In conversation with Willem Adema

The Business of Policymaking

Jana Javornik speaks to Willem Adema, senior economist in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Social Policy Division, about his experience of working at the OECD and how the OECD uses research to develop policy. They discuss the role of in-house versus academic research in policy process, and the differences between the national and global policy landscape.

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About Willem Adema:

Willem Adema is a Senior Economist in the OECD Social Policy Division. Willem leads a team of analysts of Family, Children, Gender and Housing Policies and his team maintains the OECD Family database; the OECD Gender Data Portal; the OECD Social Expenditure database and the Affordable Housing Database.

In recent years, OECD reports that were produced by Willem and his team include: Joining Forces for Gender Equality: What is Holding us Back?, A Family Policy Review of Norway (2023, forthcoming), Policy Actions for Affordable Housing in Lithuania (2023, forthcoming), The Economic Case for More Gender Equality in Estonia, Reducing the Gender Employment Gap in Hungary, The Role of Firms in the Gender Wage Gap in Germany, Society at a Glance: Asia/Pacific 2022, Pay Transparency Tools to Close the Gender Wage Gap, Bringing Household Services out of the Shadows, Policy Actions for Affordable Housing in Latvia, Rejuvenating Korea - Policies for a Changing Society, Is the Last Mile the Longest? Economic Gains from Gender Equality in Nordic Countries, Dare to Share: Germany's Experience Promoting Equal Partnership in Families and, The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle.

Willem graduated from the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam and holds a doctorate from St. Edmund Hall, University of Oxford.