This report looks at the way in which four regulators – the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the Australian Energy Regulator, Portugal’s Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority and the UK Office of Rail and Road – have addressed governance challenges.

This report encourages governments to “think big” about the relevance of regulatory policy and assesses the recent efforts of OECD countries to develop and deepen regulatory policy and governance.

This publication presents recent OECD papers on risk and regulatory policy. They offer measures for developing, or improving, coherent risk governance policies.

This report discusses the implications of funding and staff arrangements for the autonomy, agility, accountability and transparency of regulators in the energy, e-communications, transport and water sectors. It identifies trends, challenges, opportunities and good practices, drawing upon survey responses from 57 economic regulators across 31 countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the crucial role regulation plays in the economy and society, but has also exposed gaps in domestic and international rule-making that have cost lives and money. The 2021 Regulatory Policy Outlook, the third in the series, maps country efforts to improve regulatory quality in line with the 2012 OECD Recommendation on Regulatory Policy and Governance, and shares good regulatory practices that can help close the gaps.

Borders are becoming increasingly porous, with growing flows of goods, services, people and capital. Governments, more than ever, need to co-ordinate their efforts to develop global standards to address climate change, as well as crises related to finance, health, environment and migration; secure peace; and ensure sustainable economic prosperity and social inclusion. International organisations play a key role in fostering multilateral action and addressing the fragmentation that may undermine effective domestic action. To shed greater light on international standard setting, this unique report collects, compares and assesses the practices of 50 international organisations on their governance arrangements, operational modalities, use of quality management disciplines and co-operation efforts. It analyses different types of organisations - inter-governmental, supra-national, trans-governmental and private - and identifies avenues for making their action more effective, inclusive and relevant. [Resumen de editor]

Countries exiting conflict and fragility face many urgent priorities and almost invariably suffer from substantial infrastructure deficits. There is typically very little infrastructure investment during periods of fragility and conflict, and existing installations are often damaged or destroyed. The purpose of this manual is to contribute to improvements in the quality of infrastructure regulation. It does so by identifying key principles for the governance of infrastructure regulators and by suggesting how these principles can be introduced successfully and maintained over time. The introduction of cross-cutting governance principles for regulators is based on the assumption that a uniform set of governance principles can be less costly and complex for governments to implement and enforce and will provide potential investors with a more consistent and predictable regulatory environment to navigate. The manual also discusses the process of implementing regulatory governance reforms in fragile contexts. Improvements in governance frameworks for infrastructure regulators will support better and accountable regulatory decision-making, as well as increased investment and overall economic development. Case studies from relevant country experience complement and provide context to the discussion on principles.