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OECD Public Governance Reviews
Better Service Delivery
for Inclusive Growth in
the Dominican Republic
This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The
opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official
views of OECD member countries.
This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or
sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries
and to the name of any territory, city or area.
Please cite this publication as:
OECD (2017), Better Service Delivery for Inclusive Growth in the Dominican Republic, OECD Public
Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264264144-en
ISBN 978-92-64-26413-7 (print)
ISBN 978-92-64-26414-4 (PDF)
Series: OECD Public Governance Reviews
ISSN 2219-0406 (print)
ISSN 2219-0414 (online)
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use
of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli
settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
Photo credits: Cover © Felix Lipov/Shutterstock.com.
Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found on line at: www.oecd.org/about/publishing/corrigenda.htm.
© OECD 2017
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(CFC) at [email protected].
3
FOREWORD –
Foreword
Governments across OECD countries and beyond are constantly innovating in the
provision of public services, by improving the effectiveness of policy design and the
efficiency of delivery, and by partnering and working directly with citizens. These
continuous efforts are necessary to meet growing citizen expectations and to ensure
access to services for all - regardless of income levels, location and other social and
economic factors – as a key lever to achieve more inclusive growth.
This OECD Public Governance Review, focused on service delivery, offers the
opportunity to apply the concepts and tools of public governance at an operational level,
and with immediate implications for the government-citizen relationship. The inclusion of
multidisciplinary good practices, collected through OECD work on public sector
management, digital government, innovation and administrative simplification, allows a
comprehensive but integrated assessment of the use of public policy levers for optimising
service design and delivery. By covering aspects relating to both the competence of
government in terms of the quality, timeliness and effectiveness of public services, and to
the principles governing the provision of services, including engagement, accountability
or inclusiveness, public service delivery focused reviews can help identify policy drivers
that maximise access, coverage and quality of public services, while strengthening
beneficiaries and communities.
This review focuses on improving access to quality and timely services for citizens as
a means to facilitate inclusive growth in the Dominican Republic. Despite its
macroeconomic performance in the last decade, poverty and levels of inequality remain
high in the Dominican Republic. At the same time, citizens report limited satisfaction
with the quality of and access to services in the country, often reflected in less than
optimal outcomes in areas such as health, transport or education.
The review identifies several avenues for improving the quality of and access to
public services. For example, the institutional underpinnings of public service delivery
need to be strengthened and clarified to reduce overlap in responsibilities and bolster
weak co-ordination mechanisms, particularly in the social sector. In addition, previous
reform efforts need to be fully implemented. A comprehensive administrative
simplification strategy is also needed, including high-impact procedures affecting both
businesses and citizens. Digital government can help improve the access, quality and
inclusiveness of public services. However, its governance needs to be clarified and
strengthened. Particular efforts need to be made to identify and develop key enablers,
improve service design and make more strategic use of data and alternative delivery
channels. Finally, a more structured approach to public sector innovation, including
adequate resources, leadership and support, could also drive better service outcomes.
The review is based on evidence provided by the government of the Dominican
Republic, including documented responses to a project specific OECD questionnaire and
BETTER SERVICE DELIVERY FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC © OECD 2017
4
– FOREWORD
discussions with government and non-government stakeholders during OECD missions
carried out in the second half of 2015. In addition, the OECD analysis drew upon the
expertise of peers from OECD member governments, including Portugal, Mexico, Chile
and Colombia, along with comparative experience and lessons learned from different
OECD members and non-OECD member countries. The review builds on the work
conducted by the OECD Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) and the Working Party of
Senior Digital Government Officials, under the leadership of the OECD Public
Governance Committee and the organisation-wide Inclusive Growth Project.
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5 -
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This review was led and co-ordinated by Paloma Baena Olabe, who also provided
overall editorial guidance and oversight. Martin Pospisil drafted Chapter 1 on the context
of service delivery in the Dominican Republic. Paloma Baena Olabe and Miguel Ceara
Asuad drafted Chapter 2 on the governance of service delivery. Guillermo Morales
drafted Chapter 3 on administrative simplification. Rodrigo Mejia Ricart drafted Chapter
4 on digital government and Chapter 5 on public sector innovation. Paloma Baena Olabe
provided guidance on the context of service delivery, Barbara Ubaldi on digital
government, Marco Daglio on public innovation, and Daniel Trnka on regulatory policy.
The review was conducted under the general guidance of Rolf Alter, Director, Public
Governance and Territorial Development Directorate; Luiz de Mello, Deputy Director;
and Edwin Lau, Head of Division, Public Sector Reform, who provided substantive
comments and contributions. We wish to thank Nelson Amaya for his important support
and inputs.
This review also benefited from contributions from the following peer reviewers:
• Chile: Mr. Gabriel González Florín, Head of Programme Management Division
of Interministerial Co-ordination, Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency.
• Portugal: Ms. Claudia Gonçalves Barroso, Head of the International Relations
Unit, Agency for the Administrative Modernisation (AMA); Mr. João Ricardo
Vasconcelos, Projects and Innovation Unit, AMA.
• Mexico: Ms. Yolanda Martinez Mancilla, Head of Unit for Digital Government,
Ministry of Public Administration; Mr. Alejandro Ramírez Pérez, Chair of the
Digital Government Unit at the National Digital Strategy, Ministry of Public
Administration.
• Colombia: Mr. Camilo Rivera Perez, Director Deputy of Industrial and
Commercial Policy, National Planning Department.
The review team wishes to acknowledge the collaboration and contribution of their
interlocutors in the Ministry of Public Administration (MAP) of the Dominican Republic,
in particular, Manuel Ramón Ventura Camejo, Minister; and Evelyn Roman, Responsible
for International Relations.
Special thanks go to OECD colleagues Susan Rantalainen, Lynda Hawe, Andrea
Uhrhammer and Kate Lancaster for their help in preparing the report for publication. We
also wish to thank Liz Zachary for her editing support.
BETTER SERVICE DELIVERY FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC © OECD 2017
7
THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: COUNTRY PROFILE –
The Dominican Republic: Country profile
The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces and the “Distrito Nacional”,
where the capital, Santo Domingo, is situated. The provinces are political and
administrative units that facilitate delegation of the authority of the central government at
intermediate level. Every province has a civil governor, who is appointed by and
represents the central executive power. Each province is composed of two or more
municipalities which in turn function as political and administrative units.
Map of the Dominican Republic
Source: ONE. Retrieved from http://www.one.gob.do/SEN/277/division-politica-administrativa.
BETTER SERVICE DELIVERY FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC © OECD 2017
8
– THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: COUNTRY PROFILE
The Dominican Republic: Key figures
Population, 2015 10.6 million
Land area (sq. km) 48,670
GDP (current US$), 2014 63.9
GDP per capita, PPP (current international $), 2014 13,262
GDP growth (annual %), 2014 7.3
Member of the OECD No
State structure Unitary
System of executive power Presidential
Head of state President
Head of government President
Number of ministers at the central level of government (2013) 19
Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population), 2014 36%
Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population), 2013 2.3%
Income share held by lowest 10%, 2013 1.9%
Fertility rate, total (births per woman) 2.5
School enrolment, primary (% gross), 20121 102.6
School enrolment, secondary (% gross) 75.9
Improved water source (% of population with access), 2015 84.7
Improved sanitation facilities (% of population with access), 2015 84
Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people), 2014 78.9
Internet users (per 100 people) 49.6
Life expectancy at birth, total (years), 2013 73.5 years
The general government debt (% of GDP), 2014 34.5%
Government revenues (% of GDP), 2014 15.1%
Tax revenues as a share of GDP, 2014 14.1%
General government expenditures as a percentage of GDP, 2014 17.7%
Note: The gross enrolment ratio can be greater than 100% as a result of grade repetition and entry at ages
younger or older than the typical age at that grade level.
Source: World Bank (2015), World Development Indicators (database), http://data.worldbank.org/data-
catalog/world-development-indicators (accessed 5 December 2015); OECD (2014b) Government At A
Glance: Latin America And The Caribbean. United Nations Statistics Division, http://unstats.un.org/unsd/de
mographic/products/indwm/default.htm.
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