This survey was presented at the Informal ministerial meeting on responsible business conduct held in Paris on 26 June 2014.

This paper aims to provide an introduction to and overview of the social investment market for policy makers. Social investment is the provision of finance to organisations with the explicit expectation of a social, as well as financial, return. It has become increasingly relevant in today’s economic environment as social challenges have mounted while public funds in many countries are under pressure.

While there has been a recent revival of interest in industrial policy around the world, systematic evidence of efficacy is relatively scarce. This report considers recent evidence from the evaluation of industrial policy. It focuses on three specific policy areas: support for R&D, capital market interventions (with a focus on risk capital), and public procurement for innovation.

The Policy Framework for Investment in Agriculture is a flexible tool which helps governments evaluate their investment policies in the ten areas essential to creating an attractive environment for investors and in enhancing the development benefits of agricultural investment.

Financing conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain a pressing concern in many countries, according to a new OECD report.

This conference addressed key questions on investment in infrastructure and transport in Latin America and the Caribbean. It brought together policymakers, international experts and other interested stakeholders to discuss concrete policy recommendations to maximise the opportunities and address the challenges in the region.

This seminar investigated how changes made in key policy areas at national, regional and international levels can help generate more and better private investment in Africa’s infrastructure.

Global Value Chains (GVCs) are a dominant feature of the world economy that impact growth, jobs and development, but numerous challenges remain to ensure that all countries and all firms have the opportunity to participate and benefit.

The report presents the potential of new nanomaterials and highlights the remaining challenges for their safe and sustainable introduction in the tyre industry.

This self-assessment report looks at South Africa's investment regime in the light of the OECD Codes of Liberalisation and the principle of National Treatment.

This publication reports on trends in the steelmaking capacity of economies that are not members of the OECD. It examines existing capacity and investments that will lead to changes by 2014, with detailed tables on equipment, starting dates of planned projects, and works ownership.

A series of short reports aimed at policy makers examine issues and policies instruments related to inclusive entrepreneurs policy. The key message of these briefs is that there is under-exploited potential among entrepreneurs from non-mainstream groups and that there are many examples of specially tailored policies that are successful in increasing participation that can serve as models for others.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs are crucial for tracing new paths to more sustainable and inclusive growth, thanks to their role in developing and diffusing innovation and providing employment.

Despite large and growing investments in knowledge and innovation, productivity growth in many countries has slowed in recent years. At the same time, the urgent need for more rapid innovation (including its uptake and diffusion) in several key areas, such as in environment. This joint OECD-NBER workshop on 25-26 September 2014 will bring together academic experts to consider these challenges.

This roundtable provided a forum for dialogue on building responsible supply chains in the textile and garment sector that contribute to inclusive growth and sustainable development, in line with the OECD and ILO recommendations. The Roundtable also identified challenges and areas for future collaborative action.

Advanced economies are pushing up carbon emissions, traffic congestion and air pollution by under-taxing company cars and diesel fuel, according to new OECD research.

The overarching theme of the 2014 Global Forum, held in Tokyo on 2 and 3 October, was data-driven innovation for a resilient society. The event focused on the collection and use of data throughout the economy and society for enhanced growth and well-being.

Organised by the OECD Development Centre in partnership with the African Union, the 2014 Africa Forum will focus on the pan-African agenda of economic and social transformation.

Korea has made significant progress towards decentralising the management of employment and training programmes, but can still do more to create stronger links with employers at the local level, according to a new OECD report.

Beijing, 24 October 2014 - China presented guidelines intended to provide a roadmap for the responsible business conduct of Chinese companies operating overseas. In addition, China and the OECD signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the implementation by Chinese companies of responsible business conduct in global mineral supply chains.

The study assesses the role of feed-in tariffs (FITs) and renewable energy certificates (RECs) in creating incentives for cross-border investments and for investments in particular technological portfolios via M&A. The analysis explores the dataset on M&As in alternative energy sources worldwide over 2005-2011.

This public consultation was held to gather interested stakeholders' comments on the draft chapters of the Policy Framework for Investment currently being updated. The consultation ran until 31 December 2014.

This meeting provided the opportunity to review and discuss implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, the ICGLR Regional Certification Mechanism, and other initiatives to enable responsible mineral supply chains. Issues pertinent to the tin, tantalum and tungsten (3Ts) and gold supply chains were also addressed during the Forum.

Global FDI flows collapsed with the global financial crisis in 2008 and remain 40% below pre-crisis levels. A major reason for this is the EU. While FDI flows in the rest of the world recovered by 2010, the EU continues to struggle due to structural factors that are undermining the quality of the EU’s investment environment. The paper analyses why and puts forward policy options. It is part of the Investment Insights series.

Squeezed R&D budgets in the EU, Japan and US are reducing the weight of advanced economies in science and technology research, patent applications and scientific publications and leaving China on track to be the world’s top R&D spender by around 2019, according to a new OECD report.

This review underlines some important points of strength with respect to Italian SMEs and entrepreneurship, notably for medium-sized firms that very often excel in their market niches, have a strong propensity to business collaboration, as well as favourable access to finance.

U.S. employers are demanding skilled workforces, but are not always able to find a local supply, says a new OECD study looking at Job Creation and Local Economic Development.

In addition to inspiring policy practices, the 2014 edition contains special thematic chapters on entrepreneurship by ethnic minorities, pro-entrepreneurship welfare support systems and support for entrepreneurship from unemployment.

Global FDI flows for 2014 have stalled at levels substantially below the peak levels reached before the financial crisis and ensuing global recession that began in 2008 according to preliminary estimates in the December 2014 issue of FDI in Figures.

This conference showcased ASEAN’s regional investment integration achievements and efforts. Practitioners highlighted policy reforms at the national and regional levels and considered practical measures to enhance integration. Ways to successfully attract investment that will strengthen ASEAN supply chains were identified.

Steel is one of the most widely produced industrial products in the world, and the sector depends heavily on a range of raw materials for its production. The aim of this workshop was to better understand the impacts of trade-restrictive raw material policies on the global steel industry and to explore policy approaches that would improve the longer-term efficiency and functioning of these markets.

Excess capacity in steel as growth in investment projects outpaces demand will pose risks for the sector for the foreseeable future, according to industry and government officials at the OECD’s Steel Committee meeting in Cape Town on 12 December 2014. The risk of trade conflicts in the industry also appears to have increased of late, they said, and Committee members discussed options for closer co-operation to try and prevent disputes.

The Korean shipbuilding industry is one of the top global players, leading by value and second only to China by volume. However, the global economic crisis has dented its finances and it now faces serious challenges to set itself back on a solid footing.

New approaches are needed for addressing social and economic challenges, including new models of public and private partnership which can fund, deliver and scale innovative solutions from the ground up.

The German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), supported by the OECD, has initiated a study to assess the contribution of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to due diligence for responsible mineral supply chains. To gather information for this study, SMEs were invited to take part on a confidential survey of due diligence activities by SMEs.

This public consultation was held to gather comments on the draft FAO-OECD guidance for responsible agricultural supply chains which is designed to help enterprises observe standards of responsible business conduct along their agricultural supply chains. The deadline for comment was 20 February 2015.

This paper examines the extent, reasons and impacts of excess capacity in the global steel industry, as well as the implications of new investment projects that continue to take place at a rapid pace in many parts of the world. By focusing on new investment projects, this study intends to help governments and industry better understand the extent to which global steelmaking excess capacity may evolve in the future.

While de-industrialisation and offshoring have dominated the news about manufacturing during the past decades, recent years have witnessed a number of examples of companies re-shoring activities back to OECD economies. Policy discussions often ignore the profound changes manufacturing has undergone. This working paper addresses this issue against the background of long-term structural change in OECD economies.

This online public consultation was held to gather interested stakeholders' comments on the draft Policy Framework for Investment currently being updated. The consultation ran until 25 February 2015.

Paris, 16 March 2015: Organised by the OECD-hosted Freedom of Investment Roundtable, this conference assessed opportunities and challenges associated with investment treaties and how the system can be improved.

Integrity Week is an annual event organised by the OECD and its CleanGovBiz Initiative to actively support governments and organisations in their efforts to strengthen integrity, build trust, and fight corruption.

The project provided recommendations to the city of Medellin and Antioquia to support the development of the local economy and includes a focus on how the innovative environment can be strengthened to support inclusion, entrepreneurship, SME, and local developmentto and how to better coordinate and integrate its policies with the national level.

The promotion of responsible business conduct has taken an important step forward with the launch of a new reporting framework. Businesses now have no excuse for not explaining how they’re meeting their human rights obligations.

This expert seminar aims to get a better understanding of the features, limitations and preliminary findings from the use of SIBs, and to a lesser extent, of DIBs in developing countries from a multidimensional and multi-stakeholder perspective.

Climate change and, more generally, environmental damage have quantifiable economic and health costs, which weigh on long-term growth and well-being. If left unchecked, climate change is projected to decrease global GDP by 0.7 to 2.5 % by 2060. At the same time, the costs to society of air pollution already appear substantial–equivalent to some 4% of GDP across OECD countries and even higher in some rapidly developing economies.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are fundamental for inclusive growth and jobs, but they need to broaden their sources of finance in order to reduce their vulnerability to volatile credit market developments, according to two new OECD reports.

This public consultation is being held to gather comments on the draft OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement in the Extractives Sector which provides practical guidance to mining, oil and gas enterprises in addressing the challenges related to stakeholder engagement. The deadline for comment is 5 June 2015.

This report responds to a request from the G20 that the IMF and OECD assess whether further work is needed on their respective approaches to measures which are both macro-prudential and capital flow measures, taking into account their individual mandates. The report was transmitted to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at their meeting on 16-17 April 2015 in Washington D.C.

Innovation and creativity have long been hallmarks of the Czech Republic. After all, this is the country that invented the term “robot”, when Czech writer, Karel Čapek, coined the word back in 1921.

Chairman's statement of the OECD Steel Committee's 78th session, Paris, 11-12 May 2015.