The Elgar Companion to the OECD

Edited by Fabrizio De Francesco, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, School of Government and Public Policy, University of Strathclyde, UK and Claudio M. Radaelli, Professor of Comparative Public Policy, School of Transnational Governance (EUI), Italy and Professor of Public Policy, University College London, UK

This comprehensive Companion analyses the relevance of the OECD as a transnational policy maker, idea broker and standard setter. Bringing together diverse disciplines and methodologies, it establishes the influence of the OECD on modern understandings of governance.

‘The Elgar Companion to the OECD provides a comprehensive scholarly overview of one of our most important, yet relatively understudied, international organisations. The editors, De Francesco and Radaelli, have provided us with a great public good in assembling a stellar cast of contributors to discuss various dimensions of the OECD’s work and politics. This includes the organisation’s claims to expertise, its relationship to other international organisations, how it conducts peer review and fosters benchmarking, and how it draws on a network of regulators. The contributors also provide a range of policy-focused chapters, including on education, environment and taxation, among others. To identify not only how policies are made but received, the book provides a range of cases on the reception of OECD ideas, frames and policies. It also identifies emerging issues, such as cybersecurity and the SDGs, that will prompt the OECD to adapt further. This is an excellent contribution for all those interested in international organisations, the crafting of economic policy and key mechanisms of change in the international political economy.’
– Leonard Seabrooke, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, and Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway

‘The OECD represents one of the most policy-consequential and therefore frequently studied international organisations. Yet the scholarly debate on its policy consequences has been fragmented. With this masterfully edited volume, Fabrizio De Francesco and Claudio Radaelli make an important step forward in integrating the different literatures and producing accumulative knowledge.’
– Jale Tosun, Heidelberg University, Germany