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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.

This publication focuses on business dynamics across eight countries (Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom) and over time, building upon the evidence collected in the framework of the OECD DynEmp project for 22 countries. It provides new evidence on firms’ heterogeneous responses to shocks (notably the recent financial crisis) in order to evaluate how policies and framework conditions across different firms and countries can foster both employment and productivity growth.

The G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance help policy makers evaluate and improve the legal, regulatory, and institutional framework for corporate governance, with a view to supporting economic efficiency, sustainable growth and financial stability. They are one of the Key Standards for Sound Financial Systems adopted by the Financial Stability Board (FSB). The associated Methodology for Assessing the Implementation of the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance was developed by the OECD Corporate Governance Committee, with the participation of the World Bank, to underpin an assessment of the implementation of the Principles in a jurisdiction and to provide a framework for policy discussions, for example in the context of the Reviews of Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSCs) or other country assessments. This latest version incorporates changes that were made to the Principles during the 2015 review as well as a number of additional clarifications.

The Mexico Tourism Policy Review provides an assessment of tourism-related policies, programmes and plans to support sustainable tourism development in Mexico. Policy recommendations focus on priority areas to help strengthen Mexico's tourism sector and take advantage of opportunities with strong potential for economic growth, investment and development, notably in the following areas: policy-making environment and governance arrangements; transport, mobility and connectivity for visitor travel; inclusive tourism growth, destination development and product and regional diversification; and investment and SME financing.

This second edition of Job Creation and Local Economic Development examines how national and local actors can better work together to support economic development and job creation at the local level. It sheds light on a continuum of issues – from how skills policy can better meet the needs of local communities to how local actors can better engage employers in apprenticeships and improve the implementation of SME and entrepreneurship policy. It includes international comparisons that allow local areas to take stock of how they are performing in the marketplace for skills and jobs. It also includes a set of country profiles featuring, among other things, new data on skills supply and demand at the level of OECD sub-regions (TL3).

This report examines Israel’s performance in stimulating SMEs and entrepreneurship and makes recommendations for government policy. A dual economy has gradually emerged in Israel, in which high rates of successful technology-based entrepreneurship contrast with low average productivity and growth in traditional SMEs. Israel has excellent framework conditions and programmes for technology-based start-ups and SMEs in areas such as R&D, high-level skills generation and venture capital finance. These strengths need to be maintained. At the same time, more needs to be done to spread success to all types of SMEs and all groups of the Israeli population. This report recommends a range of new and expanded interventions for example in access to credit, broad innovation, workforce skills development, management support and entrepreneurship education. It recommends underpinning these actions with a national SME and entrepreneurship policy strategy and new arrangements for inter-ministerial co-ordination.

Start-ups are gaining momentum in Latin America. Start-up Latin America 2016: Building an innovative future reviews the dynamics of start-ups and the policies for start-up promotion in four countries in the region –  Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The report reviews the policy mix for start-up promotion and highlights the progress made by each country and future challenges. It identifies good practices in promoting start-ups and lessons learned in Latin America in the design and implementation of policies.

National intellectual property (IP) systems can play a pivotal role in fostering innovation and knowledge diffusion. This report analyses Kazakhstan’s IP system with regards to its support of the country’s innovation performance. In particular, it assesses the organisation and governance of Kazakhstan's IP system as well as the needs and challenges faced by different groups of actual and potential IP users – ranging from universities and public research institutions to state-owned enterprises and small businesses. The review provides a comprehensive set of statistics describing the use of IP in Kazakhstan in recent years, identifies the system’s strengths and weaknesses, and presents a range of specific policy recommendations to address existing challenges.