Publications & Documents

Ireland is highly centralised and fast growing, creating co-ordination challenges in terms of delivering key investments and in key policy areas like transport, housing and education. Actors across levels of government recognise a need for a more coordinated approach to the delivery of the National Planning Framework, the principal spatial planning strategy of Project Ireland 2040, which includes also the National Development Plan (public investment).The report has three objectives which ultimately aim to support more balanced regional outcomes in Ireland: i) to clarify the gaps in terms of regional attractiveness across and within Ireland’s regions, including in terms of population and investment attraction; ii) to assess the ability for the National Planning Framework – in its current form – to address these gaps, and iii) to consider what multi-level governance reforms and attractiveness policies can be introduced or scaled to generate more territorially-balanced development.

Global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C as early as in 2030, with current climate action falling short of meeting the Paris Agreement goals and a mounting risk of tipping beyond the ability of human societies to adapt. Building on broader OECD work on climate, this report proposes a new OECD territorial climate indicator framework and demonstrates that the potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate impacts and address vulnerabilities varies across different territories. The report also presents a policy framework of 9 recommended actions to help decision makers unleash more effective climate action and resilience, both by integrating a territorial approach into national and subnational climate policies and by mainstreaming climate objectives into urban, rural and regional policies. The report summarises the analysis into a checklist for national and local governments to implement a territorial approach to climate and resilience policies, as well as a compendium of 36 best practices from cities, regions and countries from all around the world.

This case study assesses the strategies of the Museum of Lisbon as well as the related policies of Lisbon City Council to support local development. Through its five branches located across the city and its diverse partnerships with local stakeholders, the Museum of Lisbon has cemented its role as a community anchor institution. This case study focuses on the five dimensions featured in the OECD-ICOM Guide for Local Governments, Communities and Museums, namely the role of museums in: i) economic development, ii) urban regeneration, iii) education and creativity, iv) inclusion, health and well-being, and on iv) ways to mainstream the role of museums in local development.

This paper examines the contribution of international migrants to regional differences in labour productivity in Australia. The study relies on individual-level administrative wage data from 2011 to 2018. It finds that a region with a 10% larger migrant share has, on average, a 1.3% larger regional wage difference, which indicates a positive link between migration and labour productivity. The presence of migrants benefits native workers with different skill levels residing in all types of regions. The positive effects of migrants are even more pronounced for higher-skilled migrants. Concretely, a region with a 10% larger share of higher-skilled migrants has, on average, a 1% higher regional productivity difference. However, these additional benefits mainly accrue to more productive regions and those with higher migrant shares than the median region.

Subnational governments in Asia and the Pacific are key providers of the public services and infrastructure required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Given this role, it is essential that policymakers and development partners understand and support the effective functioning of multi-level governance structures and subnational government finances across the region. This joint OECD-ADB report provides a comprehensive overview of subnational governments across Asia and the Pacific. It covers over 467,000 subnational governments from 26 countries, which represent 53% of the world’s population and 40% of global GDP. On average in 2020, subnational governments in the region accounted for 29% of total public expenditure (8.8% of GDP), 35% of total public revenue (8.5% of GDP) and 38% of public investment (2% of GDP). Harnessing unique data from the 3rd edition of the OECD-UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment, the analysis highlights how decentralisation and territorial reforms have reconfigured the structures and finances of subnational governments in the region. It covers a range of topics including fiscal rules, financial management capacity, priority-based budgeting, asset management and the use of public-private partnerships.

This report assesses the current state and future potential of cultural and creative sectors (CCS) in the nine outermost regions of the European Union (EU): Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, and Saint Martin (France); the Azores and Madeira (Portugal); and the Canary Islands (Spain). Global trends, such as increases in cultural tourism, trade in creative goods and services, and FDI in CCS offer significant opportunities for EU outermost regions to expand their cultural and creative sectors, promote synergies with tourism and help drive job creation. In addition, CCS policies can also boost well-being outcomes and social cohesion through preserving and promoting local cultural heritage and encouraging cultural participation. CCS policy which capitalises on these global trends, whilst recognising the specific context of EU outermost regions, could help promote these areas and contribute to local development.

The Autonomous Province of Bolzano-Bozen, Italy, has embraced the 2030 Agenda through a sustainability pact including its sustainable development strategy 'Everyday for Future'. The strategy defines seven fields of action that were derived from the SDGs framework to promote sustainability across policy areas such as the conservation of the natural environment, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, competitiveness and social justice. The SDGs offer a clear framework to tackle the province’s main territorial development challenges, such as climate change, the transition to sustainable agriculture, mobility, tourism, and affordable housing. This report provides guidance on how to harness the implementation of the SDGs to address these challenges through concrete measures across the seven fields of action, identify and manage synergies and trade-offs between sectoral policies and, in turn, help the province implement Everyday for Future.