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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Reducing methane emissions from oil and gas operations is among the most cost-effective and impactful actions that governments can take to achieve global climate goals. There is a major opportunity for countries looking to develop policies and regulations in this area to learn from the experience of jurisdictions that have already adopted methane-specific regulations in order to design frameworks that are adapted and tailored to local circumstances. One of the aims of any new policy effort should be to improve measurement and reporting of emissions data, which can in turn lead to more efficient regulatory interventions. However, the current state of information on emissions should not stand in the way of early action on methane abatement. Experience shows that countries can take an important “first step” today based on existing tools, which may include prescriptive requirements on known “problem sources” combined with monitoring programmes that seek to detect and address the largest emissions sources (“super-emitters”). In terms of process, implementing a new policy or regulation should involve three distinct phases, each covered in detail in this roadmap: understanding the local setting and circumstances, regulatory design and development, and finally, implementation.

The importance of the digital delivery of financial education is growing in parallel with the digitalisation of our societies and economies. Individuals increasingly make use of digital technology in their lives and expect higher levels of personalisation and easier access to content. Digitalisation is potentially enabling public authorities to reach wider audiences and increase the impact of their financial literacy programmes and policies. The measures implemented to contain the COVID-19 pandemic have made the role played by digital tools even more relevant - and often necessary - to help ensure that all target audiences, in particular those most affected by the economic consequences of the crisis, have access to financial literacy resources. It is now more important than ever to ensure that the innovative use of digital technologies in the field of financial education effectively contributes to increasing financial resilience and well-being, and that governments design and implement effective digital financial education initiatives. This report, building on over 70 case studies from members of the OECD International Network on Financial Education, contributes to a better understanding of how public authorities worldwide are designing, delivering and evaluating digital financial education initiatives, and prepares forthcoming work on the development of high-level international guidance on the digital delivery of financial education. 

The devastating impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19) on developing countries have tested the limits, ingenuity and flexibility of development co-operation while also uncovering best practices. This 58th edition of the Development Co-operation Report draws out early insights from leaders, OECD members, experts and civil society on the implications of coronavirus (COVID-19) for global solidarity and international co-operation for development in 2021 and beyond. The report suggests ways forward for the international development community as a whole for bold action and systemic reform to build resilient national and international systems capable of coping with global shocks, and providing and protecting global public goods while reinforcing the fundamental building blocks for sustainable development. The annual “development co-operation at a glance” infographics showcase the latest trends in development finance for over 80 providers of development co-operation, including members of the OECD, the Development Assistance Committee, other countries and philanthropic foundations.

This study explores how Lebanon can strengthen the governance of the digital transformation of its public sector to better serve the needs of its citizens and businesses. Three facets of Lebanon's governance are analysed: contextual factors, institutional models and policy levers. The study identifies challenges and opportunities in each area and provides policy recommendations to help Lebanon implement its digital government policy in a coherent and sustainable way.

A number of countries have created official definitions of sustainable finance as well as more comprehensive classification systems, referred to as sustainable finance taxonomies. This report maps sustainable finance definitions and taxonomies in five jurisdictions: the European Union, People’s Republic of China, Japan, France and the Netherlands. Taxonomies answer a need for greater certainty on the environmental sustainability of different types of investments. When appropriately designed, they can improve market clarity, bring confidence and assurance to investors, and facilitate the measurement and tracking of sustainable finance flows. The report lays out preliminary considerations for good design of taxonomies, which can support policy makers to develop and grow sustainable finance markets to help achieve environmental and sustainable development goals. It also identifies differences among the taxonomies in scope as well as commonalities. These commonalities could provide a basis for creating comparable frameworks that facilitate international investment while also reflecting differing national circumstances.

The report presents an in-depth analysis of various policies that aim to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of urban transport. Decarbonising transport lies at the core of efforts to mitigate climate change and has close links to urban sustainability and housing affordability. The report identifies the drivers of rising emissions in the urban transport sector and offers pathways to reduce them through a combination of transport and land use policies. The analysis yields a holistic welfare evaluation of these policies, assessing them according to their environmental effectiveness, their economic efficiency and their impact on fiscal balance and housing affordability. The report concludes that significant reductions in emissions from urban transport can be achieved through a careful alignment of transport policies designed to promote the use of public transit and electric vehicles, and land use policies, which foster a more compact urban form. The study is based on the case of Auckland, New Zealand but the lessons drawn are relevant for institutions and governments working on issues relating to urban sustainability, transport, housing and climate change mitigation.

This publication provides an overview of the duties and responsibilities of boards in company groups across 45 jurisdictions. The introduction outlines the global landscape of company groups, their economic role and the principal challenges they present with respect to corporate governance polices. Part I develops a typology of legal and regulatory approaches that jurisdictions have taken to address these challenges. Part II highlights differences and commonalities across jurisdictions, especially as they relate to: how directors may take into account group interests; procedures for managing conflicts of interest; compensating losses incurred by a group company for the benefit of the group; transparency around group purposes and allocation of business opportunities; and allocation of responsibility for company policy and oversight between parent and subsidiary boards. Additional chapters offer case studies of recent and specific approaches to company group governance in Colombia, India, Israel and Korea.

Environmental regulators strive to protect the environment and public health from pollution from economic activity. This report uses the OECD Performance Assessment Framework for Economic Regulators (PAFER) to assess both the internal and external governance of Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It looks at the EPA’s role and objectives, its financial and human resources, processes for internal management and decision making, and systems for performance assessment. The review acknowledges the EPA’s achievements and good practices, analyses the key drivers of its performance, and identifies a number of challenges and opportunities for improvement to help the regulator prepare for the future.

As “market referees”, regulators contribute to the delivery of essential public utilities. Their organisational culture, behaviour and governance are important factors in how they, and the sectors they oversee, perform. The report uses the OECD Performance Assessment Framework for Economic Regulators to assess both the internal and external governance of Peru's Transport Infrastructure Regulator (OSITRAN). The review discusses OSITRAN's good practices, analyses the key drivers of its performance, and proposes an integrated reform package to help the regulator prepare for the future.