Publications & Documents

This study assesses the implementation of the recommendations from the OECD Innovation Policy Review of Norway 2017 along four major themes: (1) Developing research communities of outstanding quality; (2) Enhancing competitiveness and innovation capacity; (3) Tackling major social challenges; and (4) Improving the governance of the science, technology and innovation system. The results of this assessment are then used to identify new opportunities for reforms in the Norwegian Long-term plan for Research and Higher Education 2023-2032. While focused on Norway, the report also provides lessons on key issues, such as the sustainable transition of advanced economies, that can be useful in other national contexts.

La Norvège a accompli des progrès sur la voie de la croissance verte au cours de la dernière décennie. Le pays est aux avant-postes dans de nombreux domaines environnementaux et investit massivement dans le développement technologique et l'innovation pour soutenir sa transition verte. À l’échelle nationale, la Norvège s’est fixé des objectifs environnementaux ambitieux dans tous les secteurs, y compris dans la lutte contre le changement climatique. Le pays a pour ambition d’atteindre la neutralité climatique à l’horizon 2030. Bien qu’il ne soit pas membre de l'Union européenne, le pays s’est employé à aligner son action sur de nombreux règlements et objectifs de l'UE, parfois même de manière plus stricte que les États membres. Toutefois, malgré ses avancées, la Norvège reste confrontée à de multiples défis, notamment en ce qui concerne sa transition vers des modes durables de consommation de même que sur le sujet de la protection de la biodiversité. Le rapport formule 30 recommandations adaptées à la Norvège pour lui permettre d’améliorer ses performances environnementales, notamment dans le domaine de la gestion de l’aménagement du territoire et de la biodiversité. Avec ce quatrième Examen environnemental de la Norvège, l’OCDE propose une évaluation indépendante, fondée sur des données factuelles, des performances environnementales du pays sur la dernière décennie. Cette version abrégée reprend le résumé, l'évaluation et les recommandations officielles du rapport publié ainsi que l’annexe avec les mesures prises pour mettre en œuvre certaines recommandations de l’Examen environnemental de la Norvège publié par l’OCDE en 2011. Le premier chapitre résume les principales tendances environnementales et évalue l’efficacité environnementale et l’efficience économique de la panoplie de mesures – budgétaires, économiques, réglementaires et volontaires – mises en place. Le deuxième chapitre propose une analyse approfondie de la gestion de l’aménagement du territoire et de la biodiversité en Norvège. Le rapport complet est disponible en version anglaise sur le site internet de l'OCDE.

Norway, like a number of other countries, saw steep growth in house prices during the pandemic. This added to past years of strong price increases and has brought renewed concern for housing affordability. Tax advantages to buying homes inflate house prices, contribute to wealth inequality and divert resources from more productive investments. An underdeveloped rental market is an additional consequence of Norway’s pro-homeownership policies. Beyond tax reform and targeted support for low-income households, including renters, lasting improvements in affordability will require measures to enhance the responsiveness of residential construction to increased demand. However, creating room for new housing supply can involve difficult trade‑offs with environmental and other policy objectives.

Trust in public institutions is a cornerstone of the Norwegian administrative and political model. It has also been a crucial element in Norway’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Preserving and strengthening this 'trust capital' will be essential for Norway in addressing future trade-offs and challenges, such as ensuring the sustainability of the welfare model, coping with climate change and maintaining social cohesion. Based on the results of the OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions and using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, this study examines the main determinants of trust in Norway’s national government, local government and public administration.

This profile provides a concise and policy-relevant overview of health and the health system in Norway as part of the broader series of the State of Health in the EU country profiles. It provides a short synthesis of: the health status in the country; the determinants of health, focussing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the health system; and the effectiveness, accessibility and resilience of the health system. This edition has a special focus on the impact of COVID‑19. This profile is the joint work of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, in co-operation with the European Commission.

Infrastructure investment has been at the forefront of the political debate for more than two decades. Despite decades of theoretical study and experimentation in practice, 'how to' actually procure infrastructure still lacks a complete and evidence-based guide, relying heavily on subjective perception and judgement. Procurement strategy mistakes can substantially increase the cost of infrastructure, delay its delivery, or reduce its quality and value to the public. The OECD has trialled a new evidence- based tool to inform procurement decisions on major projects called Support Tool for Effective Procurement Strategy or STEPS. The tool was applied toon two major road projects in Norway. STEPS can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public procurement of infrastructure and beyond. It should improve the Value for Money propositions of both traditional and privately financed infrastructure projects. It is also an effective tool against bid rigging, the effects of abnormally low bids, and corruption in public procurement. Because the procurement choices of the public sector impact the market structure of the infrastructure supplier market, it could be considered an instrument of implicit market regulation, working against market concentration. STEPS thus supports a range of OECD recommendations and G20 positions on infrastructure governance, private investment in infrastructure, and procurement in general.

Increasing productivity at farm level is a key policy objective across most countries and fundamental to the overall performance of agricultural and food systems. This paper applies dynamic statistical methods to farm level data in order to identify the determinants of farm performance over time, in terms of productivity and measures of local sustainability. The analysis sheds light on the effects of policies on productivity, and the links between productivity and sustainability outcomes. It draws on key findings from seven case studies: crop farms in Australia, France, Italy and the United Kingdom (England and Wales); and dairy farms in the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway, with different sample periods, from the most recent three decades to the last five years. A key finding is that policy changes increasing the degree of decoupling of payments have a positive impact on productivity. Furthermore, with the right incentives, productivity growth can be more locally sustainable insofar as farms can produce more output with less inputs that harm the environment. The detailed background work on the seven samples of crops and dairy farms in the above countries is available in OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Paper N°165.