Latest Documents

Economic regulators are responsible for ensuring that infrastructure services are delivered efficiently, where competition on its own is unable to achieve this outcome. Based on a survey of 34 economic regulators covering 77 sectors and subsectors including energy, transport, communications and water, this report explores how economic regulators carry out this task, and suggests how this experience can be usefully applied in the governance of infrastructure more broadly.

'Behavioural insights', or insights derived from the behavioural and social sciences, including decision making, psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, organisational and group behaviour, are being applied by governments with the aim of making public policies work better. As their use has become more widespread, however, questions are being raised about their effectiveness as well as their philosophical underpinnings. This report discusses the use and reach of behavioural insights, drawing on a comprehensive collection of over 100 applications across the world and policy sectors, including consumer protection, education, energy, environment, finance, health and safety, labour market policies, public service delivery, taxes and telecommunications. It suggests ways to ensure that this experimental approach can be successfully and sustainably used as a public policy tool.

As 'market referees', regulators contribute to the delivery of essential public utilities. The internal and external governance of regulatory agencies are essential to determining how regulators and the sectors they oversee perform. The OECD has developed an innovative framework that looks at the institutions, processes and practices that can enhance regulators’ performance. In this report, the framework is applied to the external governance of Mexico’s energy sector and its three regulatory bodies, the Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment (ASEA), the National Hydrocarbons Commissions (CNH) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), following a structural reform of the sector and its regulatory institutions. The review offers insights into the progress and challenges in the implementation of the reform, highlighting the importance of structured co-ordination and accountability mechanisms based on a common strategic agenda, alignment of processes for good regulatory outcomes as well as sufficient operational flexibility. The report is complemented by forthcoming reviews of the internal governance arrangements of the three regulatory agencies, constituting a comprehensive body of work on the regulatory governance of Mexico’s energy sector. 

This publication identifies the main regulatory obstacles of the following transport sectors in Mexico: road transport, railways, ports, border crossing, and airway passengers. The report also offers recommendations to improve the quality of the regulatory framework of these sectors.

Borders are becoming increasingly porous, with growing flows of goods, services, people and capital. Governments, more than ever, need to co-ordinate their efforts to develop global standards to address climate change, as well as crises related to finance, health, environment and migration; secure peace; and ensure sustainable economic prosperity and social inclusion. International organisations play a key role in fostering multilateral action and addressing the fragmentation that may undermine effective domestic action. To shed greater light on international standard setting, this unique report collects, compares and assesses the practices of 50 international organisations on their governance arrangements, operational modalities, use of quality management disciplines and co-operation efforts. It analyses different types of organisations – inter-governmental, supra-national, trans-governmental and private – and identifies avenues for making their action more effective, inclusive and relevant.  

Regulators are proactive referees of the sectors they regulate, contributing to the delivery of essential public utilities for citizens. To fulfill this function, they need to be constantly alert, checking sectoral trends as well as assessing the impact of their decisions. However, while measuring regulators’ performance is essential, it is also challenging, from defininig what should be measured to attributing impacts to regulators' decisions. To address these challenges, the OECD has developed an innovative framework that looks at the institutions, processes and practices that help regulators assess their performance. The framework has been applied to Latvia's Public Utilities Commission, which is responsible for regulating energy, communications, water and waste. The review offers unique insights into the work of a multi-sector regulator, identifying the organisational features that allow lessons and experiences to be shared across sectors and contribute to good performance. It  highlights the importance of clarifying the role and functions of the regulator and its relationship with other public institutions, setting long-term strategic objectives for the regulator's activities, and having the right regulatory tools with appropriate incentives for the efficient and effective provision of public utility services. 

Regulation is one of the key levers of government intervention. When properly designed, it can help achieve environmental and social objectives, and contribute to economic growth. The OECD Review of Regulatory Policy of Peru assesses the policies, institutions, and tools employed by the Peruvian government to design, implement and enforce high-quality regulations. These include administrative simplification, evaluation of regulations, public consultation, and the governance of independent regulators, amongst others. The review provides policy recommendations based on best international practices and peer assessment to strengthen the government’s capacity to manage regulatory policy.

Regulators operate in a complex environment at the interface among public authorities, the private sector and end-users. As 'referees' of the markets that provide water, energy, transport, communications, and financial services to citizens, they must balance competing wants and needs from different actors. This means that they must behave and act objectively, impartially, and consistently, without conflict of interest, bias or undue influence - in other words, independently. What distinguishes an independent regulator is not simply institutional design. Independence is also about finding the right balance between the appropriate and undue influence that can be exercised through the regulators’ daily interactions with ministries, regulated industries and end-users. This report identifies the critical points where undue influence can be exercised at different moments in the life of a regulator and discusses some of the avenues for developing a culture of independence, including through interactions with stakeholders, staffing and financing.