| | Many of the challenges faced by the public sector are no longer of domestic origin or impact. Globalisation, migration, climate change, poverty reduction and security require international as well as national responses. This in turn results in increasing interdependence internationally and the opportunity for sharing approaches and lessons learnt in the delivery of public services. Domestic policies and actions can no longer exist in a vacuum but often take place under the scrutiny of international agencies and of other governments.
We set out below some of our recent studies which we believe have relevance when taking an international perspective on public service issues. | |
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Nov 2008 | Paying taxes 2009: The global picture
This unique joint study by PwC's Tax practice and the World Bank compares tax regimes in 181 countries around the world, and ranks them according to the relative ease of paying taxes by focusing on the number of tax payments a company has to make, the time it takes to comply and the total tax rate, in order to determine the overall ease of paying taxes. The study uses the methodology of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Total Tax Contribution framework which is designed to help companies identify their true tax contribution, either in a particular country or on a global basis. |  |
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Nov 2008
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Infrastructure finance - surviving the credit crunch
What is the credit crunch, how has it affected the infrastructure markets, and what is the outlook for the future? One year on from the beginning of the credit crunch, we explore some of the issues surrounding the infrastructure marketplace and consider the impact of the credit crunch on the market's future. |
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July 2008 | Review of Carbon Markets: Creating a successful international framework
As part of Tony Blair and The Climate Group’s Breaking the Climate Deadlock initiative, PricewaterhouseCoopers was commissioned to review the state of the carbon markets. Our review recommends what it will take to create a successful international framework. Part of an ongoing programme of collaboration with opinion leaders to inform climate change policy, it argues that the sum of the parts of the carbon markets will not deliver the real cuts in emissions that are required. It sets out a vision for a more open, global carbon market and makes recommendations on issues requiring decision prior to UN negotiations in Copenhagen 2009 | |
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June 2008 | The world in 2050: Can rapid global growth be reconciled with moving to a low carbon economy?
Does a low carbon economy require big sacrifices in economic growth? Are large cuts in emissions technologically feasible? This PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which updates an earlier analysis in 2006, addresses these and other burning issues and concludes that global carbon emissions could more than double by 2050 in a 'business as usual' scenario, but in fact need to be cut by around a half by that date in order to stabilise atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide at acceptable levels. The report comments on some of the key conditions needed to achieve this without undue economic costs, including the global pricing of emissions through an appropriate mix of carbon markets and carbon taxes and the role of governments in setting clear long-term targets for reducing global emissions. The report argues that action is needed now on a wide range of fronts such as increased energy efficiency, greater use of renewables and nuclear power, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and reversing deforestation. | |
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June 2008 | Making the most of collaboration: an international survey of public service co-design
Transformation is about systemic and fundamental change. But what does this mean in practice? At the heart of the transformation agenda for many countries is the need to deliver customer-focused services more efficiently. Public services need to be designed around the needs of the user – not the provider – and be provided through modern, co-ordinated delivery channels. Fundamentally, such transformation requires collaboration. To address this issue, we have recently completed an international survey (jointly with UK think tank, Demos) on the barriers and enablers to the co-design of public services.The survey focuses on the practical issues associated with the use of co-design as an approach to achieve more customer-centric services. | |
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May 2008 | Building new Europe’s infrastructure: Public private partnerships in central and eastern Europe
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is experiencing unprecedented levels of activity in projects aimed at modernising public and social infrastructure, as the region works to meet its estimated €500bn total infrastructure investment need. This paper provides a brief background on current developments in the infrastructure sector in the CEE region, highlights several major upcoming opportunities, outlines the key practical challenges in bidding for these projects successfully and shares lessons learnt from our experience on how to deliver them. In addition to providing a backdrop on infrastructure activity in the CEE region overall, the paper focuses on five major territories where PPP opportunities are the most plentiful - Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and the Czech Republic. |  |
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Mar 2008 | Regulate & Collaborate: Government & Global CEO
Our new annual study, 'Regulate & Collaborate: Government and the Global CEO', compares and contrasts the viewpoints of CEOs and top-level government officials on regulation and the extent of collaboration between the public and private sectors and comments on the extent of government-to-government collaboration, the global challenge of climate change and the future for public-private relationships. This report builds upon PricewaterhouseCoopers prestigious Annual Global CEO Survey, launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which for the first time this year includes views from an international sample of public sector leaders as well as those from business CEOs. |  |
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Mar 2008 | Confronting corruption: The business case for an effective anti-corruption programme
Efforts by business, governments and non-governmental organisations in the last decade have given the fight against corruption considerable momentum. But significant challenges lie ahead. Confronting corruption: The business case for an effective anti-corruption programme is a PricewaterhouseCoopers report that examines what companies are currently doing to manage the risk of corruption, what steps they should take to better protect themselves in the future and the vital roles both Government and business have to play: governments to implement and enforce anti-corruption measures, business to implement and vigorously enforce anti-corruption programmes. | |
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Nov 2007 | Paying Taxes 2008 - the global picture
This unique joint study by PwC's Tax practice and the World Bank compares tax regimes in 178 countries around the world, and ranks them according to the relative ease of paying taxes by focusing on the number of tax payments a company has to make, the time it takes to comply and the total tax rate, in order to determine the overall ease of paying taxes. The study uses the methodology of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Total Tax Contribution framework which is designed to help companies identify their true tax contribution, either in a particular country or on a global basis. | |
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Nov 2007 | The road ahead for public service delivery - Delivering on the customer promise
Public sector leaders around the world face a common set of challenges if their services are to meet the increased expectations of their customers – both citizens and businesses. This study identifies these challenges and shares lessons learnt, from examples around the world, to offer a structured approach in support of public sector leaders in their work to improve public services and deliver on the customer promise. | |
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Aug 2007 | Information security awareness initiatives: current practice and the measurement of success
Organisations, whether private or public, are increasingly recognising the importance of information security awareness. This report assesses the impact and success of security awareness initiatives in different organisations in Europe, analyses how organisations are approaching information security awareness and the measurement of effectiveness. It focuses on cultural change, the ways in which sets of metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) can pay off, and how assessing methods can contribute to the development of a wider culture of security. | |
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July 2007 | Making placements abroad - an opportunity for all
Placements abroad and transnational mobility expose young people to new ways of thinking and working. This report sets out the case for supporting the mobility of young people and apprentices in initial vocational education and training (IVET). It researches the existing vocational training systems in Europe in order to identify the obstacles to the more general uptake at European level of transnational mobility leading to qualifications and some potential solutions. | |
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Apr 2007 | Sustainability impact assessment of the Economic Partnership agreements between the EU and African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries
At the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly hosted by the German EU Presidency in Wiesbaden from 23-27 June 2007, PricewaterhouseCoopers officially released an independent report entitled "Sustainability impact assessment of the Economic Partnership agreements (EPAs) between the EU and the ACP countries". This study, conducted by a consortium led by PricewaterhouseCoopers (including Maeander Ltd. and the NGOs GRET and Forum pour l’Afrique) at the request of the European Commission, not only evaluates the economic impact, but also looks at environmental and social consequences of future trade deals between the EU and the ACP and concludes that changes in trade alone, will not necessarily lead to sustainable development. | |
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Mar 2007 | Cities of opportunity: business-readiness indicators for the 21st century
PwC worked with the Partnership for New York City (PfNYC) to co-develop this study, which analyses global cities and the opportunities they offer to businesses. In the study, titled Cities of opportunity: business-readiness indicators for the 21st century, we compare 11 cities -- Atlanta, Chicago, Frankfurt, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Toronto -- using a consistent set of 32 variables that we believe are relevant to a global city of opportunity today. | |
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Mar 2007 | Economic outlook - largest city economies in the world in 2005 and 2020
Cities tend to be ranked in size according to their populations, but to assess the relative size of their economies we also need to take account of their average income per capita levels. Doing this in a consistent and comprehensive way at a global level is challenging, but in this extract from PwC's UK Economic Outlook - March 2007 we have combined data from a number of reputable sources (e.g. the OECD, the UN and the World Bank as well as national statistical agencies) to produce a ranking by GDP at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) exchange rates of the largest 100 urban economies in the world in 2005. | |
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Feb 2007 | Building trust in emissions reporting
A new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers on Building trust in emissions reporting highlights the key characteristics of the world's main emission trading schemes, presents a new vision for compliance in emissions trading and calls for global action to develop this. | |
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Jan 2007 | IT governance in practice
PricewaterhouseCoopers has interviewed a number of CIOs worldwide to obtain their views on IT Governance, their experience in implementing IT Governance, and what it takes to make IT Governance work. | |
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Dec 2006 | Managing Mobility Matters 2006
Increased mobility lies at the heart of the EU's Lisbon Strategy to address the challenges of globalisation and technological change and increase competitiveness. As its contribution to the European Year of Workers' Mobility, PwC revisited our 2001 research study "Managing Mobility Matters - a European Perspective, 2001" to see the extent to which issues such as barriers/incentives to mobility, the impact of evolving policy and the outlook to 2010 had changed.
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Oct 2006 | Paying taxes: the global picture
Paying taxes — the global picture, jointly published by PricewaterhouseCoopers and The World Bank Group, looks at the relative ease of paying taxes in 175 countries worldwide. | |
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Sept 2006 | The global state of information security
Results from the world's largest information security study are in. Responses to The State of Information Security 2006, a worldwide study by CIO Magazine and PricewaterhouseCoopers, reveal that while companies are doing a better job of safeguarding information security and privacy, there is still plenty of room for growth and improvement. Conducted online from April 5, 2006 through May 22, 2006, the survey included responses from 7,791 readers of CIO and CSO Magazines in 50 countries. | |
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June 2006 | Africa's public sector challenges
In this issue of Insight*, we explore a variety of topics, among them ‘Enhancing value from public expenditure’, ‘The Sarbanes-Oxley Act – lessons for the public sector’, ‘Achieving the millennium development goals in Africa’ ‘Laying the foundation for development in Southern Sudan’, and ‘Africa and corruption – how a little something is dangerous for your wealth’. | |
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May 2006 | Delivering the PPP promise
PricewaterhouseCoopers reveals the results of its survey of PPP activity and makes recommendations for further streamlining of the procurement process. | |
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