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Produced as part of the OECD Global Action 'Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems' funded by the European Union, this paper explores the role of the social and solidarity economy (SSE) in implementing and complementing public systems for refugee protection, reception and integration. In particular, it reviews the different activities SSE entities can deploy in support of forcibly displaced populations, asylum seekers and refugees, along their journey from origin through to destination countries. Finally, it offers some policy considerations on how the SSE can help national and local governments identify win-win solutions for refugee and host communities.

This policy paper explores the contribution of platform cooperatives to local development as an alternative model to conventional digital platforms. It considers their role in reducing potential negative effects of the digital transition on local communities and places, as well as the new opportunities they present to provide greater quality of life for local residents. The paper introduces the main features of platform cooperatives, explores their contributions to local development and identifies the challenges to their emergence and expansion. It then provides policy orientations that could support the development of platform cooperatives and enhance their contributions to local development. This paper was produced as part of the OECD Global Action on Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems, funded by the European Union’s Foreign Partnership Instrument.

Scotland (UK) is a strong innovator, ranking among the top 20% of economies among European regions, with strengths in university-firm collaborations and skills for innovation. With close to two-thirds of all growth in productivity from 2010 to 2018 coming from better use of resources in remote rural areas, rural areas are critical to economic prosperity. In addition to the valuable heritage that they offer, rural areas in Scotland have had remarkable achievements over the past decade in terms of economic growth, social innovation and progress for climate mitigation. Unlike the demographic decline perceived in OECD countries, the decline in rural areas of Scotland is much slower. In the case of accessible rural areas, the population is still growing. In part, much of the progress of ensuring well-being in rural areas, is supported by mechanisms to link entrepreneurs with researchers, regional support for entrepreneurs and an established system of social entrepreneurship. This report sets the scene, reviews main policies and programmes impacting rural innovation, and explores the importance of social innovation in rural areas. It provides recommendations to reinforce some of the good practices in Scotland, which is particularly important as the government implements the new National Innovation Strategy.

This working paper examines the role of networks and rural-urban linkages to absorb and enhance innovation in rural regions, placing a special focus on the distinctive characteristics of rural areas that drive the different ways they adopt and diffuse innovation. After a review of the literature on innovation and innovation adoption through networks and linkages for rural areas, three enablers of innovation absorption and diffusion through networks and linkages are discussed: place-based networks focusing on digital infrastructure; linkages between people via migration flows; and firm-based networks including university-industry linkages, international trade and foreign ownership, and clusters. It also provides some policy-takeaways.

Building on strong local roots to address local development challenges, many social and solidarity economy (SSE) entities are increasingly extending their operations internationally. By responding to international social and environmental challenges, SSE entities can help make global value chains more inclusive and sustainable. With the pursuit of a social mission and participatory governance at the core of their operations, SSE entities adopt specific approaches to internationalise their presence. Some internationalise to scale their impact to reach more people and areas, while some do so to deepen their impact on existing target groups by leveraging resources internationally. This paper analyses what SSE internationalisation involves and its specific drivers (chapter 1), trends in SSE internationalisation (chapter 2), competitive advantages and barriers of the SSE for internationalisation (chapter 3), and actionable areas for policy makers to promote its internationalisation (chapter 4).

This paper provides novel evidence on the regional impact of immigration on native employment in a cross-country framework based on rich European Labour Force Surveys and past censuses data for 2010-2019. The paper finds a modest average impact of the rise in the share of immigrants across European regions on the employment-to-population rate of natives, but highly uneven effects over time and across workers and regions. The short-run estimates show adverse employment effects in response to immigration that nevertheless disappear in the longer run. High-school or less educated native workers experience employment losses due to immigration, whereas higher educated workers are more likely to experience employment gains. Moreover, the presence of institutions providing strict employment protection and high coverage of collective wage agreements exert a protective effect on native employment. Finally, the paper finds that regions experiencing strong growth can absorb immigrant workers, resulting in little or no effect on the native workforce, including in the short-run.

Scale-ups, i.e. firms that grow fast over a short period of time, significantly contribute to job creation and economic growth. This study uses granular firm, establishment and employee data to understand how relocations, domestic expansions or foreign acquisitions impact the life cycle of scale-ups. Around 95% of scale-ups remain in their 'home' region over the 2014-20 period, reflecting the importance of their personal local business networks in driving growth. Instead of relocating, many scale-ups create new plants or branches in different regions to serve new customers, tap into new markets, or to gain access to new resources and capabilities. Scale-ups that relocate or expand continue to grow. However, relocations and expansions can be a challenge for talent retention, as they may lead existing employees to find other opportunities in new places. Foreign capital appears to support the scale-ups’ growth process. Across the five Nordic countries, between 6% and 20% of scale-ups became foreign owned between 2014 and 2020.

By 2050, the global population living in cities is projected to reach 5 billion, growing from 3.5 billion in 2015. Massive investment in infrastructure will be needed to accommodate this growth, and to adapt infrastructure to climate change and benefit from the digital transition. This report explores three ways to meet this challenge. Firstly, it outlines how new forms of urban planning can help to mobilise private finance for inclusive, resilient and sustainable urban investment. Secondly, it explores how leveraging private investment can help to strengthen cities capacity to support needed investment in a tighter fiscal environment. Finally, it considers the potential opportunities and challenges for mobilising sustainable finance – green, social and sustainable bonds and loans, sustainability-linked bonds and catastrophe bonds – for infrastructure investment by City Governments. The report also includes 17 short case studies from 12 countries that demonstrate innovative practices for creating the Cities of Tomorrow.

This paper analyses persistence and change in the regional league table of entrepreneurship performance in the United States in comparison with England and Wales and West Germany. It examines whether regional rankings in start-up and self-employment rates in the United States are as sticky over time as in these European countries over approximately century, half-century and 30-year periods, or whether the United States is different. It identifies the types of regions that improve markedly ('leapfroggers') or decline sharply ('plungers') in their league table positions and the reasons for these changes and compares the countries on these issues. The paper draws out policy implications on regional levelling-up of entrepreneurship activity. It also sets out an agenda for further research.