Denmark
Start-ups and scale-ups often make outsized contributions to innovation and job creation. However, while entrepreneurial ecosystems in countries and regions are increasingly studied, less is known about differences by sector. What role do start-ups and scale-ups play in the development of different future growth sectors? What problems and bottlenecks does government policy need to address? To what extent do the start-up and scale-up contributions and obstacles vary by sector, and what is in common across sectors? This report examines the entrepreneurial ecosystems of three of Denmark's sector strongholds, sectors where future growth is likely to be generated - advanced production, energy technology and food and bio resources. A focus on Denmark includes the scale and nature of start-ups and scale-ups in different sectors, the bottlenecks, the current policies and how they can be refined. In addition, nine international policy experiences are presented as inspiring practices for Denmark and other countries - covering Austria, Canada, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Recommendations are offered for Denmark across areas such as entrepreneurial finance, networks, public procurement, and cluster management organisations, covering both cross-sector and sector-specific recommendations.
Denmark has been a frontrunner in policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and now plans to cut emissions by 70% by 2030 from 1990 levels and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Such ambition induces halving emissions from 2019 levels and making the same emission abatement effort in ten years than the past thirty years. Cutting emissions at such fast pace will be challenging with substantial disruptions and macroeconomic consequences. A balanced mix of pricing policies, public investment, regulation and enabling policies should allow smoothing the potential economic and social shocks and accompanying the reallocation of resources.
This paper investigates further sectoral climate strategies in Denmark. In the energy sector (electricity and district heating), past progress made to ramp up clean technologies provides a good blueprint to achieve further decarbonisation, but the focus will need to be put soon on lowering reliance on woody biomass. In the transport sector, emissions have continued to increase despite the shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles, highlighting the need for more transformative policies to expand alternatives to individual car uses. In agriculture, little has been done so far to cut emissions, especially from livestock. The sector is subject to leakage risks, but nonetheless should be encouraged to transform its practices. Helping farmers to monitor their GHG emissions should be combined with more stringent regulation.
L’économie danoise s’est redressée rapidement après la crise liée au COVID-19. Les mesures prises promptement pour soutenir les entreprises et les ménages ont limité la contraction de l’activité économique, qui a été l’une des plus modérées en Europe, tandis que le déploiement rapide des vaccins a permis une levée des restrictions d’activités et un redémarrage précoce de l’économie. Les pouvoirs publics devraient continuer de réduire le soutien apporté à l’économie dans les secteurs où l’activité s’est redressée, tout en restant flexibles compte tenu de l’incertitude qui entoure la situation sanitaire et économique à l’échelle mondiale. La politique monétaire devrait conserver une orientation très expansionniste, si bien qu’il sera encore plus important que les autorités soient prêtes à durcir la réglementation macroprudentielle si les risques découlant de la hausse rapide des prix des logements continuent de s’accentuer. Les jeunes, les personnes nées à l’étranger et les individus ayant un faible niveau de formation ont été les plus durement touchés par la crise, et les pouvoirs publics devraient soutenir ces groupes. La réalisation de nouveaux progrès en matière de réduction des disparités entre hommes et femmes revêt également une importance prioritaire. Grâce à une transition rapide vers les énergies renouvelables, le Danemark est à l’avant-garde de la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre, et il s’est fixé des objectifs ambitieux et juridiquement contraignants consistant à réduire ses émissions de 70 % d’ici à 2030 et à parvenir à la neutralité carbone d’ici à 2050. La concrétisation de ces objectifs contribuerait aux efforts de maîtrise du changement climatique déployés à l’échelle mondiale, mais cette transition sera lourde de conséquences macroéconomiques et présentera des risques financiers importants. Il est donc crucial d’adopter une stratégie de réduction des émissions qui soit économiquement efficiente, inclusive et globale.
THÈME SPÉCIAL : POLITIQUE CLIMATIQUE
The Danish economy has recovered quickly from the COVID-19 crisis. Rapid action to support firms and households contained the economic contraction to one of the mildest in Europe, while fast vaccine rollout enabled the removal of shutdown restrictions and an early reopening. Policy support should continue to be removed where activity has recovered, though the uncertain worldwide health and economic situation warrants ongoing flexibility. Monetary policy is set to remain strongly expansionary, increasing the importance of being ready to tighten macroprudential regulation if risks from rapid house price appreciation continue to build. The crisis was worse for the young, the foreign-born and those with low educational attainment and policy should support these groups. Further progress in reducing gender gaps is also a priority. Denmark has been a frontrunner in cutting its greenhouse gas emissions through a rapid shift to renewable energy and has set an ambitious legal commitment to reduce emissions by 70% by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Achieving these targets would contribute to global efforts to control climate change, but the transition will have large macroeconomic consequences and entail significant financial risk. This makes it crucial to adopt a cost-effective, inclusive and comprehensive strategy to cut emissions.
SPECIAL FEATURES: CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY
This profile provides a concise and policy-relevant overview of health and the health system in Denmark as part of the broader series of the State of Health in the EU country profiles. It provides a short synthesis of: the health status in the country; the determinants of health, focussing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the health system; and the effectiveness, accessibility and resilience of the health system. This edition has a special focus on the impact of COVID‑19.
This profile is the joint work of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, in co-operation with the European Commission.
The thematic policy brief on Resourcing Higher Education in Denmark is the first in a series of thematic policy briefs produced as part of the OECD's Resourcing Higher Education Project. This project aims to develop a shared knowledge base for OECD member and partner countries on effective policies for higher education resourcing through system-specific and comparative policy analysis. In 2017, Denmark embarked on an ambitious reform of its system for funding higher education institutions, aiming to improve teaching quality, graduates’ transition to the labour market and institutional leadership and profiling. Developed for the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, the thematic policy brief compares the Danish system for funding higher education institutions with systems in peer OECD jurisdictions, focusing on the design of different components of the funding model, the use of performance-related mechanisms elements and mechanisms to promote social inclusion and the regional coverage of the higher education system. The brief identifies policy issues that may warrant further attention as part of a planned future review of the Danish funding system.
Le Comité d’aide au développement (CAD) de l’OCDE mène tous les cinq à six ans un examen par les pairs qui passe en revue les efforts de coopération pour le développement de chacun de ses membres. Ces examens visent à améliorer la qualité et l’efficacité de leur coopération pour le développement, en mettant en évidence les bonnes pratiques et en recommandant des améliorations.
La coopération danoise pour le développement fait partie intégrante de la politique étrangère du pays. Le soutien de la sphère politique et de l’opinion publique permet au Danemark de consacrer 0.7 % de son revenu national brut à l’aide publique au développement. Les thématiques du changement climatique et des migrations irrégulières façonnent l'approche du Danemark en matière de coopération au développement. Une meilleure intégration des objectifs climatiques dans l’ensemble du portefeuille de coopération serait complémentaire aux investissements substantiels que le Danemark consacre à la diplomatie climatique. Chef de file mondial des interventions dans les contextes fragiles, le Danemark pourrait mieux mettre en œuvre la composante « paix » du lien entre humanitaire, développement et paix. L’approche consistant à pratiquer le développement autrement (Doing Development Differently) permet d'instaurer de la souplesse dans les budgets et de nouer des partenariats fondés sur la confiance. Le Danemark pourrait mieux intégrer la lutte contre la pauvreté dans l’ensemble de son programme. Il restaure ses effectifs et développe les compétences et les connaissances dont il a besoin.
The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) conducts peer reviews of individual members once every five to six years. Reviews seek to improve the quality and effectiveness of members’ development co-operation, highlighting good practices and recommending improvements.
Denmark’s development co‑operation is integrated into its foreign policy. Broad political and public support enables Denmark to provide 0.7% of its national income as official development assistance. Denmark champions gender equality, human rights and democracy, supports transparent communication and empowers its partners. Climate change and irregular migration shape Denmark’s approach to development co-operation. Mainstreaming climate objectives would complement Denmark’s significant investments in climate diplomacy. A global leader in fragile contexts, Denmark could better implement the peace component of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. The Doing Development Differently approach enables flexible budgets and trusting partnerships. Denmark could better integrate poverty reduction across its programme.
This reliable source of yearly data covers a wide range of statistics on international trade of OECD countries and provides detailed data in value by commodity and by partner country. The first four volumes each contain the tables for six countries, published in the order in which they become available. The fifth contains seven countries and the sixth volume also includes the OECD country groupings OECD Total and EU28-Extra.
For each country, this publication shows detailed tables relating to the Harmonised System HS 2012 classification, Sections and Divisions (one- and two- digit). Each table presents imports and exports of a given commodity with more than seventy partner countries or country groupings for the most recent five-year period available.
Increasing productivity at farm level is a key policy objective across most countries and fundamental to the overall performance of agricultural and food systems. This paper applies dynamic statistical methods to farm level data in order to identify the determinants of farm performance over time, in terms of productivity and measures of local sustainability. The analysis sheds light on the effects of policies on productivity, and the links between productivity and sustainability outcomes. It draws on key findings from seven case studies: crop farms in Australia, France, Italy and the United Kingdom (England and Wales); and dairy farms in the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway, with different sample periods, from the most recent three decades to the last five years. A key finding is that policy changes increasing the degree of decoupling of payments have a positive impact on productivity. Furthermore, with the right incentives, productivity growth can be more locally sustainable insofar as farms can produce more output with less inputs that harm the environment. The detailed background work on the seven samples of crops and dairy farms in the above countries is available in OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Paper N°165.
This paper provides detailed farm level data evidence on the dynamics of farm performance from case studies covering crop farms in Australia, France, Italy and the United Kingdom (England and Wales), and dairy farms in the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway, with different recent sample periods of five to thirty years. An increase in productivity over time is common to all countries and most crop farm classes, but productivity dynamics vary significantly. In Australia, strong productivity growth among the most productive crop farms has led to an increase in the gap between the highest and lowest performing farms; whereas in France, Italy and the United Kingdom, productivity growth was weak among the most productive crop farms and the lowest performing farms closed the productivity gap. Productivity also increased among dairy farms, with an increasing gap between the most and the least productive farm classes in the three sample countries. The impact of policy changes on performance dynamics is analysed for decoupled payments in France and England, and dairy payments in the Czech Republic. The main findings across countries and policy implications are discussed in OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Paper N°164.
STRING is a political cross-border organisation spanning five cities (the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Copenhagen, Malmö, Gothenburg and Oslo) and eight regions (Schleswig-Holstein, Region of Southern Denmark, Region Zealand, Capital Region of Denmark, Region Skåne, Region Halland, Västra Götalandsregionen and Viken County) across Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Home to around 14 million inhabitants, STRING has good potential to become a leading European megaregion and an internationally acknowledged Green Hub if governments “think big” and work together beyond their own boundaries. Building on its green expertise and high levels of innovation and quality of life, STRING could take advantage of current opportunities such as the construction of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link to reap the benefits of agglomeration economies and establish itself as a sustainable megaregion. However, time is of the essence. Seizing the political momentum of the coming decade, including the momentum to support a green recovery from COVID-19, will be critical to advance STRING’s green vision and shape a future-proof economic model.
Sound and timely data and statistics are essential for designing better policies for better lives. When the right data are available and used by policy makers, they play a crucial role in managing crises, as revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are also indispensable for transparent and accountable delivery of policies and services and to guide business and investment decisions in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The first 2021 edition of the OECD’s Data for Development Profiles is a unique source of information and insights on how members of the Development Co-operation Committee (DAC) allocate official development assistance (ODA) to statistical capacity development and strengthening data ecosystems in low and middle income countries. By providing a comprehensive overview of members’ data and statistical policy priorities, strategies, funding, delivery modalities and partnerships, the profiles serve as a baseline for co-ordinating international support and highlight ways forward for greater impact and effectiveness.
The Impact of Regulation on International Investment in Finland examines what drives FDI into Finland and which domestic regulatory aspects may discourage foreign investment. The report analyses trends in FDI flows towards Finland and other Nordic-Baltic countries and discusses the benefits of foreign investment for the Finnish economy. It provides a comparative overview of the regulatory frameworks in force in Finland and its Nordic-Baltic peers, outlining both economy-wide and sector-specific findings, and explores how changes in these regulatory frameworks are linked to changes in FDI inflows in the region. Foreign investors’ views on Finland’s business environment complement these findings. The report underlines potential areas for reform and suggests policy actions that could further improve Finland’s investment climate and contribute to attracting and retaining more FDI, while also strengthening its positive impact.
This policy brief discusses recent international policy experiences in developing e-learning and digital business diagnostic tools for entrepreneurs. E-learning tools can develop entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and competences among users and increase their confidence and success in business creation. Business diagnostic tools offer entrepreneurs ways to assess their business management practices against peer companies or good practices, building competence and diffusing good practice. This brief sets out considerations for the successful development and implementation of these tools. It presents eight international cases of tools and discusses the public policy lessons from these international experiences.
The Arctic is a vital region that helps preserve the balance of the global climate. The Arctic environment is particularly sensitive to short-lived climate pollutants, including black carbon, due to their strong warming effect. With ambitious policy action to reduce air pollutants, Arctic Council countries would obtain a positive effect on health and the environment throughout their territory, while also helping to slow down climate change by reducing emissions of black carbon. This report calls for ambitious policy action to reduce air pollution in Arctic Council countries, highlighting the environmental, health, and economic benefits from policy action.
This dataset contains data on metropolitan regions with demographic, labour, innovation and economic statistics by population, regional surface, population density, labour force, employment, unemployment, GDP, GDP per capita, PCT patent applications, and elderly dependency ratio.
The bulk of government investment is done at the local level in OECD countries, representing on average 41% of total public investment. Most studies on subnational government debt focus on the regional or state level, and very few studies analyse public investment specifically by local governments. This paper aims at filling this gap, presenting a framework to analyse the key factors, which affect the capacity of local governments to fund and finance public investment, and illustrates the framework with five case studies: Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands and New Zealand.
This dataset comprises statistics on different transactions and balances to get from the GDP to the net lending/borrowing. It includes national disposable income (gross and net), consumption of fixed capital as well as net savings. It also includes transaction components such as net current transfers and net capital transfers. Data are expressed in millions of national currency as well as US dollars and available in both current and constant prices. Data are provided from 1950 onwards.