Government at a Glance 2017

Country Fact Sheetwww.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm

Government deficit continues to decrease and primary balances are improving faster

After extensive fiscal expansion in 2009 drove the government deficit to 12.7% of GDP, the overall gov-ernment balance has improved significantly, reaching -4.2% of GDP in 2015, yet remaining higher than the OECD average of -2.8% of GDP. The primary balance, which excludes net interest payments on government debt, has improved faster though this period, reaching a deficit of 1.3% of GDP in 2015 after a trough of 9.7% of GDP in 2009.

Chapter 2. Public finance and economics

General government fiscal balance as a percentage of GDPGeneral government primary balance and net interest spending as a percentage of GDP

The regulatory process in the United States is rigorously governed

Agencies have to evaluate costs and benefits of all significant regulatory proposals. All stakeholders have a right to comment on all legislative drafts as well as on the analysis that led to their preparation. The Office of Management and Budget oversees the process, the quality of cost and benefits estimates, making sure that all alternative solutions were duly considered. In addition, the process is safeguarded by judicial review. The United States scored 3.2, on a range between 0 and 4, on the composite indicator related to stakeholder engagement in developing subordinate regulation, above the OECD average of 2.1.

Chapter 8. Regulatory governance

Regulatory Impact Assessment for developing regulationsStakeholder engagement in developing regulations

The financial crisis affected disproportionally the labour incomes of the bottom 10%

Even though the financial crisis of 2009 had a deleterious effect over the whole economy, the real labour incomes of the lowest 10% of earners took a particularly strong drop. Between 2008 and 2013, the year for which the latest comparable data is available, the real incomes of workers earning average income decreased by 4% in the USA, while labour incomes of the top 10% decreased by 2%. However, the decrease in real labour income for the lowest 10% fell by 14%.

Chapter 13. Core government results

Differences in income inequality post-tax and government transfers

United States

Fiscal balance*(2015)

Government expenditures(2015)

Government gross debt*(2015, 2016)

% of GDP % of GDP % of GDP

Source: OECD National Accounts Source: OECD National Accounts

G@G /dataG@G /data

26134,500

88,70052,700

Middle Managers(D3 positions)

Senior Managers(D1 positions)

SeniorProfessionals

SecretarialPositions

2015USD PPP

150,000

300,000

450,000

231,500

n.a.

United States

n.a.

183,200

239,400

Annual compensation across central government positions (2015)

Government investment(2015)

How to read the figures:

U.S.

Country value in blue (not represented if not available)

Average of OECD countries in red

Range of OECD country values in grey

Public Finance and Economics

10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

24.9%27.8%

United States

20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

40.9%37.7%

United States

0% 2% 4% 6% 8%

3.2%3.1%

United States

105.6%2015

107.4% 100%

0%

2016

112%100%

0%

2015

0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250%

U.S.

Values have been rounded. n.a. refers to

data not available

% of GDP

Public Employment

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the compensation of employees in central / federal governments

... and in senior positions (2015)

Source: OECD* See Notes National Accounts

Source: OECD* SNA definition, see Notes National Accounts

Public Sector Compensation

53.0%42.6%U.S.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

32.4%34.4%U.S.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Women in the civil service ...

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

Percentage of central government employees aged 55 years or older

(2015)

General government employmentas % of total employment (2015)

18.1%

15.3%United States

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Source: OECD National Accounts

-10% 0%-5% +5% +10%

-2.8%

-4.2%United States

Budgeting

Women in Government

Extent of delegationof HRM practicesin line ministries

0.63 0.64

Extent of the useof performance

assessmentsin HR decisions

0.81

0.64

Extent of the useof performance

related pay

0.80

0.66

Use of separateHRM practices

for seniorcivil servants

0.90

0.55

Collectionof administrative

data

0.800.68

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

0

0.25

0.50

0.75

1

United States

G@G /data

Source: OECD (2016) Strategic Human Resources Management Survey

Composite indicators on HRM practices in central government (2016)

Human Resource Management

Composite indices on regulatory governance for primary laws*(2014)

G@G /data

Regulatory governance

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

29.1%

50%

24.8%

United States

Source: OECD National Accounts

General governmentprocurement expenditures

(2015)% of government expenditures

Public Procurement

Support for greenpublic procurement

Some procuring entities have developed an internal strategy/policy

A strategy/policy has been developed at a central level

Support forSMEs

Support for innovativegoods and services

A strategy/policy has been rescinded

There has never been a strategy/policy in place

11 25 1 0 8 24 0 1 9 19 0 6

United States

n.a. n.a.n.a.

Strategic public procurement - Objectives(2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on Public Procurement

* See Notes Source: OECD Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG)

0.41

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

0.28U.S.

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

Performance budgetingpractices at the central level

of government (2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey of Performance Budgeting

Stakeholderengagement in

developing regulations

n.a.

2.09

Regulatory ImpactAssessment for

developing regulations

n.a.

2.05

Ex post evaluationof regulations

0.66

1.54

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 4 highest

0

1

2

3

4

United States

Notes Fiscal balance as reported in the System of National Accounts (SNA) framework, also referred to as net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of government, is calculated as total government revenues minus total government expenditures. Regulatory governance indicators: The results for stakeholder engagement and Regulatory Impact Assessment apply exclusively to processes for developing primary laws initiated by the executive. Data is not applicable to the United States, where all primary laws are initiated by Congress. In the majority of countries, most primary laws are initiated by the executive, except for Mexico and Korea, where a higher share of primary laws are initiated by parliament/congress (respectively 90.6% and 84%). Government gross debt is reported according to the SNA definition, which dif fers from the definition applied under the Maastricht Treaty. It is defined as all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest or principal by the debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future. All debt instruments are liabilities, but some liabilities such as shares, equity and financial derivatives are not debt.

Open Data Digital Government

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

35.6%n.a.

United States

Individuals using the Internet for sending filled forms via public authorities websites

in the past 12 months (2016)

Source: OECD, ICT database; and Eurostat, Information Society database

OURdata Index:Open, Useful, Reusable Government Data

(2017)Composite index: from 0 lowest to 1 highest

Source: OECD (2017) Survey on Open Government Data

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.63

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.55

United States

Dataavailability

Dataaccessibility

Governmentsupportto re-use

Differences in income inequality pre and post-taxand government transfers (2013)

U.S.

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6Higher

inequality

Lowerinequality

Before After

0.51

0.39taxes and transfers

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Before After

0.47

0.32taxes and transfers

Higherinequality

Lowerinequality

Source: OECD Income Distribution Database

Limited government powers (2016)

0.75

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.81United States

Source: The World Justice Project

Core Government ResultsSatisfaction and confidence across public services

(2016)

70%

Judicial system Education system

78%20

40

60

80

100

Health care

67%64%55%43%

National government42%30%

U.S.

Average

Range

Police77%82%

Source: Gallup World Poll

% of citizens expressing confidence/satisfaction

Government at a Glance 2017Government at a Glance provides readers with a dashboard of key indicators assembled with the goal of contributing to the analysis and international

comparison of public sector productivity and performance. Indicators on government revenues, expenditures, and employment are presented,

alongside key output and outcome data for education, health and justice. Information on key enablers to increase productivity including on digital

government, budget procedures, strategic human resource management, open government data and innovative practices are also included. In

a context of tight budget constraints in many member countries, good indicators are needed more than ever, in order to help governments make

informed decisions regarding resource allocation and to help restore confidence in government institutions.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/gov_glance-2017-en

The Excel spreadsheets used to create the tables and figures in Government at a Glance 2017 are available via the StatLinks provided throughout the publication:

For more information on the data (including full methodology and figure notes)and to consult all other Country Fact Sheets: www.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm