The Oecd as an Instrument of National Policy
| Author | Michael Henderson |
| Published date | 01 December 1981 |
| Date | 01 December 1981 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070208103600405 |
| Subject Matter | Money and Markets |
MICHAEL HENDERSON
The
OECD
as
an
instrument
of
national
policy
The
activities
of
the
Organization
for
Economic
Co-operation
and
Development
(OECD)
extend
from
discussion of
macroeconomic
theory,
to
the
negotiation
of
guidelines
for
multinational
corpora-
tions,
to
exchanges
of
information
on
energy
consumption,
to
at-
tempts
to
agree
on the
standardization
of
fruit
and
vegetable
sizing.
To
lump
all
of
these
activities
into
one
analytical
pot
is
possible,
but
hardly
desirable.
The
OECD
has
been characterized
as
an
'international
monitoring
agency,"
or
simply
as a
'communi-
cations
system,'
2
but
these
generalizations
are
of
limited
utility
and
usually
focus
on
particular
aspects
of
OECD
activity.
Delegates
and
members
of
the
secretariat
all
stress
that
the
OECD
should
not
be
regarded
as
an
executive
agency
which
takes
decisions
and
carries
out
operational
work.
8
Rather,
it
is
a
marked
characteristic
of
OECD
activities
that
all
parties
take
great
care
that
recommendations
or
resolutions
of
the various
branches
of
the
organization
will
not
limit
their
freedom
of
action
in
any
man-
ner.
The
objectives
of talks
within
the
framework
of
the
OECD
is
rarely
if
ever
to
achieve
a
common
policy.
Rather
it
is
to
promote
Associate
Professor
of
Political
Science,
Atkinson
College,
York
University,
Toronto.
i
This
description
has been
employed
by
the
incumbent
secretary
general of
the
organization,
Emile
van
Lennep
(International
Herald
Tribune,
25
September
1977). It
is
considered
useful
by
most
members
of
the
secretariat
because
no
one
knows
precisely
what
'monitoring'
entails,
and,
as
a
result,
most of
the
di-
vergent
conceptions
of
the
role
of
the
OECD
can
thereby
be
accommodated.
2
G.
Sj6stedt,
OECD
-
Sanibarbetet:
[unctioner
och
effecter
(Stockholm
1973),
401.
3
This
paper
is
based in
large
part
on
an
extensive
series
of
interviews
with
members
of
the secretariat
and of
the
various
national
delegations in the
last
quarter
of
1977.
794
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
parallel
action,
that
is,
to
harmonize
national
policies
so
that
they
develop,
as
Aubrey
put
it,
'in
step with
each
other.'
4
The
best
way
to
study
this
process
is
through
the
activities
of
the
fourteen stand-
ing committees
of
the
OECD
Council
which in
theory,
but
not
in
practice,
are the
fount
of
all
policy
recommendations.
By
consen-
sus
the most
important
of these
committees
are the
Economic
Policy
(EPC),
Economic
Development
and
Review
(EDRC),
Trade,
Financial and
Fiscal Affairs,
and Development
Assistance
(DAC)
Committees.
My
analysis
will
concentrate
upon
some
recent
de-
velopments
within
these
five
central
committees
which
can
be
used to
draw
tentative
conclusions
on
the
utility
of
the
organiza-
tion
to
members.
Everyone
on
location
in
Paris
agrees
that
the
consideration
of
macroeconomic
policy
by
the
Epc
and
its
working parties
remains
the most
important
activity
of
the
organization.
Ever since
the
OECD
replaced the
Organization
for
European
Economic
Co-op-
eration
in
September
i16i
its
principal
objective
has
been
'to
achieve
the highest
sustainable
growth and employment
and
a
ris-
ing
standard
of
living in
Member
countries,
while
maintaining
financial
stability.'
The
EPC
is
the
forum
where
senior
national
officials,
usually
of
ministerial rank,
review
prospects
for
economic
growth
and stability
in
individual
countries and
in
the
interna-
tional market
economy
as
a
whole.
Traditionally,
discussions
cen-
tred
on
what
the
short-term
plans
of
the
Big
Five
were
in
terms
of
stimulating
economic
growth,
combating
inflation
and
unem-
ployment,
and
maintaining
a
reasonably
healthy
balance
of
trade
and
payments.
The
atmosphere
has always
been
one
of
polite
frankness,
with
the
emphasis on
mutual
enlightenment
rather
than
on
the
resolution
of
conflicts.
The
principal
political
activity
has
clearly
been
information
sharing.
However,
if
a
member
state
did attempt
to
influence
the
policies of
one
or
more
members,
it
was
always
done
in
a
most
discreet
manner.
As
one delegate
neat-
ly
put
it,
'the
exertion
of
influence
in
the
EPC
has always
been
4
Henry
C.
Aubrey,
Atlantic
economic
co-operation:
the
case
of
the
OECD
(New
York
1967),
io
3.
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