Investment in higher education in OECD countries has increased substantially over the last 20 years, as a result of higher enrolment, increasing costs, government priorities related to skills, and research and innovation. Faced with economic and fiscal challenges, public authorities across the...

Today’s university students are drawn from a highly diverse set of backgrounds. Students appear in various guises as citizens, consumers, and clients. They are fitting university study around increasingly busy lives, often alongside paid employment. In many countries students are paying more...

This report examines the relationship between the prices for mobile communication services and some of the most popular handsets used to access these services, focusing on smartphones. The objective is to better understand different business models and how they may affect comparisons of prices....

The public procurement Directives only apply if a body is a contracting authority (contracting entity in the Utilities sector) within the definition of the Directives. SIGMA Brief 3 gives guidance on the notion of a contracting authority/entity under the directives (especially the concept of...

The EU Public Procurement Directives only apply to contracts of a value that meet or exceed the relevant EU financial threshold. Below threshold contracts are not covered by the procurement Directives. However, below threshold contracts comprise the vast majority of contracts awarded by...