tools for policy-makers, including detailed sets of recommendations, checklists, pitfalls to avoid and examples of good practices, both in unitary and federal countries.
Bulgaria has made solid progress in its territorial governance and socio-economic development. Yet, it has not been able to counteract large and increasing territorial disparities. Doing so will require addressing remaining structural challenges that may be limiting further transformation, government performance and regional resilience.
This edition of the OECD Sovereign Borrowing Outlook reviews developments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for government borrowing needs, funding conditions and funding strategies in the OECD area.
The 2021 edition includes input indicators on public finance and employment; process indicators include data on institutions, budgeting practices, human resources management, regulatory governance, public procurement, governance of infrastructure, public sector integrity, open government and digital government. Outcome indicators cover core government results (e.g. trust, political efficacy, inequality reduction) and indicators on access, responsiveness, quality and satisfaction for the education, health and justice sectors.
This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the challenges confronting Chile's centralised growth model and recommendations towards developing a more integrated territorial approach, capable of mobilising regional productivity catch-up potential in order to strengthen the role of regions and municipalities. The Chilean government has launched an ambitious decentralisation agenda, aimed at empowering municipalities by providing them with the legitimacy, financial resources, human capacities and tools required to improve their autonomy and performance. This study seeks to assist the government by covering several dimensions, looking at municipal responsibilities, fiscal and human resources, equalisation mechanisms, local public service performance, citizen participation, and co-ordination mechanisms across levels of government.
Fiscal Federalism 2022 surveys recent trends and policies in intergovernmental fiscal relations and subnational government. Accessible and easy-to-read chapters provide insight into: good practices in fiscal federalism; the design of fiscal equalisation systems; measuring subnational tax and spending autonomy; promoting public sector performance across levels of government; digitalisation challenges and opportunities; the role of subnational accounting and insolvency frameworks; funding and financing of local government public investment; and early lessons from the COVID-19 crisis for intergovernmental fiscal relations.
Since the end of the Cold War, European and East Asian states have developed a series of unique trans-boundary structures and agreements, such as the European Union and ASEAN, and through new bilateral, multilateral and inter-regional relationships both Europe and East Asia are helping to transform other regions and the global community. This publication examines the complex emergence of a multi-level global governance system through innovative developments in info-communications governance; the role of policy advisors, think-tanks and related track-2 processes; and changes in higher education systems.
This report addresses multilevel governance challenges in water policy implementation and identifies good practices for coordinating water policy across ministries, between levels of government, and across local actors at subnational level.
This report encourages governments to “think big” about the relevance of regulatory policy and assesses the recent efforts of OECD countries to develop and deepen regulatory policy and governance.