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Ces dernières années, l'économie mondiale a subi de profonds chocs qui ont eu un impact considérable sur les petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) et les entrepreneurs. Alors qu'un soutien gouvernemental rapide et massif a permis à ces entreprises de faire face aux conséquences économiques directes de la pandémie de COVID-19, de nouvelles menaces surgissent. La montée des tensions géopolitiques et des risques financiers mondiaux, une inflation élevée, le resserrement des politiques monétaires et fiscales, les pénuries de main-d'œuvre, les barrières commerciales et le ralentissement de l'intégration aux chaînes de valeur mondiales sont autant de facteurs qui contribuent à rendre l'environnement commercial des PME hostile. De plus, il est urgent d’accélérer leur contribution aux transitions verte et numérique, et de les aider à mieux s’orienter sur la scène internationale où les échanges et les investissements sont aujourd’hui en pleine mutation. Dans ce contexte, les Perspectives de l'OCDE sur les PME et l'entrepreneuriat 2023 abordent les tendances récentes en termes de performance des PME, l'évolution de leurs conditions d'activité ainsi que les implications pour l'action publique qui en découlent. Cette publication se penche également sur le thème général de l'intégration des PME à toute une série de réseaux, notamment les réseaux mondiaux de production et de chaînes d'approvisionnement, le rôle des entreprises dirigées par des femmes dans les échanges internationaux, les réseaux de connaissances et d'innovation, et les écosystèmes de compétences. De plus, l'accent est placé sur les politiques mises en place pour faciliter l'accès des PME à ces réseaux afin de leur permettre de tirer pleinement parti des transformations qu’elles subissent actuellement. Dans sa seconde partie, le rapport propose des profils statistiques nationaux qui comparent chacun des 38 pays de l'OCDE à travers toute une série d'indicateurs-clés.

As in most OECD countries, obtaining good-quality housing in a location facilitating access to jobs, public services and amenities can be very challenging for Italian households with low or unstable income. This book sheds light on access to housing in Italy from two different, complementary vantage points. First, it puts the Italian housing market in international perspective using OECD statistics and analysis to compare housing policies and outcomes in Italy to other OECD countries. Second, it zooms in on selected Italian innovative housing projects, where it asks residents and other stakeholders about their experiences with these initiatives: what were their difficulties, how have the projects been designed and developed, what did the projects bring to them?

Smart cities leverage technologies, in particular digital, to generate a vast amount of real-time data to inform policy- and decision-making for an efficient and effective public service delivery. Their success largely depends on the availability and effective use of data. However, the amount of data generated is growing more rapidly than governments’ capacity to store and process them, and the growing number of stakeholders involved in data production, analysis and storage pushes cities data management capacity to the limit. Despite the wide range of local and national initiatives to enhance smart city data governance, urban data is still a challenge for national and city governments due to: insufficient financial resources; lack of business models for financing and refinancing of data collection; limited access to skilled experts; the lack of full compliance with the national legislation on data sharing and protection; and data and security risks. Facing these challenges is essential to managing and sharing data sensibly if cities are to boost citizens’ well-being and promote sustainable environments.

Au cours de la dernière décennie, le marché du travail de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale s’est amélioré. De nombreuses offres de travail ouvrent des possibilités pour des travailleurs hautement qualifiés, faisant de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale une destination importante pour les talents belges, européens et internationaux. Or, malgré les perspectives de carrière offertes par la région, un nombre important de résidents est exclu du monde du travail. Les travailleurs moins diplômés se font concurrence pour un nombre de postes limités, en dépit des pénuries observées sur le marché du travail. Les facteurs qui mènent à l’exclusion de certains bruxellois et les solutions pour y remédier, doivent être un pilier de toute vision d’avenir de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale. Le marché du travail bruxellois récompense la formation. Faciliter l’accès aux formations disponibles en Région est donc une priorité, notamment pour qu’elles soient adaptées aux différents besoins de la population. Réduire les entraves à la formation est un autre levier d’action. Pour le service public de l'emploi, la simplification des parcours, la mobilité géographique des chercheurs d’emplois moins diplômés et une meilleure prise en compte de la dimension migratoire de l'exclusion peuvent, chacune à leur manière, aider un plus grand nombre de bruxellois à trouver un emploi de qualité.

The rise of remote working in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic may have reshaped people’s preferences on residential locations, thus generating a new geography of housing demand. So far, the literature has mainly focused on what has become known as the 'doughnut effect', the hollowing out of large metropolitan centres towards their respective suburban areas ('commuting zones'). However, changes in residential preferences might have affected urban and rural living in more nuanced ways. This paper shows that changes in relative house prices – a proxy for short-term changes in demand for home ownership ('housing demand') – have gone beyond the metropolitan boundaries, consistent with the idea of longer but less frequent home to work commuting. Interestingly, we are not seeing a re-emerging preference for rural life as such but, rather, a desire to move to places that combine the benefits of rural and urban life. In the areas outside the main metropolitan centres but within the commuting zones, housing demand has increased the most in low density, more affordable, settlements (rural). In contrast, beyond the boundaries of large metropolitan areas, where most space tends to be rural, housing demand has increased the most in high-density settlements (cities).

Located in the state of Western Australia, the Pilbara is a large region and one of the least densely populated within the OECD. The Pilbara's mining sector is a top supplier of iron ore in the world, which has fuelled the economic growth of both the state and the country. While Pilbara’s industrialisation is relatively recent, dating back to the 1960s, First Nations peoples have inhabited the region for approximately 50 000 years. Despite the wealth generated by mining and extractive industries, the Pilbara faces important challenges to improve its attractiveness and well-being standards, especially for First Nations and non-mining workers. Well-being challenges also stifle growth opportunities and responsible mining investments in the region. The green transition presents the Pilbara with an opportunity to diversify its economy and improve well-being conditions of its communities, while becoming a strategic player in the global shift towards more sustainable mining. This study offers guidance on how the Pilbara can shape a more inclusive and sustainable development model that supports economic diversification and prioritises improving the living conditions of its communities, particularly First Nations.

In recent years, international development co-operation has undergone a transition from a conventional donor-recipient model to a partnership-centred approach, including with regions and cities. Friuli Venezia Giulia, a small region in north-eastern Italy with extensive policy autonomy, has been active in international co-operation and is seeking to get more out of its actions both for the region and with its co-operation partners around the world. This paper evaluates its strategy on international partnership and co-operation and proposes recommendations, including more targeted initiatives that leverage the expertise of the region for greater impact in partner countries and for local benefits.

Antofagasta is a world leader in copper and lithium production, with strategic importance for the global energy transition and for the economic development of Chile. Located in north Chile, Antofagasta is carved by the natural contours of the Atacama Desert and home to diverse Indigenous communities. Despite the wealth brought by mining, communities in Antofagasta lag on a number of well-being dimensions. At the same time, Antofagasta’s mining industry is entering a new phase of development, driven by the expected surge in global demand for its minerals and the imperative to adapt to the green and digital transitions. Against this backdrop, a new development vision with a long-term strategy is warranted in the region to leverage mining benefits to improve well-being standards and take advantage of the opportunities brought by the digital and green transition in mining. This study presents the diagnosis, rationale and building blocks for a new mining strategy in the region of Antofagasta, Chile that prioritises well-being standards and opportunities for local communities. This medium and long-term strategy aims to create a new pact amongst different societal stakeholders to build trust and unite efforts for more inclusive and sustainable growth in the region.

Platform cooperatives refer to cooperatives that are directly owned and managed by their members and that use websites and/or mobile apps to sell goods and/or services. They have emerged in large part as alternatives to digital labour platforms to promote better working conditions with evidence of significant growth in recent years. This paper provides an overview of employment in platform cooperatives and offers insights on their distinctive features. In particular, it provides i) insights on working conditions associated with such platforms; ii) an overview on the challenges they face in creating jobs as well as scaling up, developing and expanding their activity; and iii) policy recommendations and examples of policy actions that could help policy makers best support them to generate work opportunities and enhance job quality. 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.