Executive summary

Since 2007, the OECD has undertaken a substantial and growing body of analytical work under the aegis of its “Making Reform Happen” (MRH) project, which seeks to better understand both the obstacles to reform that governments face in different policy domains and the most effective ways of overcoming them. This volume presents some of the findings that have so far emerged from ongoing work within the context of MRH. Its principal aim is to see how an understanding of past reform experiences may be of use to policy makers seeking to design, adopt and implement reforms in the years to come. The chapters that follow examine the particular challenges to reform and explore possible ways to meet those challenges in nine different fields of public policy: competition and market opening pensions and labour markets tax policy environmental protection education health care public administration regulatory policy and fiscal consolidation. They reflect the experiences of the OECD and its member countries in each domain, with reference to both OECD-wide trends and specific cases, in the belief that a better understanding of past successes and failures should enhance prospects for better design and implementation of future reforms.