Benchmark expertise

The Bertelsmann Stiftung has a tradition in comparative policy research and international benchmarking, and it also established a reputation for advising and innovative problem-solving in the field of economic and social politics in Germany.

The International Reform Monitor (www.reformmonitor.org), initiated in 1999 and now in its fifth year, is a good example of our benchmark expertise. It primarily touches upon social and labour market issues.

Another example of the Foundation's experience in comparative health system analysis is the eight-country-study "Reforming the Health Sector" (Esche, Böcken, Butzlaff (Eds): 2000).

The success of both projects underpinned the need and the potential demand for a particular news & notes system investigating health policy issues and best practice in countries of similar socio-economic patterns. Consequently, the Foundation decided to pay more attention to the complex field of health policy and established a special monitoring tool - the International Network Health Policy & Reform.