Presented at the Integrated Governance Forum on 30-31 January 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. Presentation by Dorothee Allain-Dupré, OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities. More information: http://www.oecd.org/regional/regional-policy/multi-level-governance.htm

2. What if we cooperated?
The multi-level/multi-scale
perspective
Dorothée Allain-Dupré
Head of Unit, Decentralisation and subnational finance
OECD

3. Subnational governments: key economic players in the OECD
(and in Portugal)
40%
63%
59%
31%
20%
Greece Ireland
Chile
Estonia
Chile
Canada
Canada
Canada
Canada Canada
12%
17%
42%
10%
5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Expenditure Staff Investment Tax revenue Debt*
OECD Minimum Maximum Portugal
% of general government - 2015
*: Debt OECD definition ie including, in addition to "financial debt", insurance reserves and other accounts payable.

4. Increase role of regions around the world: Regional Authority Index
Source: Hooghe & Marks, 2016
Increased role of subnational governments
But mutual dependency across levels of government
and role of central governments remain strong
Source: Hooghe and Marks (2016) Measuring Regional Authority
The Regional Authority
Index measures the
authority of regional
governments in 81
democracies or quasi-
democracies on an annual
basis over the period 1950-
2010

5. Why is cooperation essential in a multi-level
environment?
Mutual dependence between municipalities, regions and the central
government ⇒ requires effective cooperation mechanisms across sectors,
levels of government and jurisdictions
Cooperation does not occur spontaneously ⇒ the right instruments and
incentives need to be built
In a multi-level environment, different types of coordination gaps can impede
the effectiveness of public policies:
 Unclear assignment of responsibilities
 Unfunded mandates
 Lack of capacities
 Lack of cooperation at the relevant functional scale

6. Many countries have strengthened their tools for vertical cooperation
Multi-level dialogue to define investment priorities for regional development
Platforms of dialogue in OECD countries (out of 31 countries)
Source: OECD (2017) Implementation Toolkit, Effective Public Investment across Levels of Government

7. Cooperation across jurisdictions
Sub-national governments are
often fragmented and don’t
match functional areas
Administrative fragmentation is correlated with (6%) lower city productivity (and higher spatial segregation)

8. Cooperation across jurisdictions: metropolitan governance
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
1951-1960 1961-1970 1971-1980 1981-1990 1991-2000 2001-2010
15 new metro
structures created
between 2011 and
2013
Source: OECD 2015
Number of metropolitan governance structures created or reformed in
the OECD, by decade

9. Recent country-wide metropolitan governance reforms across the OECD
15 new metro
structures created
between 2011 and
2013
France: new governance structures for
the 14 biggest urban areas
Italy: 10 provinces become
metropolitan cities (città
metropolitane)
Australia: regional-led initiatives to
create metro governance bodies
United Kingdom: “city deals” incentivise cities to
improve metro cooperation

10. Key messages
Strengthening multi-level governance systems
 Since most responsibilities are shared, it is crucial to build
adequate co-ordination mechanisms to manage these joint
responsibilities.
 The way responsibilities are shared should be explicit, mutually
understood and clear for all actors
 Responsibilities assigned to SNGs should be aligned with their
revenues.
 It is important to ensure balance in the way various policy
functions are decentralised, to allow for complementarities
across decentralised policies and integrated policy packages, for
effective territorial development approaches

11. Key messages
Strengthening multi-level governance systems
 Support cross-jurisdictional co-operation through specific
incentives
 Capacity development at the subnational level must be actively
supported with resources from the centre, and require long-term
commitment.
 Important to allow for pilot experiences in specific places/regions
– and permanent adjustments
 Allow the possibility for asymmetric decentralisation

12. Thank you!
Obrigada!
Dorothee.allain-dupre@oecd.org
www.oecd.org/regional/regional-policy/multi-level-governance.htm