Reports

This paper investigates the link between gender diversity in senior management and firm-level productivity. For this purpose, it constructs a novel cross-country dataset with information on firms’ senior management group and other firm characteristics, covering both publicly listed and unlisted firms in manufacturing and non-financial market services across nine OECD countries. The main result from the analysis is that productivity gains from increasing gender diversity in senior management are highest among firms with low initial diversity. Increasing the female share to the sample average of 20% in firms with initially lower shares would increase aggregate productivity by around 0.6%. This suggests that improving women’s access to senior management positions matters not only for equity but could yield significant productivity gains.

This case study assesses the strategies of the Museum of Lisbon as well as the related policies of Lisbon City Council to support local development. Through its five branches located across the city and its diverse partnerships with local stakeholders, the Museum of Lisbon has cemented its role as a community anchor institution. This case study focuses on the five dimensions featured in the OECD-ICOM Guide for Local Governments, Communities and Museums, namely the role of museums in: i) economic development, ii) urban regeneration, iii) education and creativity, iv) inclusion, health and well-being, and on iv) ways to mainstream the role of museums in local development.

Banks and other financial institutions have a central role to play in supporting the net zero transition of the business sector and its millions of SMEs. They are working to integrate climate considerations in various aspects of their operations, including strategy, management and financial products. This calls for the development of new internal capacities and access to SME sustainability data and assessments which are currently difficult to obtain. This policy paper presents the findings of a 2023 survey of public development banks and private financial institutions, conducted by the by the OECD Platform on Financing SMEs for Sustainability. It provides insights on financial institutions' current approaches and plans for the integration of climate considerations in their SME operations. It also provides information on the offer of finance and non-financial support for SMEs’ net zero investments and on related SME climate-related data requirements.

Industry decarbonisation is a cornerstone to reach net-zero emissions by this mid-century. The diversity of industrial activities, processes and products, the complexity of global industrial value chains, and the international competition make industry decarbonisation a challenging objective. Annual investments in low-carbon technologies for industry decarbonisation need to increase by a factor of three to five by 2030 compared to current levels to align industrial emissions with net-zero pathways. This paper analyses available financing solutions to scale up investments at pace, especially in emerging and developing economies where industrial production is growing rapidly whilst available finance is limited. It highlights de-risking and financial instruments and models that can help accelerate investments and draws lessons from twelve financing industry decarbonisation case studies which demonstrate how private capital can be mobilised.

Ce rapport évalue l'état actuel et le potentiel futur des secteurs de la culture et de la création (SCC) dans les neuf régions ultrapériphériques de l'Union européenne : la Guadeloupe, la Guyane française, la Martinique, Mayotte, la Réunion et Saint-Martin (France) ; les Açores et Madère (Portugal) ; et les îles Canaries (Espagne). Les tendances mondiales, telles que l’augmentation du tourisme culturel, le commerce des biens et services créatifs et les IDE dans les SCC, offrent aux RUP de l’UE d’importantes opportunités de développer leurs secteurs de la culture et de la création, de promouvoir les synergies avec le tourisme et de contribuer à la création d’emplois. En outre, les politiques de SCC peuvent également améliorer le bien-être et la cohésion sociale en préservant et en promouvant le patrimoine culturel local et en encourageant la participation culturelle. Une politique de SCC qui capitalise sur ces tendances mondiales, tout en reconnaissant le contexte spécifique des RUP de l'UE, pourrait contribuer à promouvoir ces domaines et à contribuer au développement local.

Ireland is home to a vibrant social enterprise community, active in essential sectors such as health, care, and education, as well as local development and cultural and creative sectors. This report provides an in-depth analysis of social entrepreneurship and social enterprises in Ireland. It identifies the country’s strengths and challenges and provides policy recommendations. An action plan with concrete and actionable measures is also provided to support Ireland in the development of its new national social enterprise policy. Following an overview of the socio-economic landscape (Chapter 1), the report describes factors underpinning social entrepreneurship, social enterprises and the social economy in the context of Ireland (Chapter 2); analyses the institutional and legal framework around social enterprises (Chapter 3); explores conditions and opportunities for access to finance and funding (Chapter 4); navigates developments in access to public and private markets for social enterprises (Chapter 5); looks at the existing state of social impact measurement and data availability on social enterprises (Chapter 6) and concludes with skills and business development for social entrepreneurship (Chapter 7).

When it comes to high-tech innovations, the United States leads the path amongst OECD economies. However, in the context of the national record-breaking activities in high tech innovation, there lies distinct and growing geographical disparities. This report dives into strategies for better understanding innovation that occurs in rural places, and places outside major metropolitan areas, often going beyond science and technology. It provides analysis and recommendations to support regional development initiatives aimed at closing the gaps in innovation between rural and urban areas. The report includes a special topic chapter on the role of broadband and education in rural areas, exploring trends and providing policy recommendations to enhance rural innovation through these specific and critical framework conditions.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is one of the largest and most ambitious research infrastructure ever to be built. South Africa will be hosting one of its two main sites. The decision to host such an ambitious project for a middle-income country required careful consideration of the potential benefits and the associated risks for the socio-economic development of the country and the region more broadly. This working paper describes how the potential impact of SKA for South Africa was envisaged from the start of the project, how this was integrated in the project development, what policy initiatives and interventions were taken to maximize impact and the lessons learned, from South Africa’s science policy perspective, during the early phases of the development of the SKA.

At a time when global trade is under pressure and countries increasingly turn to regional integration to support their development, this Spotlight is a timely read for policy makers and business leaders in Africa and beyond. It shows how harnessing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) can support industrialisation in Egypt, and more widely in Africa, by tapping the full potential of regional supply chains, including renewable energies, pharmaceuticals, logistics and creative industries. This report builds on and enriches the Production Transformation Policy Review of Egypt: Embracing Change, Achieving Prosperity.

Produced as part of the OECD Global Action 'Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems' funded by the European Union, it explores the potential of procurement from the social and solidarity economy in creating social dividends, takes stock of global trends in social procurement among both public and private buyers, identifies challenges in access to markets for social and solidarity economy entities, and finally, provides concrete recommendations for policy makers on how to overcome them.