This second edition of Government at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2017, provides internationally comparable data on government activities and their results for the LAC region. By showcasing a dashboard of key indicators it is aimed at helping policy makers and citizens analyze the relative performance of governments and, when possible, benchmark against OECD member countries. The 45 indicators cover key aspects of public management, including public finance and economics, public employment, the role and influence of the centre of government, regulatory policy and governance, open and digital government and public procurement.

Over the past two decades several countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region have made great strides to reform their economies and improve the performance of their public sectors. As shown in the first edition of Government at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean, these reforms contributed to strengthening public institutions and laying the policy foundations for more egalitarian societies. In order to sustain inclusive growth, LAC countries need to build on past achievements and continue to implement policy reforms.

Inequalities pose a critical challenge for government. Not only do they harm economic growth and create social distress, but they also hamper access to opportunities and basic public services. Government plays an important role, not only through taxes and transfers, but also by designing and implementing public policies that tackle inequalities in the distribution of income and other outcomes that affect people’s well-being.

In order to accurately interpret the data included in Government at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2017, readers need to be familiar with the following methodological considerations that cut across a number of indicators. The standard format for the presentation of indicators is on two pages. The first page contains text that explains the relevance of the topic and highlights some of the major differences observed across LAC countries. Furthermore, when data are comparable, the OECD averages are considered as an additional benchmark. It is followed by a Methodology and definitions section, which describes the data sources and provides important information necessary to interpret the data. Closing the first page is the Further reading section, which lists useful background literature providing context to the data displayed. The second page showcases the data. These figures show current levels and, where possible, trends over time. A Glossary of the main terms used in the publication can be found in the final chapter of the book.

The main objective of the Government at a Glance series is to provide reliable, internationally comparable data on government activities and their results in OECD member countries. By broadening the scope to other regions of the world, in particular to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the publication allows LAC countries to benchmark their governments’ performance within the region and in relation to the OECD. In addition, it allows governments to track their own and international developments over time, and provides evidence to their public policy making. As a result of the successful cooperation between the OECD and the IDB this second edition for the LAC region covers a broader set of topics and includes more countries.

Inequality pose a critical challenge for government. In a broad sense, rising inequalities can not only harm economic growth and create social distress, but can also negatively affect access to opportunities and basic public services. To a greater or lesser extent, depending on the societal agreement, governments play a role in income redistribution through taxes and transfers. In this context, the efficiency and effectiveness of fiscal policy are essential to achieve more equal societies and fight poverty. In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) this is particularly relevant as, despite recent improvements, the region is still the most unequal in the world. According to the latest available evidence, on average in 2012, inequality in LAC measured by the Gini coefficient after taxes and transfers is 70% higher than in OECD member countries, with scores of 0.49 and 0.29, respectively (see ).