Browse by: "L"

Subnational governments’ capacity to effectively fund and deliver public services are crucial for the realisation of the benefits of decentralisation. However, subnational capacities often suffer from significant weaknesses, ranging from inadequate assignments of own-revenues, through to flaws in tax administration, the design of intergovernmental transfers, spending assignments and various aspects of public financial management. The volume discusses how better diagnostics and more strategic reforms can contribute to easing the resource constraints on subnational governments, as well as creating appropriate incentives for these governments to improve performance. The volume includes studies of the enabling conditions for subnational capacity building in Asia, as well as focused studies of China and India's fiscal relations challenges.

To combat persistent unemployment and growing disparities, employment and training policies need re-organising to become more effective. Governments are endeavouring to achieve this by increasing the involvement of local and regional authorities, social partners, the private sector and the community in policy design and implementation.
Co-ordinating the efforts of these stakeholders, all involved at different levels, is a major challenge for governments. Local management of employment and training makes for more flexibility and hence better use of all available resources. This publication looks at the decentralisation of active labour market policies in OECD countries and shows how local employment management can lead to the implementation of more effective policies.

Local development strategies represent an important response to the challenges of globalisation, while providing a mechanism for seizing the new opportunities that globalisation offers. Nearly two decades after the fall of the Berlin wall, this book evaluates progress made and identifies what needs to be done to speed up the drive towards prosperity in Central and Eastern Europe. It demonstrates that the success of local development strategies depends on the capacity of the government and its partners to accelerate change within the policy and governance aspects of economic and social development.

Innovation, skills, entrepreneurship and social cohesion are key drivers of growth, and essential goals of effective economic development strategies. Each has a strong governance component, which requires real partnership between government, business and civil society. In this book, the OECD has brought together top world experts to translate policy lessons into concrete recommendations that will help policy makers and practitioners make the best governance decisions to stimulate growth.

This report, crafted by the OECD LEED Programme, sheds light on the crucial role of local economic leadership in driving sustainable growth. Through the lens of Manchester's journey and lessons from global peers like Stockholm and Amsterdam, it underscores the essence of patient, collaborative, and evidence-based leadership. From fostering partnerships to catalyzing transformative initiatives, effective leadership transcends short-term actions to shape enduring progress. By prioritizing transparency, strategic planning, and institutional reforms, cities can unlock their full potential and navigate complex economic landscapes with confidence. This report serves as a beacon for aspiring leaders worldwide, offering invaluable insights for crafting resilient, inclusive, and prosperous local economies.

Transition and emerging economies have difficulties developing their financial markets to a level that would provide access to long-term debt finance at an affordable cost. This report examines opportunities beyond the public sector for financing water and other environmental infrastructure. Specifically, opportunities for accessing savings through private financial and capital markets have been examined. The report identifies bottlenecks to the development of local financial markets for environmental infrastructure and discusses policy recommendations to tackle them.

This second volume of OECD's study on lobbying examines regulation and self-regulation of lobbying. It includes chapters defining and examining lobbying, describing the role of professional lobbying associations, exploring various codes of conduct and examining specific codes in various countries, examining lobbyists' attitudes toward regulation and self-regulation, and exploring various options for enhancing transparency and accountability.

Lobbying, as a way to influence and inform governments, has been part of democracy for at least two centuries, and remains a legitimate tool for influencing public policies. However, it carries risks of undue influence. Lobbying in the 21^st century has also become increasingly complex, including new tools for influencing government, such as social media, and a wide range of actors, such as NGOs, think tanks and foreign governments. This report takes stock of the progress that countries have made in implementing the OECD Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying. It reflects on new challenges and risks related to the many ways special interest groups attempt to influence public policies, and reviews tools adopted by governments to effectively safeguard impartiality and fairness in the public decision-making process.

This report is an overview of the management of risk due to livestock diseases, a potentially catastrophic type of risk that can have strong external effects given its links to the food chain and to human health. Animal disease, primarily in farmed livestock, has long been a policy concern for food safety reasons and the high economic losses it can engender. The globalisation of trade and human movement, and sensitivities to food safety, enhance the relevance and complexity of disease control for terrestrial livestock. Outbreaks – or even rumours of an outbreak – can result in widespread consumer alarm, disruption of trade, and severe effects on incomes, not to mention the human cost of illnesses and deaths arising from animal disease.

In May 2016, the World Humanitarian Summit represented a turning point for humanitarian policies. The Summit gave the impetus to seriously reflect on how to operate in environments where people’s needs don’t coincide anymore with existing mandates and sectors. The OECD believes that an effective humanitarian response is the one that addresses affected people’s needs in a timely and efficient manner. One way to measure effectiveness is to ask aid beneficiaries what they think about the aid they get. With this is mind, the OECD initiated a first round of surveys during the cycle 2016-2017 in six countries affected by different type of crisis : Lebanon, Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, Somalia and Uganda. Two years after the World humanitarian Summit, the OECD and Ground Truth Solutions took another round of surveys in the same countries, plus Bangladesh. The purpose of this second round of surveys is to assess whether the commitments made at the World Humanitarian Summit, including the Grand Bargain, are having a tangible impact on people’s lives in the most difficult contexts in the world. This paper provides some answers to this question.

This report helps establish a new agenda for age-friendly employment policies and practices. It sets out the policy challenges presented by rapidly ageing labour forces in OECD countries and draws out the main lessons learned from OECD's series of country reviews on Ageing and Employment policies.  Among other issues, it discusses how to remove work disincentives and increase choice in the work-retirement decision, improve employability of older workers, and change employer attitudes and employment practices.

This review analyses open government principles and practices in Lithuania with the aim to support the government of Lithuania in its current and future public governance reforms. In this context, the OECD examines the role of the centre of government as a catalyst for open government reforms, analyses citizens' participation as a key open government practice and explores the opportunities and challenges of digital government as enabler for open government. It examines open government at the level of central government, complemented by a health sector case study. The book presents practical recommendations to assist the government in delivering on its commitment to enhance openness and inclusiveness of policy making and service delivery, and to strengthen government-citizen relations.