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The economic development of Korea is widely considered as a success story. Yet, as the country joins the ranks of the world’s most advanced economies, its rapid pace of development has not fully reached every part of its territory. The pace of urbanisation, particularly around Seoul, has placed mounting pressure on the capital’s quality of life, while in rural regions the country’s success has felt distant. To address these regional disparities, successive governments have pursued a policy of balanced national development, with major initiatives aimed at spreading economic opportunities throughout the country while at the same time transferring authority and resources to regional and local governments, to increasingly empower them to navigate their own path forward. This study takes stock of these efforts in the context of rural development and finds evidence of progress in several areas, yet opportunities remain in others. The study includes advice and recommendations on multi-level governance, rural-urban linkages and other issues drawn from the experience of OECD countries on how Korea’s efforts in pursuit of inclusive growth may be further strengthened to improve the well-being of the country's rural regions.

The rapid growth of entrepreneurship and small firms has been one of the greatest successes in post-Communist transformation in Poland.  SMEs have greatly contributed to employment, investment and value added in the Polish economy.  However, key barriers to further growth remain in the business environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs.  This book sets out the current SME and entrepreneurship climate, reviews SME and entrepreneurship issues and policies at national and local levels, and provides observations and recommendations for improving and supporting entrepreneurship and SMEs in Poland.

After two decades of solid growth of household disposable income and living standards more generally, Canadians generally enjoy a high level of well-being. However, disparities persist – not all population groups have benefitted equally strongly from past improvements in living standards. Income inequality is close to the OECD average, but the tax and benefit system is less redistributive than those in most OECD countries. Despite high social mobility over a number of different dimensions such as health, earnings, social class or education, middle class self-identification has fallen in recent years. At the same time, productivity growth has slowed own, limiting the potential for further improvements in living standards. The slowdown in productivity growth is linked to a growing divide between high-productivity frontier firms and low-productivity laggards, as well as a weakening of business dynamism. The cross-cutting challenge presented by the persistence of multidimensional inequalities and weak productivity growth underlines the need for a reappraisal of Canada’s policy making process with the aim of fostering stronger and more inclusive growth.

The interconnected challenges of our times call for a coherent and multidimensional approach to public governance. The OECD Policy Framework on Sound Public Governance provides governments at all levels with an integrated diagnostic, guidance and benchmarking tool that aims to improve the quality of public governance – an objective that takes on immediate strategic importance for governments as they strive to manage the COVID-19 crisis and plan for a sustainable and inclusive recovery. The Framework builds on OECD legal instruments in the area, on lessons learned over the past decade through the OECD’s Public Governance Reviews (PGRs) and other country and sector-specific assessments. The first part shows the importance of key governance values and provides an overview of enablers of sound public governance that governments can adopt to pursue successful reforms. The second part presents an overview of management tools and policy instruments that can enhance the quality and impact of policy-making at the different stages of the policy cycle. Each chapter poses a number of strategic questions that policy-makers can use to self-assess the institutional and decision-making capacity of their governments in key public governance areas.

This report responds to the request by G7 Leaders at the Schloss Elmau Summit in June 2015, for the OECD to develop policy guidance on resource efficiency. Establishing a resource efficient economy is a major environmental, development and macroeconomic challenge today. Improving resource efficiency by putting in place policies that implement the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle (the 3Rs) is crucial to improving resource use, security and competitiveness while diminishing the associated environmental impacts.

The Policy Guide on Legal Frameworks for the Social and Solidarity Economy aims to support countries, regions and cities wishing to use legal frameworks as an appropriate lever to develop conducive social and solidarity economy (SSE) ecosystems. Building on data and information as well as good practice examples from over 33 countries, it provides step-by-step guidance, success factors and "pitfalls to avoid" to help policy makers i) assess why and when legal frameworks for the SSE are needed; ii) select legal options and involve stakeholders; iii) evaluate the performance of laws, and, iv) foster international peer learning on this topic. The guide also capitalises on learnings from the scoping paper on Legal frameworks for the social and solidarity economy, prepared as part of the OECD Global Action “Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems”, funded by the European Union’s Foreign Partnership Instrument and Designing Legal Frameworks for Social Enterprises: Practical Guidance for Policy Makers.

As social and solidarity economy (SSE) entities are increasingly requested to demonstrate their positive contribution to society, social impact measurement can help them understand the additional, net value generated by their activities, in the pursuit of their mission and beyond. Policy plays an important role to facilitate a conducive environment to unlock the uptake of social impact measurement among SSE actors. Drawing on a mapping exercise and good practice examples from over 33 countries, this international policy guide navigates how policy makers can support social impact measurement for the social and solidarity economy by: (i) improving the policy framework, (ii) delivering guidance, (iii) building evidence and (iv) supporting capacity. Building on the earlier publication Social Impact Measurement for the Social and Solidarity Economy released in 2021 the guide is published under the framework of the OECD Global Action “Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems”, funded by the European Union’s Foreign Partnership Instrument.

COVID-19 is likely to leave long-lasting effects on local labour markets. It is accelerating a pre-existing trend towards automation, as firms look even more to new technologies to pandemic proof their operations. While automation offers the opportunity to boost productivity, it can also lead to job polarisation as vulnerable workers who lose their jobs may not have the skills needed in a changing labour market. This OECD report examines the potential impacts of automation on people and places across Australia. It also sheds light on policies and programmes that can help regions and cities to prepare for the future of work.

COVID-19 has led to a labour market shock in Canada and is likely to generate a profound reflection on production and consumption habits. COVID‑19 is also likely to accelerate automation as firms look to new technologies to pandemic proof their operations. While automation offers the opportunity to boost productivity, it can also create losers as vulnerable workers who lose jobs may not have the skills needed in a changing labour market. This OECD report examines the potential impacts of automation on people and places across Canada with a special focus on the Province of Ontario. It also sheds light on policies and programmes that can help regions and cities to prepare for the future of work.

COVID-19 is testing the Basque Country’s (Spain) resilience. Before COVID-19, employment indicators were recovering from the 2008 crisis, while automation of production was underway. Job quality remained low despite rising educational attainment in the region. COVID-19 is likely to accelerate structural changes in the labour market, including automation and digitalisation. Firms may increasingly look to technology as a way to pandemic proof their operations, while individuals may develop preferences for automated services as opposed to face to face contact. This OECD report sheds light on the potential impacts of automation on the Basque labour market, including which types of jobs and groups of workers are most likely to be impacted, in light of COVID-19 and other labour market changes. The report also highlights the critical role to be played by employment services, training policies and social dialogue to help people and firms make labour market transitions while upholding social cohesion. The report delves into how the Basque Country’s employment and skills system can continue to be at the front line as the crisis evolves.

The risk of the Seine flooding the Ile de France region is a major one. In 2014, the OECD estimated that flooding comparable to the historic 1910 flood could affect up to 5 million citizens and cause damage costing up to 30 billion euros. This update tracks the progress made since 2014 and identifies remaining challenges.

City and regional governments as well as development agencies will learn from this report how to develop their own toolbox of instruments and structures for leveraging private finance.  What role can private financing play in local economic development?  To address this issue, this study draws on practical examples from North America and Europe to show how municipal and regional authorities can capitalise on private financing for economic development purposes.  The book is for policy researchers, entrepreneurs, academia and government circles.

This report looks at how regional policies can support productivity growth and jobs. While there has been a remarkable decline in inequality in OECD countries, inequality among regions within certain countries has increased over the same time period. Regions that narrowed productivity gaps tended to benefit from economically vibrant tradable sectors and integration with well-functioning cities. This report considers in detail the role of the tradable sector as a driver of productivity growth and its relationship with employment. It addresses the possible risks of a growing tradable sector and how diversification is central to strengthening regional economic resilience. It considers how regions integrate global value chains and highlights the role of regional and policy links in fostering productivity growth and job creation. It asks what policies can help better anticipate or cushion shocks from trade in specific regions and, more generally, what strategies and framework conditions are conducive for regional productivity and employment growth.

This report discusses the main results of a project on how to reduce air pollution from urban public transport in Kazakhstan, by providing an analysis for designing a green public investment programme in this sector. This sector represents an opportunity for Kazakhstan to address key objectives in its environmental and climate-related policies as part of the country’s ambitions to transition to a green economic path of development. The investment programme is also designed to support the modernisation of the urban transport fleet in the country and stimulate the domestic market to shift to modern buses powered by clean fuels. The programme is foreseen to be implemented in two phases: the first covers the cities of Kostanay and Shymkent and the second, all major urban centres in Kazakhstan. These investments are expected to result in significant air improvement.

This report discusses the main results of a project on how an influx of funds could spur development of cleaner public transport, and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in large urban centres in Kyrgyzstan, by providing an analysis for designing a green public investment programme in this sector. This sector represents an opportunity for Kyrgyzstan to address key objectives in its environmental and climate-related policies as part of the country’s ambitions to transition to a green economic path of development. The investment programme is also designed to support the modernisation of the urban transport fleet in the country and stimulate the domestic market to shift to modern buses powered by cleaner fuels. The programme is foreseen to be implemented in two phases: the first covers the cities of Bishkek and Osh and the second extends to areas outside of the initial pilot city centres (pilot city suburbs as well as inter-city transport). These investments are expected to result in significant environmental, public service and socio-economic benefits.

This report discusses the main results of a project on how an influx of funds could spur development of cleaner public transport, and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in large urban centres in Moldova, by providing an analysis for designing a green public investment programme in this sector. This sector represents an opportunity for Moldova to address key objectives in its environmental and climate-related policies as part of the country’s ambitions to transition to a green economic path of development. The investment programme is also designed to support the modernisation of the urban transport fleet in the country and stimulate the domestic market to shift to modern buses powered by clean fuels. The programme is foreseen to be implemented in two phases: the first covers the cities of Chisinau and Balti and the second extends to areas outside of the initial pilot city centres (pilot city suburbs as well as inter-city transport). These investments are expected to result in significant environmental, public service and socio-economic benefits.

This report presents the objectives, methodology, procedures and main findings of the OECD project "Strengthening public finance capacity for green investments in the EECCA countries". Between 2016-19, the project aimed to help set the partner countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova) on a sustainable path of development by reducing the energy and carbon intensity of their economies. Working with the relevant ministry in each country, the project designed public investment programmes in line with good international practices. These programmes sought to address key objectives of the countries' environmental and climate-related policies. The Clean Public Transport Programmes focus specifically on reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the target sector, primarily in large urban areas. They aim to demonstrate how to use scarce public funds to encourage private sector investment in projects that generate significant environmental and socio-economic benefits alike.