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This review assesses regulatory management in Kazakhstan. It provides concrete recommendations on strategies, institutions and tools to improve the quality of the regulatory environment in Kazakhstan.

Regulatory reform has been a top priority in Korea for several successive administrations. Maintaining momentum for reform in Korea will be essential for producing tangible results and supporting inclusive growth, productivity and innovation. The Regulatory Reform Review of Korea provides key insights into a mature regulatory system and follows two previous Regulatory Reform Reviews of Korea completed in 2000 and 2007. It identifies a number of areas where improvements could help Korea reap the full benefits of the reforms introduced so far.
It stresses the need for a clear strategy for regulatory policy in order to make better use of the resources deployed.
 

This review takes stock of the development and implementation of regulatory reform at a critical juncture for Lithuania. Confronted with the challenge of supporting growth and competitiveness, Lithuania has embarked upon an ambitious reform programme that addresses not only the development of new regulations but also the inspection and enforcement processes that support the effective implementation of these regulations with the least administrative burden for citizens and businesses. This is relatively rare among OECD members and the review assesses this comprehensive reform programme with a special focus on inspection and enforcement. First in its kind, the review benchmarks Lithuania's reforms against the OECD Best Practice Principles on Regulatory Enforcement and Inspection. The review identifies practical recommendations for strengthening regulatory effectiveness and support growth and competitiveness.

Mexico has made several efforts to design and implement a regulatory improvement policy over the past several years. The institutions involved in the better regulation policy have played a key role in enhancing regulatory quality. This includes the Federal Regulatory Improvement Commission (COFEMER), the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Public Administration. Mexico now has two decades of experience in the application of Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA). Over this period, it has continued to expand the scope of RIA, to refine and improve the specific requirements and to invest substantial resources in implementation. Recently, Mexico has adopted the internationally recognised Standard Cost Model, which has brought a renewed impetus across the federal government to reduce administrative burdens generated by formalities. There is also a thriving multi-level regulatory governance programme. As a result, Mexico is currently at a stage where positive results are being obtained. However, this is not the time to slow down; instead, further work should be fostered to step up to a new phase of regulatory quality which embeds an effective and profound regulatory improvement culture across the federal government.

This volume collects expert papers on: the trends and challenges of regulatory policy today; regulatory impact assessment; stakeholder engagement; and ex-post evaluation. These papers provide background material for the 2015 edition of the OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook. They summarise the knowledge to date on these topics and underline progress made by countries in establishing the conditions for good regulation as well as the remaining challenges.

Regulation is one of the key levers of government intervention. When properly designed, it can help achieve environmental and social objectives, and contribute to economic growth. The OECD Review of Regulatory Policy of Peru assesses the policies, institutions, and tools employed by the Peruvian government to design, implement and enforce high-quality regulations. These include administrative simplification, evaluation of regulations, public consultation, and the governance of independent regulators, amongst others. The review provides policy recommendations based on best international practices and peer assessment to strengthen the government’s capacity to manage regulatory policy.

The OECD Regulatory Policy Review of Slovenia assesses the regulatory management capacity of Slovenia. It takes stock of regulatory policies, institutions and tools; describes trends and recent developments; and identifies areas for improvement in the design, delivery and evaluation of regulations. The government of Slovenia has made great strides in regulatory policy, but challenges in implementation remain. This review provides policy recommendations based on best international practices and peer assessment to strengthen the government’s management and oversight of regulatory policy.

Slovakia has introduced important reforms to strengthen its regulatory policy framework, but certain challenges remain. This report assesses the country’s regulatory management capacity by taking stock of regulatory policies, institutions and tools, including administrative simplification policies, ex ante and ex post evaluation of regulations, stakeholder engagement practices, multi-level regulatory governance arrangements and innovative approaches to regulation. The review describes trends and recent developments, identifies gaps in relation to good practices and offers policy recommendations based on best international practices to strengthen the government’s capacity to manage regulatory policy. Improving the entire regulatory policy cycle will ensure that regulations are built on a foundation of solid evidence and public participation and are designed to improve the security, health and well-being of citizens at a reasonable cost.

The countries of Continental Europe have started the process of reforming their natural gas markets. This book sets the context for, and considers the issues raised by, these reforms. It also analyses the key elements of effective reform, such as third party access to the gas infrastructure. Unlike earlier reformers, Europe faces important challenges of growing import dependency and reliance on a few large producer countries, against a background of strong demand growth. It is vital that both short and long term security of supply are sustained in the new market conditions. At the same time a key objective of reform is to improve economic efficiency through competition and short term trade, in order to reduce prices for natural gas consumers. The book argues that security and competition are not incompatible, and that security can be enhanced by competition provided that reform is handled with care. As Europe implements the EU Gas Directive, this book is a timely review for energy policy makers and others involved in the reform process. It is the latest in a series of IEA publications on energy market reforms.

The natural gas sector in Argentina is undergoing profound change as a result of regulatory and structural reforms launched at the end of the 1980s. Critical to achieving national economic restructuring, these reform measures were aimed at improving economic efficiency and increasing investment through greater reliance on market forces and new opportunities for private capital. This report -- the first IEA study to focus on Argentina -- critically reviews the impact of gas-sector reforms. It identifies challenges that policy makers, regulatory and competition authorities still confront, in particular the promotion of competition in gas supply.

Removing unnecessary barriers to competition through targeted reforms can foster productivity and economic growth. This Regulatory Reform Review of Brazil analyses sectors that create barriers to competition, such as regulations that create obstacles to the entry of firms, inhibit the entry of firms, or restrict activities in professional and network sectors. In a complementary way, the review also identifies government efforts to develop policies and tools to improve the quality of regulations, such as ex ante assessment of draft regulations, stakeholder engagement in rule making, and administrative simplification. High-quality regulations can stimulate productivity by encouraging the efficient allocation of resources and promoting innovation. In turn, these measures can reduce prices for consumers, stimulate the creation of jobs, and help improve living standards. The review identifies areas for reform to bring the country’s regulations and institutional arrangements more in line with international best practices. It demonstrates how a proportional, clear, and efficient regulatory framework can drive improvements in Brazil’s economic performance and the welfare of its citizens.

This report identifies a number of ways towards an evolution in road freight transport regulation within the ECMT Member countries taking into account the enlargement of the European Union, the integration of environmental considerations and the level of taxation within the transport sector. It provides a spotlight on the main avenues towards a transformation in road freight transport regulation in Europe.

As border barriers to international trade and investment continue to be reduced thanks to liberalisation efforts, "behind-the-border" barriers -- which are typically regulations aiming at achieving domestic objectives such as health, safety, environmental or consumer protection -- are increasingly recognised as impeding trade and competition. The OECD project on regulatory reform has undertaken to tackle these new trade problems. This Workshop is aimed at expanding the horizon to dynamic economies outside the OECD area, particularly those in Asia and Latin America. What are the regulatory reform challenges for those economies, and how can they remain competitive in a global economy? How effectively can international mechanisms help them? The discussion revealed that regulatory reform has undoubtedly become a truly "global issue". This proceedings volume examines the role regulatory failures played in Asia's economic crisis, looks at regional trade groupings such as Mercosur and sheds light on the current international debate on food regulation as well as on the latest developments concerning the Information Technology Agreeement (ITA).

This book assesses progress in the implementation of regulatory policy within the region. Regulatory governance in the MENA region is an increasing priority for encouraging and enabling sustainable development and inclusive growth. The report reflects on the developments and highlights good practices from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority and Tunisia. The report concludes by providing recommendations to MENA countries, especially those in transition, to help them build the required institutions, systems, policies and capacities to produce a better regulatory environment needed to deliver sustainable development and equitable growth whilst ensuring public participation and accountability.

In this report, some of the world's leading experts in rail regulation examine the restructuring of the sector, focusing on tariff reform and the introduction of competition in one of the world's largest rail networks.

Integrated performance assessments (IPAs) of radioactive waste repositories deep underground are made at different stages of repository development in order, for example, to allow full-scale development, to provide feedback to R&D, and to test and develop review capability. IPA studies must be acceptable to a wide range of stakeholders and are one of the bases for dialogue amongst regulators and implementers of disposal facilities.
The goal of the IPAG-2 study was to examine the experience of regulatory reviews of IPAs, from both the implementer and regulator points of view. Ten implementer and seven regulatory organisations participated. This report presents the lessons learnt from their review experiences, and provides recommendations to aid future regulatory decision making.

Regulator-industry co-operation in nuclear safety research has potential advantages as well as disadvantages. This report provides research managers in industry, regulatory organisations and research centres with information on current practices in collaborative safety research in OECD member countries. It identifies means of establishing effective industry-regulator collaboration and provides indications on how to overcome difficulties that can arise. It also advises on possible areas of concern. The report addresses in particular the issue of regulator independence, means to preserve it and ways to demonstrate it to the public while undertaking collaboration with industry.

Insurance intermediaries have a key role in the efficient functioning of insurance markets, and minimising information asymmetries and risk of adverse selection is an important consideration. Intermediaries can analyse the needs of insurance consumers, and advise on appropriate solutions and policies that fit these needs. As with all principal-agent relationships, the needs and goals of intermediaries and policyholders are sometimes different and sometimes conflicting. This report examines how OECD and non-OECD countries are regulating and supervising insurance intermediation, focussing on market conduct rules as well as rules related to digitalisation of intermediation. It considers areas which require further investigation to address potential conflicts of interest.

Students face a future filled with uncertainty and change. For education systems to continue to remain relevant, they must empower students to navigate these changes and succeed in the future by equipping them with the requisite knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. Teachers are key enablers of this endeavour, and it is imperative that governments and teacher organisations collaborate to support teachers in exploring and enacting pedagogies, and designing learning environments that support student attainment of future-ready competencies, through policies, processes and teacher professional development.

Korean families are changing fast. While birth rates remain low, Koreans are marrying and starting a family later than ever before, if at all. Couple-with-children households, the dominant household type in Korea until recently, will soon make up fewer than one quarter of all households. These changes will have a profound effect on Korea’s future. Among other things, the Korean labour force is set to decline by about 2.5 million workers by 2040, with potential major implications for economic performance and the sustainability of public finances. Since the early 2000s, public policy has changed to help parents reconcile work and family commitments: Korea has developed a comprehensive formal day-care and kindergarten system with enrolment rates that are now on par with the Nordic countries. Korea also has one year of paid parental leave for both parents, but only about 25% of mothers and 5% of fathers use it, as workplace cultures are often not conducive to parents, especially fathers, taking leave. Cultural change will take time, but this review suggests there also is a need for additional labour market, education and social policy reform to help Koreans achieve both work and family aspirations, and contribute to the rejuvenation of Korean society.