This comprehensive Companion analyses the relevance of the OECD as a transnational policy-maker, idea broker, and standard-setter. Bringing together diverse disciplines and methodologies, it establishes the influence of the OECD on modern understandings of governance. Through scholarly reviews and original empirical analyses, this Companion covers the evolution and structure of the OECD, its role in transnational policy-making, and its domestic impact. It consolidates work from disciplines including economics, social policy, history, international relations, and legal studies to critically analyse the concepts, methods, and tools of governance in global policy-making. Contributors explore the comparative impact of the OECD in developed and developing countries, the OECD’s work in various policy sectors, and emerging issues on the OECD’s agenda such as governance reform, cyber-security, and sustainability. Ultimately, the Companion advances inter-disciplinary knowledge of the OECD’s methods of governance and position in global politics. Providing in-depth insight on the structure and impact of the OECD, The Elgar Companion to the OECD will be an authoritative and original reference text for scholars and students of global governance, international relations, political economy, and public policy. It will also be essential reading for practitioners seeking to better understand modern global governance and public policy.

The European Union and its member states are investing in ambitious programmes for 'better regulation' and targets of regulatory quality. This book, available in paperback for the first time, lifts the veil of excessively optimistic propositions covering the whole better regulation agenda. It provides an innovative conceptual framework to handle the political complexity of regulatory governance. It approaches better regulation as an emerging public policy, with its own political context, actors, problems, rules of interaction, instruments, activities and impacts. Focusing on the key tools of impact assessment, consultation, simplification, and access to legislation, the authors provide fresh empirical evidence on the progress made in the member states and in Brussels, drawing on an extensive research project and an original survey of directors of better regulation programmes in Europe. Radaelli and De Francesco show how indicators define, measure, and appraise better regulation policy, linking measures to policy processes in which the stakeholders learn by monitoring. Although better regulation is a top priority for competitiveness in Europe and the legitimacy of EU policy, the level of commitment and the development of tools vary considerably. The major challenge for better regulation is institutionalisation - this calls for clear choices in terms of what the EU wants from better regulation. Essential reading for academics (political scientists, lawyers, and public economists) and policy-makers in charge of regulatory reforms in governments and international organisations. -- .

Through three empirical, regulatory impact analysis (RIA) case studies, this volume analyzes the role of the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in policy innovation diffusion, exhibiting the impact of transnational networks on national policy processes. The text's analytical framework showcases the institutional features as well as the internal and international determinants of a policy innovation such as RIA. Drawing on original data sets, case studies measure the extent to which the OECD worked with various governments to adopt, implement, and evaluate RIA.

"Transnational Policy Innovation" underscores the usefulness of concepts of policy innovation diffusion for understanding the dynamics of transnational governance. The volume calls attention to the OECD's success in framing and diffusing a template of evidence-based decision making, yet it downplays RIA as an instrument of political control, noting its limiting influence on the OECD's peer review and comparative indicators within institutional and administratives settings.