Indicators of regulatory conditions in the professional services

The OECD cross-section sectoral indicators measure regulatory conditions in the professional services and retail distribution sectors. The professional services indicators cover entry and conduct regulation in the legal, accounting, engineering, and architectural professions and have been estimated for 1996 and 2003.

The most recent version of the professional services indicators is described in detail in the OECD Economics Department Working Paper "Product market regulation in non-manufacturing sectors of OECD countries: measurement and highlights".

The indicators of regulatory conditions in the professional services are calculated using the methodology developed in the following study for the European Commission and effectively extend the time and country coverage of this work: Paterson, I., M. Fink, A. Ogus, et al. (2003), “Economic Impact of Regulation in the Field of Liberal Professions in Different Member States”, Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna.  This report is available for download from the publications page of the European Commission DG Competition site.

The professional services indicators can be accessed via the OECD Stats Browser. Alternatively, Excel files of the full sets of these indicators are also available.

• Access the professional services indicators via the OECD Stats Browser.
• Download the set of indicators of regulatory conditions in the professional services in Excel format.

The main sources of information used to construction the professional services and retail indicators are the responses of OECD member governments to the Regulatory Indicators Questionnaire. The regulatory data used to construct these indicators can be viewed in the OECD Stats Browser (see above) or downloaded in an excel file. 

• Download the 2003 OECD Regulatory Indicators Questionnaire.
• Download the regulatory data used to construct the  professional services indicators.