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Governments are seeking to improve evidence-based policy making as well as trust in decision-making processes. This report offers a first global mapping of principles for the good governance of evidence in policy making, as well as standards of evidence from a significant range of OECD countries and international research bodies. Reflecting both the nature of existing practices and the various facets that contribute to quality evidence, the report takes stock of the full range of considerations involved in providing evidence across the policy cycle when designing public sector interventions, especially in the social policy area. The report also represents a first step in identifying and developing guidance at the international level in the area of evidence and evaluation.

Despite having advanced social protection systems, OECD countries still face challenges in identifying, enrolling, and providing benefits and services to all those in need. Even when programmes are well-designed and adequately funded, cumbersome enrolment processes and challenges in service and benefit delivery can be an obstacle to the full take-up of social programmes. Advances in digital technologies and data can go a long way towards making social protection more accessible and effective. This report presents a stocktaking of OECD governments’ strategies to identify individuals and groups in need, collect and link (potential) beneficiary data across administrative and survey sources, and apply data analytics and new technologies to improve programme enrolment and the benefit/service delivery experience – all with the objective of reaching people in need of support in OECD countries.

This seminar proceedings examines whether the current designs of social protection systems in OECD societies are well-suited to contemporary life-course realities. It looks in detail at recent policy developments in OECD countries to develop more flexible time-based social policies, as well as related issues, such as asset-based welfare programmes, as well as policies to encourage redistribution of income and/or time over the life course and how these might be structured most effectively.

Social services in Spain are confronted with a series of challenges, including growing demand due to population ageing, changing family models, rising inequality and labour market changes. Services are fragmented and, with multiple providers, lack reliable and comprehensive data. There is also a discontinuity between primary and specialised care. The decentralised model of competences generates complexity in management and financing of services. With the current governance and financing system, there are disparities in the type and quality of social services provided across the 17 Spanish Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities. In addition, there is a lack of portability of benefits throughout the country. This report suggests ways to improve the legal context, move towards more universal services, strengthen quality, and move towards more evidence-based policies.

Peru has seen great progress towards the goal of providing universal health coverage to its population but still faces structural barriers to provide accessible and quality care . At the same time, Peru is going through a demographic and epidemiological transition, with an increasing disease burden from non-communicable diseases, with significant increases in cancer, CVD and diabetes, especially in urban areas. Measuring how the Peruvian health system is responding to these challenges requires a solid set of health sector statistics and indicators, underpinned by a robust health information system. The breadth and depth of data must be relevant and applicable to decision making at all levels of the health system, both to respond to national policy needs as well as comparing Peru in a regional and global context. This report assesses the status and availability of Peru’s routinely reported health sector data and statistics as well as the underlying data infrastructure. The report provides a set of recommendations to improve the health information system and to strengthen data coverage and comparability as Peru’s health care system develops.

The book presents a major meta-analysis of 'value of a statistical life' (VSL) estimates derived from surveys where people around the world have been asked about their willingness to pay for small reduction in mortality risks. The analysis seeks to explain the differences in the estimates, for example across countries. Differences in incomes and the magintude of the risk reduction people have been asked to value were found to be the factors having the strongest impact on VSL, but a number of other policy-relevant factors are also important. Based on the meta-analysis, and a broad review of the literature, the book also presents clear advice on how VSL values best can be used in assessments of environmental, health and transport policies, such as in cost-benefit analyses. Using explicit VSL estimates to quantify the benefits to society of fatality risk reductions can play an important role in the development of more cost-effective public policies.

Paraguay has set itself ambitious development goals for 2030. To achieve them, it will have to tackle two major challenges: buttressing sources of sustainable economic prosperity and putting the country on a more inclusive development path. Progressing towards a more inclusive society will require a broad and vigorous reform agenda. First, the country’s healthcare system requires systemic reform to widen its coverage, reduce Paraguayans’ vulnerability in the face of health risks and increase the efficiency of health service provision. Second, the social protection system needs to overcome its fragmentation and become more effective in delivering the right services and risk management tools to citizens according to their needs. In particular, the pension system requires reforms to increase its coverage and become more equitable and more sustainable. Third, the quality and the inclusiveness of its education and training system need to be strengthened to generate the skills the economy needs, and provide opportunities to all. Based on the analysis and recommendations undertaken in Volumes 1 and 2 of this Multi-dimensional country review, this report identifies key areas for action and presents targeted action plans to kick-start reform. The report also provides a dashboard of monitoring indicators to support the reform agenda in the country.

Having achieved robust economic growth and remarkable macroeconomic stability over the past 15 years, Paraguay has set a course to become not only more prosperous, but also more inclusive by 2030. To deliver on its development ambition, the country will have to overcome a number of crosscutting constraints that limit progress towards widely shared improvements in citizen well-being, as identified in Volume 1 of the review. Putting Paraguay on a more inclusive development path requires co-ordinated actions to increase the capacity of the state to redistribute, to improve the delivery of public services, and to break the persistence of poverty and inequality across generations. This report discusses policy actions and priorities in three critical areas to make Paraguay’s development more inclusive. It presents in-depth analysis and recommendations to improve the effectiveness of social protection, the delivery of health services, and the formation of skills for all Paraguayans.

Paraguay has achieved strong and resilient growth and made progress across a range of development outcomes since it emerged from a prolonged period of economic and political instability in the early 2000s. In 2014, the country adopted its first National Development Plan, setting course towards an ambitious vision of the country’s future. To maintain the pace of economic growth and achieve more inclusive development Paraguay will need to overcome a number of institutional, economic and social constraints that challenge its development model. This first volume of the Multi-dimensional Review of Paraguay analyses the country’s development performance and presents the main constraints to the country’s development. It examines five broad areas, corresponding to the key areas of the Sustainable Development Goals: prosperity, people’s well-being, planet, peace and institutions, and partnerships and financing.

Peru has experienced remarkable socio-economic progress over the last two decades, enabling it to join the group of upper middle-income countries around 2010. However, challenges are ahead if the country is not to be caught in various development traps. Overcoming these challenges in the near future to take the economy to the next level and become a country with higher productivity, inclusive development and well-being for all will require sound policy reforms. Further efforts are needed on three main fronts: economic diversification, connectivity and formalisation of jobs. This report analyses the main challenges in these three priority areas and sets up a policy action plan. It also proposes a scorecard including a series of indicators for monitoring progress derived from the implementation of the reforms proposed in these three areas and presents the objectives for each indicator that Peru should aim to achieve by 2025 and 2030.

The Dominican Republic has made strides on many socioeconomic fronts over the years. The country has been one of the leading economies in Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of GDP growth, reaching upper middle-income status in 2011. However, progress on the different dimensions of well-being has been insufficient. In particular, socioeconomic and territorial disparities are still important, and public institutions remain insufficiently solid. For the Dominican Republic to embark on a more prosperous development path, three critical dimensions must be tackled. First, providing quality jobs for all, with particular emphasis on boosting formalisation and productive transformation. Second, mobilising more public and private finance for development, with more progressive and effective taxation systems, more efficient public expenditure and deeper capital markets. Third, accelerating digital transformation to boost productivity, enhance inclusion and support job creation.