This document discusses transparency and integrity in government. It provides comparative data from the OECD on policies around conflicts of interest, lobbying regulations, and disclosure requirements. The data shows there is variation between countries in terms of which branch of government and which public officials have disclosure requirements. It also shows that while many countries have introduced lobbying regulations, there are still important variations between countries in terms of which actors and activities are regulated. The document argues that comparative data is essential to guide government reform towards more transparency and integrity, but a holistic, systemic approach is needed rather than focusing on individual tools or public/private divides. Maintaining transparency and integrity remains important for societal progress.

1. TRANSPARENCY AND
INTEGRITY
FROM COMPARATIVE DATA TO
ACTION
Paloma BAENA OLABE
XXVI Seminario Permanente de Administración y Economía
Pública, Madrid

2. -40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
Germany
Israel
Iceland
SlovakRepublic
Japan
Switzerland
Korea
Hungary
CzechRepublic
Poland
UnitedKingdom
NewZealand
Norway
Italy
Turkey
Sweden
Estonia
OECDaverage
UnitedStates
Australia
Mexico
Austria
France
Chile
Netherlands
Belgium
Denmark
Luxembourg
Ireland
Canada
Greece
Portugal
Spain
Finland
Slovenia
Russia
Indonesia
Latvia
Brazil
India
SouthAfrica
%Percentage points % in 2014 (right axis) Percentage points change since 2007 (left axis)
Declining levels of Trust in Government
Confidence in national government in 2014 and its change since 2007
Source: Gallup World Poll

3. Strong negative correlation between
corruption and confidence in government

4. WHAT DO WE KNOW?
LOOKING FOR ACTIONABLE
POLICY INSIGHTS

5. Comparative data is at the core of
OECD work and added value
Principios Rectores
Analisis
Discusion
Decisiones
Implementación
Seguimiento
Datos
Peer Reviews y Foros de
Discusion
Estudios de Caso
Comites

6. Integridad y Anticorrupción:
Instrumentos y Principios Rectores
Standards of conduct among public officials
• G20 Principles on Asset Disclosure by public officials (2012)
• G20 Guiding Principles for Whistleblower Protection Legislation (2011)
• OECD Recommendation on Guidelines for Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public
Service (2003)
• OECD Recommendation Improving Ethical Conduct in Public Service (1998)
Interaction between public and private sector
• OECD Recommendation on Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying (2010)
• OECD Recommendation Enhancing Integrity in Public Procurement (2008)
• OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011)
Bribery in international transactions
• OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International
Business Transactions (1999)
• OECD Recommendation for Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in
International Business Transactions (2009)

7. OECD COMPARATIVE DATA
[ OPEN AND INFORMED DECISION
MAKING ]

8. Majority of countries have a central function
responsible for conflict of interest policies within the
central/federal government
Countries with a central function (not necessarily an independent agency)
responsible for the conflict of interest policies
Source: OECD 2012 Survey on Managing Conflict of Interest

9. Countries also have targeted conflict of
interest policies
Specific conflict of interest policy for particular categories of public
officials
Source: OECD 2012 Survey on Managing Conflict of Interest

10. Disclosure levels vary by branch of
government
Source: OECD (2014), Lobbyists, Governments and Public Trust, Volume 3: Implementing the OECD
Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying, OECD, Paris

11. And within branches, e.g. by type of public
officials in the executive
Source: OECD, (2014), Survey on Managing Conflict of Interest in the Executive Branch and Whistleblower Protection
Level of disclosure and public availability of private interests by the level
of public officials in the executive branch

12. Lobbying regulation is being increasingly
introduced
Source: OECD (2014), Lobbyists, Governments and Public Trust, Volume 3: Implementing the OECD
Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying, OECD, Paris
Introduction of lobbying regulation, 1940-14

13. Responding to internal and external demand
Source: OECD (2014), Lobbyists, Governments and Public Trust, Volume 3: Implementing the OECD
Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying, OECD, Paris

14. Again, with important variations across
countries (e.g. actors)

15. Again, with important variations across
countries (e.g. activities)

16.  Comparative data, that goes into the specifics of what is going on
(input and output), is essential to guide government reform. Some
encouraging efforts in this regard (e.g. bribery). But more needed.
 Beware of compartmentalization (e.g. tools, “public sector, private
sector”). Successful design of integrity and transparency policies
requires systemic thinking. One can not achieve impact without
the other.
 Keep the big picture as the guide. Investing in transparency,
investing in integrity matters a great deal for our progress as
societies. Today, perhaps more than ever.
Concluding thoughts

17. OECD Foreign Bribery Report 2014
+ 50% in
just 3 sectors:
extractives,
construction,
transport

18. • Paloma.BAENAOLABE@oecd.org
• Many thanks!