Publications & Documents

Trust plays a very tangible role in the effectiveness of government. Few perceptions are more palpable than that of trust or its absence. Governments ignore this at their peril. Yet, public trust has been eroding just when policy makers need it most, given persistent unemployment, rising inequality and a variety of global pressures. This report examines the influence of trust on policy making and explores some of the steps governments can take to strengthen public trust.

After decades of regulation and investment to reduce point source water pollution, OECD countries still face water quality challenges (e.g. eutrophication) from diffuse agricultural and urban sources of pollution, that is disperse pollution from surface runoff, soil filtration and atmospheric deposition. The relative lack of progress reflects the complexities of controlling multiple pollutants from multiple sources, their high spatial and temporal variability, associated transactions costs, and limited political acceptability of regulatory measures. This report outlines the water quality challenges facing OECD countries today, presents a range of policy instruments and innovative case studies of diffuse pollution control, and concludes with an integrated policy framework to tackle diffuse water pollution. An optimal approach will likely entail a mix of policy interventions reflecting the basic OECD principles of water quality management – pollution prevention, treatment at source, the polluter pays and beneficiary pays principles, equity, and policy coherence.

Infrastructure poses many challenges, from technical and budgetary concerns to delivery and governance issues. But it is crucial for both productivity and inclusiveness. Businesses rely on modern infrastructure to remain competitive, while society depends on good infrastructure to ensure equal opportunity and equal access to services for citizens. Good governance of public infrastructure can thus yield substantial benefits for all. Based on a survey of 27 countries, this report provides an overview of current practices in infrastructure governance and presents practical tools to help policy makers better manage infrastructure.

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.

The northern sparsely populated areas (NSPA) of Finland, Norway and Sweden are becoming increasingly important to the geopolitical and economic interests of these countries and the European Union. These regions have unique geographical characteristics - low population density and a harsh climate - and face specific challenges due to an ageing population, long distances from markets, and high-cost land transport. However, high productivity growth is possible in low-density regions. This report sets out policy recommendations at cross-border, national and regional scales to enhance prosperity and well-being across the NSPA. This includes closer co-operation with national governments to address shared challenges and opportunities such as improving east-west transport connections and reducing occupational and skills barriers to labour mobility, and addressing barriers to business growth such as access to finance.

Sweden has long given priority to promoting both sustainable economic growth in its regions and equity among them. This report looks at the progress Sweden has made in its regional growth policy, multi-level governance system and rural policy. It also takes a more in-depth look at two topics of increasing importance: whether rural Sweden has been “left behind”, and issues of regional and municipal governance. The report suggests steps Sweden can take to address its regional and rural policy challenges. It also assesses to what degree Sweden has implemented the recommendations made in the 2010 OECD Territorial Review of Sweden.