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After a brief overview of current financing difficulties for SMEs and policy measures to support SME lending during the crisis,this article presents a literature review related to difficulties in SME’s access to finance during the crisis, against a background of a sharp decline in bank profitability and an erosion of bank capital that negatively affected lending. The articles reviewed are classified according to four main issues of interest:the impairment of the bank-credit channel and its economic effects;factors potentially attenuating the effect of a financial squeeze;the role of global banking in mitigating but also transmitting financial shocks; and,looking ahead,issues related to so-called “credit-less recoveries” that should be relevant in guiding policy makers in the current environment of financial deleveraging. All the results hold important implications for policy making given the bail-outs and the large injections ofliquidity by central banks during the crisis.
Digitalisation has triggered a profound transformation of the retail sector, primarily composed of SMEs. While retail businesses are embracing more hybrid practices of managing online and brick-and-mortar channels, getting more traditional SME retailers fit for the hybrid era could open up new opportunities, with far reaching implications on the local economy. Through a novel survey conducted in six OECD countries (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Spain) in co-operation with e-commerce platforms, this
report provides new insights to better understand retail SMEs’ perceived advantages and challenges of operating online sales through these platforms, with a particular spotlight on hybrid SME retailers.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) are important stakeholders for both environmental and economic policymaking. Among OECD countries, they represent roughly 99.7% of all enterprises and 60% of total employment. Simultaneously, while their individual environmental footprint is small, on aggregate, SMEs contribute up to 70% of industrial pollution in Europe. Thus, they have tremendous potential as drivers of green and inclusive growth. Through a comprehensive literature review, this issue paper assesses the trade-offs and synergies between SMEs’ ability to deliver green growth – through greening processes like eco-innovation and adoption of green measures - and their ability to contribute to inclusive growth – through job creation and inclusive business models. This issue paper also reviews relevant policy measures that can help SMEs navigate the opportunities and challenges in delivering green and inclusive growth.
This report examines the safety aspects associated with the increasing use of e-scooters and other forms of micromobility in cities. The rise of micromobility challenges existing regulations for urban traffic and forces policy makers to rethink them. The report considers a range of actions to make urban traffic with micromobility safe, including in street layout, vehicle design and vehicle operation, user education and enforcement of rules. It also asks whether a shift towards micromobility can have potential safety benefits.
The report on seamless travel and improved traveller experience considers the concept and scope of seamless travel, the international policy context for its further development, and issues and good practice in four key areas: i) Visa requirements and acquisition; ii) Digital traveller identity and biometrics; iii) Multi-modal transport and connectivity; and iv) Visitor handling, information and management. Based on the findings and analysis, it presents a set of key conclusions and guidelines for action, for the attention of G20, OECD and other countries, and relevant international organisations. The report’s Guidelines for Action on Safe and Seamless Travel were adopted in the Diriyah Communiqué of the 2020 G20 Tourism Ministers’ Meeting.
Through social benefit programmes (SBP), governments protect individuals and families from economic and social risks, and provide a safety net for households and businesses. As governments are witnessing an increase in cases of fraud in SBPs, maintaining the effectiveness and accountability of these programmes is more vital than ever. This note considers how governments can safeguard SBPs from fraud and error in both the short and long term to ensure that entitlements are reaching beneficiaries as the effects of the COVID-19 crisis continue to be felt.
In 2020, the ITF published Safe Micromobility, a report assessing the safety of micromobility and new mobility services. In the four years since publication, much has changed in terms of the evidence base regarding the safety of micromobility. This report summarises an analysis of the current evidence base of the most recent micromobility safety trends and risks. It provides safety recommendations for both authorities and micromobility operators in line with the Safe System approach.
This report examines how increasing automation of cars and trucks could affect road safety, and which security vulnerabilities will need to be addressed with the rise of self-driving vehicles. It applies the principles of the Safe System approach and relevance of Vision Zero for road safety to the wider discussion on vehicle automation. It also takes into consideration the security of the cyber-physical system associated with automated driving, including a definition of relevant system boundaries and future-proof minimum requirements for safety and security.
On 11 March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident occurred.1 In responding to this accident, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 30 March 2011, with broad support by the IAEA Member States, called for a Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety which took place in Vienna from 20–24 June 2011.2 On 20 June 2011, the Conference adopted a Declaration on Nuclear Safety, which, inter alia, expresses sympathy and solidarity with Japan and emphasises “the importance of implementing enhanced national and international measures to ensure that the highest and most robust levels of nuclear safety are in place, based on the IAEA safety standards, which should be continuously reviewed, strengthened and implemented as broadly and effectively as possible and commit to increase bilateral, regional and international cooperation to that effect.”3 The declaration furthermore requested the Director General of the IAEA to prepare a report and to draft an action plan building on the declaration and on the outcome of the ministerial conference.
A review has been conducted of the documentation developed by Andra, collectively known as the Dossier 2005 Argile, by an international review team (IRT) of independent specialists covering all relevant aspects of research, safety assessment, and the geological sciences. As described below, the Dossier represents a key milestone in the programme of work, for which Andra is responsible, to assess the feasibility of the deep geological disposal of high-level and long-lived radioactive waste in France. This report presents the consensus view of the IRT. It is based on the documentation of the Dossier 2005 Argile, but it also draws importantly on information exchanged in writing with Andra in answers to questions raised by the review team, and on direct interactions with staff from Andra during two working seminars in France. Also, in order to fulfil its mandate, the IRT reviewed materials external to the Dossier, namely the document concerning the R&D Programme for a potential new phase of work in the period 2006-2010, in a draft, provisional version.
Approval procedures are critical to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) systems as they uphold countries’ commitments to facilitate safe trade. However, they can create significant costs and act as non-tariff barriers if not properly administered. This report examines the costs and opportunities that are associated with seven of the most pressing issues related to the administration of approval procedures. The analysis reveals that countries have increasingly raised specific trade concerns (STCs) to the WTO about issues related to approval procedures. Furthermore, gravity analysis demonstrates that trading partners dealing with STCs related to approval procedures trade 26% less on average than those not dealing with any STC. An OECD survey specifically designed to evaluate how issues related to approval procedures can be addressed indicates that multiple solutions exist to enhance efficiencies in agro-food trade, such as digitalizing SPS systems, relying on international standards or simplifying SPS measures.
National saving ratios are generally lower now than in the 1960s or 1970s. This paper first reviews developments in national and international saving and investment trends in OECD countries since the 1960s. It then examines sectoral saving trends and considers the links between them. There are seen to be important offsets between government and private sector saving and, within the latter, between the business sector and households, so that national and private saving rates tend to be more stable than their component parts. The paper looks in particular at the reasons lying behind the volatile behaviour of household saving in certain countries in recent years ...
The paper describes the framework used in long-term economic scenarios for the projection of the saving rate, investment, capital stock and current account. The saving rate is determined according to an estimated equation which suggests that demographics, captured by the old-age dependency rate and life expectancy, is a major driver, with additional effects from the fiscal balance, labour productivity growth, the net oil trade balance, the availability of credit and the level of social protection. The evolution of the business sector capital stock depends on the economy’s cyclical position, product market regulation, employment protection legislation and the user cost of capital, and may be constrained by current account deficits depending on the degree of capital account openness. Business sector investment is derived from the capital stock projection via the usual stock-flow identity. The public sector capital stock-to-output ratio is assumed to be constant in the baseline scenario, but a public investment shock can be simulated in alternative scenarios. The current account balance is obtained as the difference between national investment and saving, and in turn determines the evolution of the net international investment position. A global interest rate premium helps to bring global saving and investment into balance.
Saving has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Research has focused on questions about its adequacy, determinants and measurement. This paper considers the latter issue. The main trends in world-wide and OECD-area saving over the last two to three decades are reviewed. Subsequently, the appropriateness of the saving concept used in traditional national accounts is discussed. To examine the size of some of the potential problems, a number of adjustments to traditionally measured saving are made. The concluding section raises some questions about appropriate measurement of saving, saving behaviour and policy responses to perceived lack of saving ...