Diverging patterns of business start-up rates are emerging across OECD economies five years after the sharp, synchronized falls recorded at the beginning of the financial crisis.

Latin American governments must act now to strengthen growth and development and counter these risks, according to the 2013 Latin American Economic Outlook, jointly produced by the OECD Development Centre and ECLAC.

The Australian state government of Queensland developed a set of Skills Formation Strategies as a new way to respond to skill shortages and mismatches.

This Investment Policy Review examines Tunisia's achievements in developing an open and transparent investment regime and its efforts to reduce restrictions on international investment.

Chile's OECD membership presents challenges both in the context of changing patterns of production and consumption, and in the framework of a more sustainable economy. Specifically, green growth emphasizes improving growth rates, particularly through greening existing industries, as well as through new eco-businesses.

OECD Steel Committee Statement

This working paper on Green Innovation in Tourism Services seeks to analyse the role of green innovation in the transition of tourism enterprises (hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, tour operators) to a green economy; how green innovation in tourism is supported in OECD countries (e.g. specific structures, mechanisms and good practices); and what can be done to accelerate the diffusion of green innovation in the sector.

The 2012 annual report on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises provides an account of the actions taken by the adhering governments over the 12 months to June 2012 to enhance the contribution of the Guidelines to the improved functioning of the global economy and focuses on how NCPs are working to improve their mediation skills.

The conference discussed the results of the project as well as policy recommendations on training and skills development for the creation of an innovative and competitive SME sector in OECD countries.

This paper looks at a study carried out among 80 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in two Canadian cities, Montréal and Winnipeg, based on a survey and case studies, which show the importance of innovation among Canadian SMEs. These innovations in turn create new demands for skill development, both through formal training and in informal activities.

Entrepreneurship and the development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are key drivers of economic growth and job creation. The OECD review series on Boosting Local Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Creation, of which this study is a part, examines the capacity of local economies to support successful new enterprise creation and the growth of small enterprises.

This report presents, for the first time a local ‘green growth’ indicator framework. This indicator framework was developed from the OECD ‘green growth’ strategy at the national level, but modified to highlight issues of transition that are most relevant for local areas.

Private investment in the food and agriculture sectors can enhance productivity, drive job creation and income growth, increase food supply and improve food security, according to panel participants. The panel also recognised the need to attract more private private investment in the food and agriculture sectors, and called on governments to design coherent policy frameworks and implement reforms to improve the investment climate.

The London Apprenticeship Campaign was launched in 2010 to boost the number of apprentices in London. It was developed as part of an ongoing policy focus to tackle long-standing skill shortfalls in the city, shortages which have been constraining employment, social opportunity and productivity.

Growth, Innovation And Competitiveness: Maximising The Benefits Of Knowledge-Based Capital

The OECD, together with the African Development Bank and International Finance Corporation, will assist the Tunisian authorities in implementing a new law on public-private partnerships(PPPs)and a new investment code in order to increase transparency, openness and predictability for investors.

High-growth firms (HGFs) – firms able to grow fast over a short period of time – contribute to most new jobs in advanced economies.

This policy paper provides new evidence on the link of labour market regulation, bankruptcy legislation, financial market development and R&D support policies with growth dynamics. The study goes beyond looking at differences in average growth rates as it analyses changes in the whole distribution of firms.

The GGKP’s second annual conference will be held at the OECD Headquarters in Paris on 4-5 April 2013. The discussion will be framed around two headline themes: Greening global value chains and Measurement and reporting for green growth.

This paper reviews the evidence on emerging thinking and new trends in the sphere of industrial policy. Using a broad and inclusive definition of industrial policy, it proposes a new typology based on the orientation of policy and the policy domain and a framework based on growth accounting, which parallels the evolution of thinking about the rationale for industrial policy interventions.

Government, business, trade and civil society representatives came together at this panel session to discuss the first year of implementation following the 2011 Update of the Guidelines.

Access to finance remains a key challenge for small and medium-sized enterprises and a stumbling block to recovery in most countries, according to a new OECD report.

Participants in this multi-stakeholder meeting launched the Gold Implementation programme and advanced implementation of due diligence in the 3Ts supply chain to ensure that companies avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral or metal purchasing decisions and practices.

This paper examines China’s investment policy since the publication of the 2008 OECD Investment Policy Review of China and recommends that the Chinese government continue its efforts to liberalise and increase the transparency and predictability of the framework for both inward and outward FDI. OECD Working Papers on International Investment - No. 2013/1.

The recent scandal over the use of horsemeat in readymade meals that has shaken the entire European continent has revealed not only the complexity and opacity of our food supply chain, but also–and above all–the shortcomings of European food law.

Technological advances, less costly shipping and trade liberalisation have transformed the way in which companies make products and distribute them worldwide. Governments that become more open to trade and investment, and encourage innovation will help firms better integrate the global value chains that are driving growth in increasingly interconnected economies, according to new OECD research.

New trade data measured in value-added terms shows that services – such as logistics, design, and transportation - are far more important to global commerce than they appear in traditional calculations of exports and imports.

This seminar focused on overcoming challenges to private sector participation in infrastructure in Southern Africa.

To better integrate their economies into Global Value Chains, governments need a fine-tuned understanding of their dynamics and policies, and we have made considerable progress on this front. For example, we have learned that success in international markets depends as much on the capacity to import high-quality inputs as on the capacity to export: intermediate inputs account for over 2/3 of the goods and 70% of the services we trade.

The creation of innovative new firms and the development of SME innovation are strongly influenced by the extent to which localities offer environments that favour the transfer of knowledge to local business and provide the other resources required for innovative firm development, including skills, finance, advice, and supply chain partners.

Business start-up rates remain below pre-crisis levels – particularly in the Euro area – indicating that entrepreneurs may continue to be suffering from restrictive lending conditions, according to new OECD data released in the latest issue of Entrepreneurship at a Glance.

As part of the OECD LEED project on university support for entrepreneurship in eastern Germany, undertaken in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Regional Development, this handbook presents highlights of results of a series of case studies and a university survey.

Many areas like Manisa suffer from a local lack of sophisticated demand in terms of expressed SME requirements. This leaves considerable scope for demand and supply side initiatives set within KOSGEB’s framework that will assist in shaping intervention and promoting a coherent approach to SME development.

Global value chains (GVCs) have become a dominant feature of world trade and investment, offering new prospects for growth, development and jobs, according to a new joint report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Costa Rica today became the 45th country to adhere to an OECD international investment instrument, designed to help the country attract more and better foreign investment and promote responsible business conduct.

Most OECD governments use tax incentives to encourage businesses to invest in research and development (R&D) to boost innovation and drive economic growth. Others, like China, India and South Africa, are doing the same. But reforming these incentives would give countries a better return on their investment and support young innovative firms that play a crucial role in job creation, according to a new OECD report.

Finding new sources of growth right now is tough. And in a time of rising inequality, to do so equitably and fairly is even tougher. Innovation can help, but with budgets stretched to the limit how can governments boost innovation in their economies?

Deputy Minister of National Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Khin San Yee, presented her country’s ambitious efforts to improve the investment climate at meetings of the OECD Investment Committee and Advisory Group on Investment and Development from 15-17 October 2013 in Paris.

Young firms play a crucial role in job creation but have missed out on many of the benefits of structural reforms of the past decade in OECD countries.

This paper highlights the growth in support for financial instruments for seed and early-stage firms across OECD countries. These instruments include grants, loans and guarantee schemes, tax incentives and equity funds. This increased support is linked to the recent financial crisis and the growing concern about young firms’ access to finance.

Global investment activity fell by nearly a third in the second quarter of 2013, after two consecutive quarters of increases, according to preliminary estimates in the October 2013 issue of FDI in Figures.

This Investment Policy Review examines Mozambique's achievements in developing an open and transparent investment regime and its efforts to reduce restrictions on international investment.

Participants in this multi-stakeholder meeting reviewed and discussed the implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and in the 3Ts supply chain to ensure that companies avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral or metal purchasing decisions and practices.

18 November 2013 - Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Week 2013 opened in Bangkok today with a regional conference on responsible business practices jointly organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Jointly organised by the OECD and ESCAP, this conference focused on the role of governments in supporting and facilitating more sustainable and inclusive business practices in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Malaysian government, in partnership with the OECD and ASEAN, has undertaken a review of its investment policies as part of an active programme of investment policy reforms to help revive both foreign and domestic investment.

Jordan has become the 46th country to adhere to the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. This adherence bears witness to the determination that Jordan holds towards strengthening the liberalisation of investment, increasing its integration into the world economy and promoting responsible business conduct.

The productivity compendium provides data and methodological notes and describes the measurement challenges and the data choices that were made, as well as the remaining measurement problems.

The 2013 Annual Report describes the activities undertaken to promote the observance of the Guidelines during the implementation cycle of June 2012-June 2013. This includes the launch of the Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC), the establishment of a Working Party on RBC, and the elaboration of a robust multi-stakeholder proactive agenda to promote the observance of the principles and standards found in the Guidelines.

This report covers investment measures taken between mid May and mid November 2013 and was prepared in response to the G20 Leaders' request of 2 April 2009 for quarterly public reporting on their adherence to their trade and investment policy commitments.