Global Recovery Observatory – Draft Methodology Document

February 2021 (latest draft) in partnership with the Green Fiscal Policy Network (International Monetary Fund, United Nations Environment Program, and German Agency for International Cooperation)

Abstract: The Global Recovery Observatory tracks and assesses national fiscal crisis expenditure in the world’s fifty largest economies, with a March 2021 expansion to include an additional 39 emerging market and developing economies. The Observatory is updated weekly and covers crisis expenditure during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020–present). Policy items are assessed for potential environmental impact (greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, natural capital), social impact (wealth inequality, quality of life, rural livelihood) and economic impact (multiplier, speed of implementation). Using this approach policy items are first mapped to 40 exhaustive and mutually exclusive archetypes, as well as 158 sub-archetypes. The granularity of the new Oxford taxonomy represents a substantial step-change in categorisation of fiscal policy initiatives.