Government at a Glance 2011

This second edition of Government at a Glance more than doubles the number of available indicators of OECD governments’ performance. The indicators compare the political and institutional frameworks of government across OECD countries as well as government revenues and expenditures, employment, and compensation. They also include indicators describing government policies and practices on integrity, e-government and open government, and introduce several composite indexes summarising key aspects of public management practices in human resources management, budgeting, procurement, and regulatory management.

For each figure, the book provides a dynamic link (StatLink) which direct the user to a web page where corresponding data are available in Excel® format. The report also offers two special chapters, on leveraged governance and on the policy implications of fiscal consolidation.

The 58 data sets of member and partner countries in this 2011 edition of Government at a Glance include the first ever international comparison of public sector pay for selected professions and public service occupations, which points to a fairly egalitarian pay structure in the public sector; estimations of country-specific fiscal consolidation requirements, which have been found to be large in many countries; the level of disclosure of private interests in the three branches of government; and the implementation gap of Open Government policies to promote transparency, efficiency and trust.

Table of contents:
Preface
Reader’s Guide
Introduction

I. OECD 50th Anniversary – Leveraged Governance: Avoiding Fracture and Getting Results
-Governance as performance: OECD style
-Conclusions

II. Fiscal Consolidation: The Need for Evidence-Based Decision Making
-Introduction
-Most OECD countries are planning reforms to consolidate finances
-Ability of the government to reform under pressure
-Evaluating the quality of planned reforms: Key questions and risks
-Conclusion
-Bibliography

III. Public Finance and Economics
-1. General government revenues
-2. Structure of general government revenues
-3. Revenue structure by level of government
-4. General government expenditures
-5. Structure of general government expenditures (by COFOG function)
-6. Expenditures structure by level of government
-7. General government expenditures by type
-8. Production costs in general government
-9. General government investment
-10. Final consumption expenditures by government and households
-11. Size of general government financial assets and liabilities
-12. Government deficits/surpluses
-13. General government debt
-14. Special feature: Governments’ role in promoting R&D

IV. Strategic Foresight and Leadership
-15. Fiscal sustainability
-16. Strategic human resources management
-17. Senior civil service
-18. Political influence in senior staffing
-19. Strategic decision making: Ministerial advisors
-20. E-government strategies

V. Employment in General Government and Public Corporations
-21. Employment in general government and public corporations
-22. General government employment across levels of government
-23. Ageing central government workforce
-24. Special feature: Public workforce restructuring

VI. Compensation in Selected Public Sector Occupations
-25. Teachers’ salaries
-26. Doctors’ and nurses’ salaries
-27. Compensation of senior management in central government
-28. Compensation of middle management in central government
-29. Compensation of professionals in central government
-30. Compensation of secretarial staff in central government

VII. Human Resources Management Practices.
-31. Delegation in human resources management
-32. Staff performance management
-33. Industrial relations in central government
-34. Working conditions in central government

VIII. Transparency in Governance
-35. Legislative capacity to ensure transparency in the budget process
-36. Scope of freedom of information laws
-37. Ease of filing a request for public information.
-38. Proactive disclosure of information
-39. Conflict-of-interest disclosure by top decision makers

IX. Public Procurement
-40. Size of public procurement market
-41. Transparency in public procurement
-42. E-procurement
-43. Special feature: Green procurement

X. Regulatory Governance
-44. Regulatory institutional frameworks and oversight
-45. Improving the transparency of regulations
-46. Preparing for effective compliance and enforcement of regulations
-47. Evaluating regulatory performance

XI. Ways of Delivering Public Services
-48. Government outsourcing
-49. Uptake of e-government services
-50. Special feature: Partnering with citizens in service delivery

XII. Government Performance Indicators from Selected Sectors
-51. Greater fairness through selected government policies
-52. Equity in access to education
-53. Education outputs
-54. Education outcomes
-55. Equity in access to health care
-56. Health outputs and output-based efficiency measures
-57. Health outcomes and expenditures
-58. Efficiency of tax administrations

Annex A. Methodology for Revenue Aggregates
Annex B. Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG)
Annex C. Fiscal Consolidation Model Assumptions
Annex D. Methodology and Additional Notes on Compensation of Government Employees
Annex E. Composite Indexes for Human Resources Management Practices
Annex F. Detailed Data on Conflict-of-Interest Disclosure from the 2010 OECD Survey on Integrity
Annex G. Detailed Data from the 2010 OECD Survey on Public Procurement .
Annex H. Contextual Factors
Annex I. Members of the Steering Group
Glossary
Bibliography

Website: OECD iLibrary http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/

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