OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme

OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme
Name	OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme
Formation	1980s
Type	International programme
Parent organisation	Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Headquarters	Paris
Region served	International

OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme The LEED Programme is a programme of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that concentrated on local development, employment strategies, and territorial policy, linking subnational practice with supranational advice across member and partner jurisdictions. It engaged municipalities, regions, national ministries, and multilateral bodies in comparative analysis and capacity building, interfacing with actors such as the European Commission, World Bank, International Labour Organization, United Nations Development Programme, and regional development agencies. LEED worked with a wide range of stakeholders including mayors, regional governors, employment agencies, and social partners in cities such as Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, London, and New York City.

History and mandate

LEED emerged in the context of decentralisation and territorial policy debates influenced by institutions like the European Union and actors such as the Council of Europe and the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions. Its mandate traced precedents to initiatives in the 1980s and 1990s that involved collaboration with organisations including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's directorates, the European Investment Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and national ministries such as the French Ministry of Labour and the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. LEED's remit encompassed labour market programmes, local enterprise support, urban regeneration, and social inclusion informed by scholarship from universities like Harvard University, London School of Economics, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and University of California, Berkeley.

Governance and organisational structure

LEED operated under the governance framework of the OECD Council and worked through committees and working parties akin to the Committee on Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. It convened national delegates from ministries including the Ministry of Finance (France), Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Germany), Ministry of Economic Development (Italy), and agencies such as Pôle emploi, Bundesagentur für Arbeit, and the United States Department of Labor. LEED coordinated with regional networks like the Committee of the Regions, the Union of the Baltic Cities, and the Association of European Border Regions, and collaborated with research institutions including the Brookings Institution, the Urban Institute, the Centre for European Policy Studies, and the International Institute for Labour Studies.

Major programmes and initiatives

LEED launched programmes that interfaced with instruments such as the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, and the Structural Funds (EU). Key initiatives included local partnership development in cities like Naples, labour market reintegration projects in regions such as Catalonia, enterprise incubation linked to agencies like Startup Britain and Station F, and territorial foresight exercises similar to those run by the OECD Territorial Development Policy Committee. LEED ran peer review visits comparable to European Commission] ]policy peer reviews, organised capacity-building workshops with partners such as the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and the Inter-American Development Bank, and supported thematic programmes on skills matching, social entrepreneurship, and green transitions with inputs from the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Research, publications and policy guidance

LEED produced comparative reports, policy briefs, and toolkits drawing on methodologies used by the World Bank Group, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development directorates, and academic publishers like Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. Publications addressed local labour markets, cluster development, social innovation, and urban governance, echoing frameworks from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate and research centres such as the International Labour Organization's research department, OECD Development Centre, and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. LEED outputs were referenced in policy dialogues involving the G20, the United Nations General Assembly, and the European Parliament.

Country and local partnerships

LEED partnered with national governments including Canada, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Chile, and Turkey, and with municipal networks such as C40 Cities, United Cities and Local Governments, and ICLEI. It collaborated with development banks like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, and national agencies such as Business France and Invest in Spain. LEED's country programmes often engaged local actors—municipal councils, vocational training centres, chambers of commerce like the Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc and trade unions such as the European Trade Union Confederation—to pilot interventions in labour market integration, skills policy, and SME support.

Impact assessment and evaluations

Impact assessments of LEED drew on evaluation approaches used by the Evaluation Cooperation Group and methods from the Development Assistance Committee evaluations. External reviews compared LEED activities to programming by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and European Investment Bank, assessing outcomes in employment creation, SME growth, and territorial cohesion. Evaluations referenced case studies from cities like Lisbon, Athens, Prague, Warsaw, and Bucharest to measure effects on social inclusion, local governance capacity, and policy transfer, and informed follow-up by supranational actors including the European Commission's Directorate-General for Employment.

Funding and resources

LEED funding combined core allocations from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development budget with project-specific contributions from national governments (for example, France, Sweden, Netherlands), multilateral partners such as the European Commission, and grants tied to initiatives by the World Bank and regional development banks. In-kind support came from academic partners like Sciences Po, think tanks including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Rand Corporation, and municipal hosts across capitals and regions. Resource constraints and competing priorities across international institutions such as the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund influenced programming scope and strategic partnerships.

Category:Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development programs