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This report documents trends in the use of strategic planning in a range of countries and the associated establishment of independent infrastructure advisory bodies. It documents practices in the areas of project identification, appraisal and selection. It considers the appropriate scope of impact assessments, including the use of wider economic impacts and the role of ex post evaluation in contributing to better appraisals of future investments. Finally, it looks at how the effective stewardship of existing infrastructure assets can maximise their ongoing productivity.

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. It will also depend on shifting from a centrally-designed approach to regional development policy to one that incorporates subnational input and carefully considers regional specificities. Such a shift, coupled with a revitalised multi-level governance model to strengthen regional and municipal governance, could generate more balanced regional development and inclusive growth in Bulgaria. This multi-level governance study considers the avenues Bulgarian national and subnational authorities could take to ensure more place-based regional development and governance. It emphasises a comprehensive, yet incremental, approach to decentralisation and regionalisation reforms to generate more effective and balanced regional development.

COVID-19 has put renewed focus on the importance of addressing longstanding challenges that OECD governments face in delivering public services, especially in regions with people spread over a wider area where economies of scale are more difficult to achieve. The physical infrastructure needed to provide good quality education and health services can be more complex and expensive in rural and remote regions that also struggle to attract and retain education and health care professionals. Acute ageing trends in many rural regions and, in some cases, a shrinking population will require sustainable policy responses that will need to be coherent with pressure to drive efficiencies in public spending. This report examines the nuances specific to the delivery of education and health care to people everywhere, offering recommendations on how to better adapt provision to the realities of today and the emerging realities of tomorrow to face the challenges of distance, demographic change and fiscal belt-tightening. The report also examines digital connectivity issues in rural and remote regions, recognising the significant scope for digital delivery of services to mitigate challenges related to distance. Finally, the report looks at governance issues, including fiscal issues, through which the delivery of these critical services is administered and paid for.

The first objective of this study is to provide open, reliable and comparable data and analysis on the scope, scale and diversity of domestic philanthropic flows in South Africa. South Africa is estimated to receive close to USD 138 million annually from international foundations. This makes the country the sixth largest recipient in developing countries for which data are available. However, current estimates do not consider funding from domestic foundations because information on domestic philanthropic giving is scarce (OECD, 2018[2]). The second objective is to provide an in-depth focus on domestic philanthropy’s support to gender equality. South Africa has made important advances towards gender equality in recent years, including a solid legal framework to work against structural obstacles to gender equality. However, persistent challenges remain in the unpaid care burden women face, gender-based violence and access to justice.

The focus of this study is two-fold; the first objective is to provide open, reliable and comparable data and analysis on the scope, scale and diversity of domestic philanthropic flows in Colombia. Colombia is estimated to receive close to USD 34.5 million annually from international foundations, but these figures do not consider funding from domestic foundations. Yet Colombia has a long-standing tradition of private philanthropy, which has become more organised over the past decade. The second objective is to provide an in-depth focus on domestic philanthropy’s support to gender equality, given that only a small proportion (less than 1%) of global philanthropic flows in developing countries directly addressed women’s needs like preventing violence or supporting women’s rights organisations (OECD, 2018[2]). Colombia has made important advances towards gender equality in recent years, and yet persistent challenges remain for women. These include the burden of providing unpaid care, gender-based violence and access to justice – all of which are experienced more severely by women in rural areas than by those in urban areas.

Public trust is a cornerstone of the Finnish administrative and political model, it has also been a key element of Finland's successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Preserving and strengthening the Finnish trust capital will be of essence for facing trade-offs and challenges ahead, particularly on the recovery phase following the pandemic. Through the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods this study examines the key determinants of trust in government, the local government and the public administration in Finland. Overall, it finds that responsiveness of public services and reliability of policies are key determinants of trust in institutions in Finland.

As “market referees”, regulators contribute to the delivery of essential public utilities. Their organisational culture, behaviour and governance are important factors in how regulators, and the sectors they oversee, perform. The OECD Performance Assessment Framework for Economic Regulators (PAFER) looks at the institutions, processes and practices that can create an organisational culture of performance and results. The report uses PAFER to assess elements linked to both the internal and external governance of Portugal’s Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE). The review acknowledges the well-respected status of ERSE within the institutional framework, analyses the key drivers of its performance, and identifies a number of challenges and opportunities to help the regulator prepare for the future, including in the context of deep market transformation and the COVID-19 crisis.

This report reviews a wide range of congestion control measures. It analyses their effectiveness, financial and operational requirements, implementation time and public acceptability. It focuses on the role of technology in addressing congestion, including sensors, wireless systems, traffic light optimisation and trip planning data. The report takes an in‑depth look at the use of HOT lanes to control congestion, the different ways in which they can be used and their effectiveness relative to other initiatives. The report is based on discussions held during the September 2020 ITF Roundtable on Congestion Control Experience and Recommendations.

Las Directrices Internacionales sobre IVA presentan un conjunto de estándares aceptados internacionalmente y de recomendaciones de medidas destinadas a asegurar una adecuada coordinación en la aplicación de los sistemas nacionales de IVA dentro del contexto del comercio internacional. Se centran principalmente en el comercio de servicios e intangibles. En particular, comprenden los principios y mecanismos recomendados para hacer frente a los desafíos para la recaudación de IVA sobre el comercio transfronterizo de productos digitales que han sido identificados en el contexto del proyecto sobre Erosión de la Base Imponible y Traslado de Beneficios (BEPS, por sus siglas en inglés) de la OCDE y el G20. Estas Directrices fueron adoptadas como Recomendación por el Consejo de la OCDE en septiembre de 2016.

The aim of this document is to provide a more detailed overview of the understanding of the role of retinoid signalling in several organ systems for which more information may be known, as well as evaluate potential gaps in knowledge, and identify potential markers and endpoints that could be added to existing OECD test guidelines, in addition to in vitro and ex vivo test systems that measure retinoid pathway targets.

Across OECD countries, one in seven working-age adults identifies as having a disability. Many are excluded from meaningful work and have low levels of income and active social engagement. Becoming sick or disabled often leads people to leave the labour market even if they maintain work capacity and willingness to work. Governments and employers can help create an environment that prevents sickness and disability, promotes return-to-work and enables persons with disabilities to thrive in their job. The COVID-19 pandemic and its toll on physical and mental health has made the creation of an enabling environment more important than ever. This report proposes policy recommendations to the Irish government to improve the participation of persons with disabilities. Ireland has one of the highest disability employment gaps in OECD countries. Disability employment policy has seen significant improvement in the past decade but the reforms have not produced the desired results. This report shows that engaging employers is critically important to getting and keeping persons with disabilities in work. It also highlights the importance of further structural change and accessible and sufficiently resourced public employment and adult learning services to create a labour market that works for all – including for persons with disabilities.

Industries and businesses are becoming increasingly digital, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated this trend. Regulators around the world are also experimenting with data-driven tools to apply and enforce rules in a more agile and targeted way. This report maps out several efforts undertaken jointly by the OECD and Italian regulators to develop and use artificial intelligence and machine learning tools in regulatory inspections and enforcement. It provides unique insights into the background processes and structures required for digital tools to perform predictive modelling, risk analysis and classification. It also highlights the challenges such tools bring, both in specific regulatory areas and to the broader goals of regulatory systems.

This Digital Government Review of Slovenia explores how the Government of Slovenia could enhance and harness digital government to achieve broader strategic goals. It evaluates the efforts made so far by the Slovenian government in shifting towards a digital government approach by looking at institutional governance, institutional digital talent, public service delivery and the strategic use of data. The review provides policy recommendations to allow Slovenia to make the most of digital technologies to foster a citizen and data-driven administration and to enable and sustain the digital transformation of the public sector.

As “market referees”, regulators contribute to the delivery of essential public utilities. Their organisational culture, behaviour, actions and governance are important factors in how they, and the sectors they oversee, perform. The OECD Performance Assessment Framework for Economic Regulators (PAFER) looks at the institutions, processes and practices that can create an organisational culture of performance and results. This report uses PAFER to assess both the internal and external governance of Brazil’s Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL). The review offers recommendations for the regulator to build upon its strong technical reputation and good practices. It proposes an integrated set of recommendations to help the regulator best fulfil its role as a key actor supporting sector modernisation.

The recovery after the COVID-19 crisis requires policies and reforms that tackle inequalities and promote equal opportunities. However, the implementation of such reforms requires widespread support from the public. To better understand what factors drive public support, this report provides a detailed cross-country analysis of people’s perceptions of and concern over inequality. It documents how concern over income disparities has risen in OECD countries over the long run. Nowadays, in most countries a large majority of the population believes that income disparities are too large and that intergenerational mobility is low. Yet, sufficient support for inequality-reducing policies may fail to arise if people do not agree on concrete policy options, or doubt the effectiveness of such policies. Moreover, even when the majority demands more equality, a divided public opinion can complicate the introduction of reforms. The report highlights how people within the same country are often divided as to the extent of inequality and what should be done to address this challenge. The report illustrates how the findings from analysis of perceptions and concerns can serve to inform policy making.