Indicators and benchmarking

Matthias Kranke

Chapter 10 in The Elgar Companion to the OECD, 2023, pp 116-125 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter discusses the prevalence of benchmarks in the governance activities of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). To provide an overview of the OECD’s metrics, I present an inventory of 25 benchmarks, which was compiled through desk-based research. Given its widespread production and use of quantitative indicators, ratings and rankings to govern the conduct of members and non-members alike, I contend that the OECD is a ‘benchmarking machine’. This insight calls for a rethinking of the common characterization of the organization’s governance approach as ‘soft’. The OECD in fact embraces a form of ‘harder soft governance’, which increases the precision of governance goals, opportunities for blaming and shaming states, and expectations for justifying their actions.

Keywords: Economics and Finance; Politics and Public Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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