The organisation for economic cooperation and development: Global Monitor

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is frequently cited as one of the foremost institutions of global governance. A recent survey of the global economy lists the OECD as one of the ‘major public global governance agencies for trade and finance’,Footnote1 while Joseph Nye, in his latest book The Paradox of American Power, identifies the OECD as one of a triumvirate of bodies (the others being the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)) ‘that provide a framework of rules for the world economy’.Footnote2 Yet, in contrast to these other international organisations, whose roles are well documentedFootnote3 and widely understood, remarkably little has been written about the OECD. Many of the leading texts on global governance and global political economy deem the OECD worthy of only a passing reference and some choose to ignore it completely.Footnote4 Occasionally, the OECD has commissioned its staff to write an account of the organisation's activities which have yielded some useful insights into the aims, structure and functions of the organisation.Footnote5 Unfortunately, this work tends to lapse into anecdotes about the daily routines and changing dietary requirements of the organisation's Secretariat and can hardly be said to amount to a systematic or scholarly analysis of what the OECD lends to global governance.Footnote6

This report begins by sketching the history and evolution of the OECD and identifying its principal functions in the global economy. Next it outlines and assesses the OECD's controversial Harmful Tax Competition initiative. The third part discusses the OECD's changing relationship with non‐members and efforts to forge stronger links with global civil society. The report concludes by looking at what the future holds for the OECD and, in particular, at proposals to enlarge the organisation as it strives to maintain its relevance in the twenty‐first century.