This is the second in a series of three annual papers that the OECD is publishing in preparation for its major biennial publication, Government at a Glance. This paper focuses on two main themes: (1) the identification of core data for Government at a Glance, and (2) the publication of existing...

This report presents detailed results on the quality of regulatory management systems, following the survey conducted in 2005-6. The goal of this report is to compare regulatory quality assurance systems; to measure progress and understand trends over time across countries, and to identify...

Political involvement in administration is essential for the proper functioning of a democracy. Without this an incoming political administration would find itself unable to change policy direction. However public services need protection against being misused for partisan purposes, they need...

The need for more differentiated pay setting in the public sector is probably the most important driver behind decentralisation. Both the labour market and the public activities have become less homogeneous, and public administrations need – just like any other employer – to develop...

How are performance-based arrangements at the individual level related to performance management arrangements at higher levels such as the agency or programme level? The report aims to provide practical lessons and insights into performance-based arrangements for senior civil servants, derived...

Multi-level regulatory governance is becoming a priority in many OECD countries. High quality regulation at a certain level of government can be compromised by poor regulatory policies and practices at other levels, impacting negatively on the performance of economies and on business and...

One of the activities of the Public Governance Committee is the development of comparable data and indicators of good government and efficient public services. An ongoing element is the development of a new methodology to gather comparable data on public employment. Achieving a consistent and...

The consequences of an ageing workforce are magnified in the public sector because it generally has an older demographic profile than the private sector (OECD, 2006). The challenge of attracting and retaining capacity within the public service as large numbers of experienced public servants...

This Working Paper compiles a set of recent comparable OECD data on revenues, inputs, and public sector processes and proposes a way forward in data collection. It is the first of three annual Working Papers as the Public Governance and Territorial Development (GOV) Directorate of the OECD...

OECD member and non-member governments are actively looking for ways to facilitate and improve the relationships among levels of government. These relationships lie between the central and sub-national levels, as well as among peer levels (i.e., among ministries, across regions, between...