Publications

In 2020, the Province of Zuid-Holland set up the 'Strategy Circular Zuid-Holland: Accelerating Together', with the commitment of reducing the use of primary raw materials by 50% by 2030 and to reach full circularity by 2050. New challenges in terms of value chain disruptions and increased scarcity of critical materials and opportunities led the province to develop several initiatives and collaborating platforms to advance towards a circular economy. This case study provides ways forward on how to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy through the OECD 3Ps framework: People and firms, Policies and Places.

This Glossary defines concepts and terms commonly used in evaluation and results-based management. It provides a shared understanding to support the design, management, monitoring and evaluation of interventions for sustainable development. As a reference document, it is helpful for those commissioning, managing, or conducting evaluations, as well as people involved in strategy or programme development, management and implementation. While originally developed for international development co-operation, the Glossary can be applied in any field of public policy and is also useful for civil society, academia, and other non-state actors. This second edition includes updated content, including new definitions for the widely used evaluation criteria – relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability – endorsed by the OECD Development Assistance Committee in 2019. It also provides minor updates to the original text to reflect current good practice. As concepts and language are constantly evolving, the document will be revisited and updated in due course.

The Eurométropole of Strasbourg (EMS) started its circular journey in 2010 with a focus on waste prevention, followed by the development of its 'Circular Economy Roadmap' in 2019, which aimed to integrate circular economy principles into EMS' public procurement and operations. The EMS is currently in the process of updating the Roadmap to address challenges related to regulation, co-ordination across the 33 municipalities and financing. This case study provides ways forward on how to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy through the OECD 3Ps framework: People and firms, Policies and Places.

People’s ability to access essential services is key to their labour market and social inclusion. An important dimension of accessibility is physical accessibility, but little cross-country evidence exists on how close people live to the services facilities they need. This paper helps to address this gap, focusing on three types of essential services: Public Employment Services, primary schools and Early Childhood Education and Care. It collects and maps data on the location of these services for a selection of OECD countries and links them with data on population and transport infrastructure. This allows to compute travel times to the nearest service facility and to quantify disparities in accessibility at the regional level. The results highlight substantial inequalities in accessibility of essential services across and within countries. Although large parts of the population can easily reach these services in most countries, some people are relatively underserved. This is particularly the case in non-metropolitan and low-income regions. At the same time, accessibility seems to be associated with the potential demand for these services once accounting for other regional economic and demographic characteristics.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach that makes producers responsible for their products along the entire lifecycle, including at the post-consumer stage. This policy paper summarises the current consensus on the EPR policy approach. By taking stock of what's known and well established in the literature, it aims to foster a common understanding of the EPR approach and to provide guiding principles for its successful implementation. This paper makes a valuable contribution to an increasing number of policy debates and processes that are ongoing, both at national and international levels, in areas such as plastics, electric and electronic waste and textiles.

Supply chain disruptions, related to natural events or geopolitical tensions, have in recent years prompted policy makers to identify potential vulnerabilities related to critical trade dependencies. These are commercial links that could potentially impose significant economic or societal harm, be a source of coercion, a risk to national security, or disrupt strategic activities. Using three complementary methodologies — detailed trade data analysis, input-output data techniques, and computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling — this paper examines the nature and evolution of trade dependencies between the OECD countries and major non-OECD economies (MNOE). It shows that global production has become increasingly concentrated at the product level, with China representing 15% of import dependencies in strategic products for OECD countries in 2020-21 compared to 4% in 1997-99. The methodologies used in this paper unanimously demonstrate a high degree of trade interdependency between OECD and MNOE countries. The current debate on 'de-risking' international trade, therefore, needs to carefully consider the possible costs and benefits of different policy choices.

This paper gives an overview of all development finance sources available to countries of the Organisation of Eastern-Caribbean States (OECS) for enhancing their economic and climate resilience, and progress towards their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). After reviewing political and macroeconomic contexts, it examines some of the specific challenges and opportunities they meet in financing their development, including the mobilisation of private finance and domestic resources; public debt sustainability; and the alignment of official development finance (ODF) with their evolving needs. It stresses the risks of inadequately preparing for the end of eligibility to official development assistance (ODA), when countries reach high-income status while remaining highly vulnerable. Finally, it presents recommendations for the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members to better support and accompany OECS countries as they transition to higher-income status.

This report examines the work of the business ombudsman institutions of Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan in order to identify their successful practices, as well as gaps that can be addressed through mutual learning and knowledge sharing. It reviews key aspects of the work of these institutions, including the legal framework for their operations, independence and accountability safeguards, funding mechanisms and operational procedures. Based on the analysis, the report offers a number of recommendations that can help improve existing institutions and also be useful to countries that are considering establishing them.

This paper explores the economics of Artificial Intelligence (AI), focusing on its potential as a new General-Purpose Technology that can significantly influence economic productivity and societal wellbeing. It examines AI's unique capacity for autonomy and self-improvement, which could accelerate innovation and potentially revive sluggish productivity growth across various industries, while also acknowledging the uncertainties surrounding AI's long-term productivity impacts. The paper discusses the concentration of AI development in big tech firms, uneven adoption rates, and broader societal challenges such as inequality, discrimination, and security risks. It calls for a comprehensive policy approach to ensure AI's beneficial development and diffusion, including measures to promote competition, enhance accessibility, and address job displacement and inequality.

The Autonomous Province of Trento (Trentino) is among the most productive regions in Europe, but over the past two decades its productivity growth has stagnated. As a result, the productivity gap of Trentino widened by over 20% compared to regions with the same productivity level in 2000. The benchmarking of productivity drivers in Trentino with those of 'peer' regions points to several policy priorities, including: reviving productivity in tradeable sectors, also through increased internationalisation; increasing the share of the labour force with a tertiary education; and getting more out of public R&D while boosting private sector R&D.