OECD - Job Creation and Local Economic Development 2016

Policymakers across the OECD are faced with the twin challenges of boosting productivity growth, while ensuring that growth delivers improved living standards and spreads the benefits of increased prosperity fairly. This is a vital but not an easy task. Actions originating at any single governance level or policy area will not be sufficient. A whole-of-government approach is needed. While strategies and plans can be developed at the national and regional levels, it is at the level of local communities that the rubber hits the road. The local level is where programme delivery actually happens, trade-offs and complementarities become most evident, and actions can be joined-up to deliver effective results.

Even the best designed policies can fail if local implementation is not handled properly. Weak capacities on the ground; spatially blind policies that are not well-adapted to the local context; lack of local ownership; and poor co-ordination between different areas and levels of government can all impede success. Overcoming these challenges requires understanding how actions in one area, such as economic development, can have simultaneous benefits in others, such as social inclusion. It requires breaking down silos and making our policy frameworks agile and flexible enough for local actors to come together to address new challenges as rapidly as they emerge.

This second edition of Job Creation and Local Economic Development tackles these issues head on. It provides local level data to help policymakers understand how their communities are faring in the marketplace for skills and jobs, and adjust policies accordingly. It considers how policy frameworks for vocational training, and entrepreneurship and SME policies can allow for local tailoring while preserving national objectives. The report provides recommendations on improving local implementation of apprenticeship systems and supporting entrepreneurship, which are essential tools for social inclusion.

This study has benefitted from a wide range of contributors, bringing together experiences of both national and local actors, from the delegates of the LEED Directing Committee who provided guidance and feedback, to the staff of national statistical offices who provided data, to the network of local practitioners in LEEDs Forum on Partnerships and Local Development who shared information on new policy initiatives. When all communities are able to use the tools of local development effectively, this will deliver more inclusive growth, both at the national and at the local level.

Angel Gurra

Secretary-General, OECD