1. Regional development across the OECD
ESF Plenary Session Bratislava
Abel Schumann, Ph.D.
Economist
Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate
OECD

2. A growing productivity gap between the frontier and other regions
Averages of top 10% (frontier), bottom 75%, and bottom 10% (lagging) regional GDP per worker, TL2 regions
Notes: Average of top 10% and bottom 10% TL2 regions, selected for each year. Top and bottom regions are the aggregation of regions with the highest and lowest GDP per worker and representing 10% of national employment. Based on 19 country sample.

3. Convergence of countries vs. divergence of regions in the OECD
GDP per capita dispersion is now greater within countries than between countries
Source: OECD Regional Outlook 2016.

4. All tradable sectors, TL2 regions
Catching-up regions are characterised by a stronger intensity of the tradable sectors
All tradable sectors, TL2 regions
Notes: Tradable sectors are defined by a selection of the 10 industries defined in the SNA They include: agriculture (A), industry (BCDE), information and communication (J), financial and insurance activities (K), and other services (R to U). Non tradable sectors are composed of construction, distributive trade, repairs, transport, accommodation, food services activities (GHI), real estate activities (L), business services (MN), and public administration (OPQ).

5. Effective regional development policies in OECD countries
General trends
Shift away from basic infrastructure provision and subsidised services for lagging regions
Greater emphasis of policies to support firm productivity (e.g. R&D, skills, …)
Urban policies
Coherent policy frameworks for urban areas that overcome policy silos
Integrated governance approaches for functional (urban) areas
Rural policies
Rural policies focus less on agriculture and more on other sectors (see also point 2)
Emphasis of rural-urban linkages (linking the rural economy to the economy of cities, e.g. through integrated value-added chains)

6. Focus of regional development policies

7. The role of subnational governments needs to be more widely recognised
16/11/2018
The role of subnational governments needs to be more widely recognised

8. Contact: abel.schumann@oecd.org
Thank you
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