Cultivating successful entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship is critical for innovation, job creation and inclusion.

What's the issue?

Entrepreneurship is at the heart of national and local economic growth. By innovating and seizing opportunities, entrepreneurs drive national and local economic change and competitiveness.

But there are many barriers to entrepreneurship that policy must address – obstacles in the regulatory environment, access to finance, exploitation of knowledge from research, skills for entrepreneurship, and ensuring that women, youth and people from all social groups have an opportunity to create successful businesses.

What can the OECD offer?

We provide analysis and guidance on entrepreneurship policies at the level of countries, regions and social groups. Our case studies and reviews range across all the key challenges for policy makers in entrepreneurship development. At regional level, we examine the obstacles and enablers of entrepreneurship for industrial transition and growth.

AREAS OF WORK

Entrepreneurship for all

This OECD-EC project examines the barriers faced by disadvantaged groups to business creation.

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EECOLE

The OECD’s new EECOLE (Entrepreneurship Education Collaboration and Engagement) network serves as a platform for strategic collaboration between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), business, finance, policy makers and civil society. The EECOLE network aims to promote place-responsive HEIs that contribute to economic and social prosperity in their communities and networks. The network includes three “strands”, referred to as “Task and Finish Groups”:

1) the geography of higher education,
2) entrepreneurship education,
3) Higher education and the SDGs.

Click here for more information.

Events and other areas of work

The OECD conducts work on business development services, local entrepreneurship ecosystems and entrepreneurship policy evaluation, and is also holding webinars on entrepreneurship policy throughout COVID-19.