Oecd Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Regional Development Policies in Oecd Countries Oecd Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Pap / Dgd edition

Policy makers need both a handy reference guide to the regional policies of their own and other countries and a broader analysis of trends in regional policies, based on sound, comparable information. Regional Policies in OECD Countries responds to this need. It is the first systematic, comparative analysis of OECD countries regional policies.  

The report addresses fundamental regional policy concerns, such as: problem recognition; the objectives of regional policy; the legal/institutional framework; the urban/rural framework; budget structures; and the governance mechanisms linking national and sub-national governments as well as sectors.  

It begins with an overview of the regional policy today. This is followed by country profiles covering the 31 OECD members. The profiles share a common conceptual framework, allowing countries to see how their experiences measure up. The report also contains several annexes, which cover some of the countries that are candidates for accession to the OECD or with which the OECD has enhanced engagement. The annexes also cover the key topics of cross-border cooperation and trends in urban-rural linkages, especially efforts to control urban sprawl.  

The report will help countries to better understand regional policies and to formulate and diffuse horizontal policy recommendations. The analysis suggests an important role for regional policies in shaping sustainable endogenous development, in particular well-developed governance mechanisms to better respond to the different opportunities and demands of regions and to improve policy efficiency.  

This report is a unique source of regional policy information and of special interest to policy makers, researchers, and others engaging with regional development.

Related reading

Regions Matter

OECD Regions at a Glance 2009

How Regions Grow: Trends and Analysis

Table of Content :

Foreword/Acknowledgements
Chapter 1. Regional Development Policy Trends in OECD Member Countries
-Introduction
-Problem recognition and objectives of regional development policy
-Legal and institutional frameworks
-Governance
-Conclusions and areas for future research: toward the development of policy indicators
-Bibliography
Chapter 2. Country Profiles
-Australia
-Austria
-Belgium
-Canada
-Chile
-Czech Republic
-Denmark
-Finland
-France
-Germany
-Greece
-Hungary
-Iceland
-Ireland
-Italy
-Japan
-Korea
-Luxembourg
-Mexico
-Netherlands
-New Zealand
-Norway
-Poland
-Portugal
-Slovak Republic
-Slovenia
-Spain
-Sweden
-Switzerland
-Turkey
-United Kingdom
-United States
ANNEX A. Profiles of EU Policy
ANNEX B. Comparative Analysis of Cross-border Co-operation in OECD Member Countries
ANNEX C. Urban-rural Linkages: In View of Controlling Urban Sprawl