Product market regulation

The economy-wide PMR indicators have been updated every five years since 1998, hence they are also available for the years 1998, 2003, 2008, and 2013. The information reflected in each one refers to the status of laws and regulations on 1 January of the relevant year.

The sector indicators for energy, communication and transport sectors are available for every year between 1975 and 2013.
The sector indicators for retail trade and professional services are available for 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013.

Please be aware that the indicator values from 1998 to 2013 are comparable, however the methodology has considerably changed in 2018 and at present past vintages cannot be compared with the most recent PMR indicators.

• OECD Economy-wide PMR indicators from 1998 to 2013 in Excel.
• OECD Sector PMR Indicators from 1998 to 2013 in Excel.

The OECD makes this data available for use and consultation free of charge.  Please use the following citation when using the OECD PMR data: OECD Product Market Regulation Database.

• OECD-World Bank Group Economy-wide PMR indicators for 2013 in Excel.
• OECD-World Bank Group Sector PMR indicators for 2013 in Excel

The OECD and WBG make this data available for use and consultation free of charge.  Please use the following citation when using the OECD-WBG data: OECD-WBG Product Market Regulation Database.

• OECD Economy-wide PMR database from 1998 to 2013 in Excel
• Economy-wide PMR schemata for 2013 in Excel and Sector PMR Schemata for 2013 in Excel

Individual Working Papers describe the key results and the methodology used to build the PMR indicators for the years 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013.

The questionnaires varied from vintage to vintage: 1998, 2003, 2008, and 2013.

2018 - 2024

Vitale C. et al (2023), Improving the business regulatory environment in Poland, OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1764, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Nicoletti N., Vitale C., Abate C. (2023), "Competition, regulation and growth in a digitized world - Dealing with emerging competition issues in digital markets", OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1752, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Lewis, C., et al. (2022), "Product market regulation in Indonesia: An international comparison", OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1741, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Vitale, C., et al. (2022), "Product Market Regulation in Brazil", OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1735, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Vitale, C., et al. (2022), "Improving the regulatory framework in the natural gas sector in Brazil", OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1736, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Vitale C. et al. (2020), "The 2018 edition of the OECD PMR indicators and database: Methodological improvements and policy insights", OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1764, OECD Publishing, Paris.

2015 - 2018

Gal, P. and A. Theising (2015), “The macroeconomic impact of structural policies in labour market outcomes in OECD countries: A reassessment”, OECD Economics Department Working Paper, No. 1271.

Koske, I., I.Wanner, R. Bitetti and O. Barbiero (2015), “The 2013 update of the OECD product market regulation indicators: policy insights for OECD and non-OECD countries”, OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1200.

Égert, B. (2016), “Regulation, institutions and productivity: new macroeconomic evidence from OECD countries”, American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 106(5), 109-113 (extended version published as OECD Economics Department Working Paper, No. 1393).

Égert, B. and I. Wanner (2016), "Regulations in services sectors and their impact on downstream industries: The OECD 2013 Regimpact Indicator”, OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1303.

Égert, B. (2017), “Regulation, institutions and aggregate investment: new evidence from OECD countries”, OECD Economics Department Working Paper, No. 1392. (published in Open Economies Review, 2018, 29(2), 415-449).

Égert, B. (2017a), “The quantification of structural reforms: extending the framework to emerging market economies”, OECD Economics Department Working Paper, No. 1442.

Égert, B. (2017b), “Aggregate multi-factor productivity: measurement issues in OECD countries”, OECD Economics Department Working Paper, No. 1441.

Égert, B. and P. Gal (2017) "The quantification of structural reforms in OECD countries: A new framework", OECD Economics Department Working Paper No. 1354. Shorter versions published in  OECD Journal: Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2016(1), pages 91-108; and forthcoming in (1) De Grauwe and N. Campos (ed),(2018) “Structural Reforms and European Integration”, Oxford University Press, (2) de Haan, J. and J. Parlevliet (2018), “The evaluation of structural reforms”, Springer.

Égert, B., P. Gal and I. Wanner (2017), “Structural Policy Indicators Database (SPIDER)”, OECD Economics Department Working Paper, No. 1429.

Égert, B. (2018), “The quantification of structural reforms: Taking stock of the results for OECD and non-OECD countries”, OECD Economics Department Working Paper, No. 1482.

Guillemette, Y., et al. (2017), "A revised approach to productivity convergence in long-term scenarios", OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1385, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/0b8947e3-en.

Égert, B. and P. Gal (2018), “The quantification of structural reforms: Introducing country-specific effects”, OECD Economics Department Working Paper, No. 1487.

Indicators on Regulatory Impact of Sectoral Regulation (REGIMPACT)

The REGIMPACT indicators measure the impact of the regulatory set-up in the energy, communications and transport sectors, as measured by the PMR sectoral indicators, on a number of industries that use the output of these sectors as intermediate inputs.

1. Indicators for 1975-2018 in Excel and methodological note
2. Indicators for 1975-2013 in Excel

Reference: Égert, B. and I. Wanner (2016), "Regulations in services sectors and their impact on downstream industries: the OECD 2013 REGIMPACT indicator", OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No 1303.

Competition Law and Policy Indicators (CLP)

The OECD CLP indicators measure the strength and scope of competition regimes in 49 jurisdictions (OECD and non-OECD). The indicators focus on ‘de jure’ policy settings and cover areas for which there is a broad consensus among member countries on what constitutes ‘good’ practice for competition regimes. These areas covered include: the legal powers to investigate and impose sanctions on antitrust infringements and to investigate, remedy, or block mergers; approaches toward the assessment of horizontal and vertical agreements, exclusionary conducts and mergers; accountability and procedural fairness of the institutions enforcing the competition law; and competition advocacy.

The indicators are available for the year 2013 for 34 OECD and 15 non-OECD jurisdictions.

1. OECD CLP indicators for 2013 in Excel
2. OECD CLP database for 2013 in Excel
3. OECD CLP schemata in Excel

Reference: Alemani, E., Caroline Klein, Isabell Koske, Cristiana Vitale, Isabelle Wanner (2013), "New Indicators of Competition Law and Policy in 2013 for OECD and non-OECD Countries", OECD Economics Department Working Papers No. 1104.

Indicators on the Governance of Sector Regulators

The Indicators on the Governance of Sector Regulators capture the governance arrangements of economic regulators in the energy, e-communications, rail transport, air transport and water sectors. These indicators are based on the OECD Best Practice Principles for Regulatory Policy: The Governance of Regulators and further guidance developed by OECD Network of Economic Regulators. 

The Occupational Entry Regulation (OER) Indicator 

The OER Indicator is a cross-country composite indicator measuring the stringency of occupational entry regulations across all US states, Canadian provinces, 15  European countries, Israel, India and South Africa, for a set of five professional (accountants, architects, civil engineers, lawyers and real-estate agents) services, nine personal services (aestheticians, bakers, butchers, driving instructors, electricians, hairdressers, painters, plumbers and taxi drivers ) and nurses. It provides a comparative source of information on the various approaches used across countries to regulate entry into services, notably distinguishing between different areas of regulation (administrative, qualification and mobility requirements) and different types of regulation (licensing, a situation in which only supervisors require a license, and certification). For professional services, the OER indicator draws on the information contained in the PMR.

Indicator Database in Excel

References : von Rueden, C. and I. Bambalaite (2020), "Measuring occupational entry regulations: A new OECD approach", OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1606, OECD Publishing, Paris; and Bambalaite, I., G. Nicoletti and C. von Rueden (2020), "Occupational entry regulations and their effects on productivity in services: Firm-level evidence", OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1605, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Foreign Direct Investment Regulatory Restrictiveness Index (FDI Index)

The FDI Index measures statutory restrictions on foreign direct investments in 22 sectors in all OECD member states and in a large number of other countries. This index is used in the computation of the PMR to measure Barriers to Foreign Investments.

Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG)

The iREG present up-to-date evidence on countries’ regulatory policy and governance practices. They cover three areas - stakeholder engagement, Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) and ex post evaluation - and provide a baseline measurement to track countries’ progress over time and identify areas for reform. The iREG database is used to obtain information that are included in the PMR database in the area of simplification and evaluation of regulations and feed into the PMR indicators.

Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI)

The STRI provides information on regulations affecting trade in services in 22 sectors. The Services Trade Restrictiveness database is used to obtain information that are included in the PMR database and feed into the PMR indicators.

Trade Facilitation Indicators (TFI)

The TFIs cover the full spectrum of trade border procedures. Each TF indicator is composed of several specific, precise and fact-based variables related to existing trade-related policies and regulations and their implementation in practice. Some of these indicators (A to H) are used in the computation of the PMR to measure barriers to trade facilitation.