The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Developmenthas issued guidance for the assessment of corporate governance rules and practices.

The newly published Methodology for Assessing Implementation of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance can be used by policy makers for self-assessments and by other interested organizations and researchers, such as director institutes, investor associations, analysts and academics. The methodology will also be used by the World Bank in its Review of Standards and Codes programme.

The methodology specifies assessment criteria for each of the OECD Principles, with examples to guide users. It invites analysts to look at more than just the regulatory framework – what might be called “corporate governance on the books” – by focusing on actual company practices, such as whether shareholders have access to useful remedies, whether the regulators are effective and efficient, and whether the corporate governance framework as a whole promotes transparent and efficient capital markets.

“We are seeing growing interest among analysts and researchers in assessing the corporate governance practices of companies and countries”, said Grant Kirkpatrick, senior economist in the OECD’s Corporate Affairs Division. “This methodology is intended to assist such assessments, in an environment where the importance of specific corporate governance features can vary greatly.”

The methodology is available on the OECD’s Web site.