The implementation of OECD recommendations in Danish Policies

This thesis concerns the topic of policy change and therein the role that international organisations have on national policy change. It conducts research on the factors of what decide whether policy recommendations made by international organisations are implemented nationally. This is done through a test of two research hypotheses. One hypothesis objectifies that congruence among policy beliefs of national policymakers and professionals in international organisations induce implementation of policy recommendations. The second hypothesis contest that the quality and intensity of relations among national policymakers and professionals are a factor that induces implementation. In order to test these hypotheses empirically, two cases that represent a ‘most similar system’ was chosen. These cases were the Compulsory Education Reform in Denmark from 2013 and the Youth Employment Effort, also Denmark, from 2012. Prior to the agreement of these two reforms, the OECD had made reviews of the respective sectors – reviews that provided recommendations for further policy development. Here it was found that implementation of the policy recommendations occurred in the case of the education reform, whereas there was no implementation in the Youth Employment Effort. The explanation behind this was found to be the high degree of quality and intensity of relations that policymakers had with OECD professionals with development of the education reform – together with a detection of congruent policy beliefs among national policymakers and OECD professionals. In the other case, such findings were not inherent, and the reason for policy recommendations not being implemented could be prescribed to the absence of such quality and intensity of relations along with no shared policy core policy preferences among policymakers and the professionals of the OECD.