The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between an entrepreneur's experience and education and his/her reliance on alternative sources of knowledge for exploring new business opportunities. The extant literature that is at the crossroads between sources of knowledge and the...

Until recently a lack of data meant that little was known about the distribution of firms and firm dynamics in South Africa. A new firm-level panel dataset based on tax data creates opportunities to better understand how firms enter, grow and exit. By using the OECD’s DynEmp framework, which...

Intellectual property protection mechanisms (IPPMs) are critical to fostering innovation and their relevance has grown enormously with the increased trade in goods and services involving intellectual property. Scholars have investigated what factors facilitate or hinder the use of such IP...

This report identifies effective approaches adopted by countries to implement the G20/OECD High-Level Principles on SME Financing, welcomed by the G20 Leaders at their Antalya Summit in 2015. It draws on participating countries’ replies to dedicated surveys. In total, 40 countries participated...

The present report analyses the extent to which capital markets have provided capital to SMEs since the GFC, focusing on three kinds of financial instruments that have proven especially important in providing finance to SMEs undergoing major transitions during the past few years: Private Equity;...

This policy brief examines the phenomenon of home-based entrepreneurship. It provides information on the types of businesses that entrepreneurs are most likely to operate out of the home, their reasons for this choice, and barriers to the development of home-based businesses. It examines how...

The document sets out how intangible assets can be relevant for SMEs to obtain external funding; the challenges and opportunities in this area; and the rationale for policy intervention. It provides some policy trends from a selected group of countries and concludes with some issues to be...

This paper provides a first assessment of the degree to which public research contributes to innovative entrepreneurship, using data on start-ups and venture capital (VC). It looks at academic start-ups founded by recent undergraduates and doctorate students or researchers. It shows that...

This policy brief assesses the potential of entrepreneurship to be used as a tool for the integration of refugees into the labour market. It discusses the challenges faced in business creation by these potential entrepreneurs, as well as the opportunities created by their situation. It also...

Based on an extensive review of the academic and policy literature, this paper focuses on the role of managerial skills, workforce skills and business linkages in enhancing SME productivity. The paper is structured as follows. First, it presents estimates on productivity gaps by firm size to...