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SMEs and entrepreneurs play a key role in national economies around the world, generating employment and income, contributing to innovation and knowledge diffusion, responding to new or niched demands and social needs, and enhancing social inclusion. However, SMEs are often more affected by business environment conditions and structural policies than larger firms.This report presents comparative evidence on SME performance and trends, and on a broad range of policy areas and business environment conditions that are important for small businesses. The analysis takes into account the multi-dimensionality of SME policy objectives and the significant heterogeneity of the SME population, within and across countries. Data and indicators on framework conditions are complemented with information on recent policy trends in OECD countries. This publication addresses a growing demand by governments for tools to monitor the business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises, and benchmark the effectiveness of policies in creating appropriate conditions for them to flourish and grow.

Skills represent a key driver of development and growth in the Philippines. Educational attainment of the Filipino population has steadily increased in recent decades, but while the country is regionally successful within Southeast Asia, it has yet to reach the standards of more developed countries. This OECD report looks at the implementation of employment and skills development programmes in a sample of cities in the Philippines: Taguig City, Cebu City, and Davao City. Local governments in the Philippines have an active role in the management of employment and skills programmes through Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs). These offices are responsible for the implementation of a number of nationally regulated policies and programmes. All three cities are making a number of investments to better link people to jobs, develop a skilled workforce and attract new investment.

India’s economy continues to grow at an impressive rate, with projected annual GDP growth of 7.5% in 2017-18. India will thus remain the fastest-growing G20 economy. Unprecedented growth in exports in services since the 1990s has made India a global leader in this sector. Inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) grew at three times the annual world average rate in the last decade, reflecting the success of efforts to attract international investment and gradually loosen restrictions to foreign investment. India’s economic successes are being translated into increased well-being for its population. As GDP per capita has more than doubled in ten years, extreme poverty has declined substantially. Access to education has steadily improved, and life expectancy has risen. Multiple opportunities present themselves for India, and the right mix of policies is needed to take advantage of them. India has made advances in integrating in global value chains and developing a competitive advantage in fields such as information and communication technology. Now is the time to secure continued progress by boosting competition and further lowering barriers to trade and investment. Looking to the future, it will be vital to fully tap into the potential offered by India´s young population. This means investing in the large numbers of young people entering the labour market. Likewise, the rapid pace of development must be matched with the upgrades to infrastructure necessary to support it.

Social enterprises are long-standing agents of inclusive growth and democratisation of the economic and social spheres, and they have proved resilient to economic adversity all the while addressing socio-economic challenges in innovative ways, re-integrating people back to the labour market, and contributing to overall social cohesion. This compendium derives policy lessons for boosting social enterprises from the analysis of 20 initiatives in several EU member-countries, covering a range of policy areas from legal frameworks, finance, market access, and support structures, to education and skills.