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This report looks at farm management practices with green growth potential, from farmer-led innovations (such as those directly linked to soil and water, Integrated Pest Management, organic farming) to science-led technologies (such as biotechnology and precision agriculture). Global food demand can only be met in a sustainable way if new forms of agricultural production and innovative technologies can be unlocked to increase the productivity, stability, and resilience of production systems with goals beyond just raising yields, including saving water and energy, reducing risk, improving product quality, protecting the environment and climate change mitigation.

Rapid globalisation has brought substantial benefits to developing Asia, but it has also heightened the risks associated with policy mistakes, weak financial institutions, and problems in corporate and public governance. The 1997 Asian crisis has demonstrated the urgent need to rethink the sequencing and comprehensiveness of financial liberalisation. Would further opening of Asia's financial systems be helpful or counterproductive in fostering financial stability? What structural reforms do emerging economies need to undertake to ensure that capital inflows are transformed into productive investment? Which regulatory and other requirements would have to be attached to further financial liberalisation? And what role should international organisations and the private sector play in crisis resolution?
This volume seeks to provide answers to these questions by discussing the roots of the Asian financial crisis and suggesting some constructive approaches to crisis resolution. It was produced jointly by the Asian Development Bank and OECD Development Centre based on their fourth joint annual Forum on Asian Perspectives.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that scale up have long raised policy interest for their extraordinary potential in terms of job creation, innovation, competitiveness and economic growth. Yet, little is known about which firms could effectively become scalers, and what policies could effectively promote SME growth. This report is part of a series aiming to help policy makers unleash scalers’ potential. Building on new evidence from microdata work, it rethinks the nature and scope of scale up policies, suggesting the need for a broader and more cross cutting approach. The report then explores two thematic areas that are relevant for SME scaling up, i.e. SME data governance and their access to ‘scale up’ finance. Based on an international mapping of 369 institutions and 1174 policy initiatives across OECD countries, the analysis shows that SME and entrepreneurship policy is not among the core mandates of many implementing institutions, calling for sound coordination across the board and further mainstreaming of SME growth considerations in both policy areas. Moreover, national policy mixes vary significantly across countries, reflecting different approaches to promoting SME growth and to SME targeting, but also revealing possible policy blind spots.

Ten years into the transition, newly emerging private enterprises in transition economies, usually described as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the international context, have come to play an increasingly important role as the driving engines of economic growth and employment creation. Accordingly, the policy considerations for developing SMEs are becoming very urgent and important for transition economies, especially through facilitating financial mechanisms for them, as limited availability of financial resources is the largest hindrance to their development.
This publication gathers the proceedings of the Second Workshop on "Financing Newly Emerging Private Enterprises in Transition Economies" which was organised in Paris under the aegis of the OECD’s Centre for Co-operation with Non-Members with the sponsorship of the Japanese Government. This volume contains in-depth studies on various schemes for financing these enterprises, including credit guarantees, leasing, venture capital and capital market operations, as well as public schemes. In addition, it provides detailed and comparative information on the situation of SME development and the policy measures towards it.

Start-ups and small firms continue to face significant obstacles to fulfilling their potential to innovate, grow and create jobs, particularly when it comes to obtaining access to finance. With its 13 core indicators of debt, equity and general market conditions, complemented by a review of government policy measures, Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2014: An OECD Scoreboard documents these financing difficulties and monitors trends in 31 countries, along with government policy responses to deal with these challenges.
 

This fourth edition monitors SMEs’ and entrepreneurs’ access to finance in 34 countries over the period 2007-13, across an expanded array of indicators, including debt, equity, asset-based finance and framework conditions. These are complemented by an overview of recent developments in public and private initiatives to support SME finance, and a special focus on non-performing loans. The report aims to provide a comprehensive framework for policy makers and other stakeholders to evaluate the financing needs of SMEs.

This report monitors SME and entrepreneur access to finance in 37 countries. It includes indicators of debt, equity, asset-based finance and framework conditions for SME and entrepreneurship finance, complemented by an overview of recent developments in public and private initiatives to support SME finance. Taken together, these indicators form a comprehensive framework for policy makers and other stakeholders to evaluate the financing needs of SMEs.

Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2017 provides information on debt, equity, asset-based finance, and framework conditions for SME and entrepreneurship finance, complemented with an overview of recent policy measures to support access to finance in 39 countries. The sixth instalment of this annual publication provides a solid evidence base to improve SME policy making. Almost a decade after the financial crisis, the financing situation of SMEs and entrepreneurs has generally improved in 2015 and the first half of 2016 in most participating countries, and indicates a more favourable business environment. While alternative sources of financing are gaining some traction, SMEs nevertheless remain very reliant on bank lending, making them vulnerable to credit market conditions and the economic climate.

Since 2020, a series of shocks to the global economy has had significant impacts on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs and their access to finance. Most recently, significant inflationary pressures have led to tighter lending conditions, limiting the flow of finance to SMEs and acting as a barrier to investment. Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2024: An OECD Scoreboard monitors SME and entrepreneurship financing trends, conditions and policy developments in close to 50 countries. It documents a strong increase in the cost of SME financing in 2022, alongside a significant decline in SME lending. Equity finance also fell sharply in 2022, after a year of historically high growth in 2021. Women-led and minority-owned businesses, which typically find it more difficult to access venture capital financing, were affected disproportionately. Against this backdrop, the Scoreboard highlights the recent measures governments have taken to support SME access to finance, including finance for the green transition. A continued focus on diversifying financial sources and instruments will be important to meet the different needs of all types of SMEs and entrepreneurs, and enable them to act as an engine of resilient, sustainable and inclusive growth.

This book sheds light on how financing decisions are made regarding state-owned enterprises and synthesises national policies and practices. It also examines a broad range of financial transactions and conditions which might make the cost of operating SOEs materially different than for private competitors, and identifies whether any mechanisms are in place to neutralise such differences. 
 

Tourism is a major part of the contemporary experience economy, in which food plays an important role. Food is a key part of all cultures, a major element of global intangible heritage and an increasingly important attraction for tourists. The linkages between food and tourism also provide a platform for local economic development, which can be strengthened by the use of food experiences for branding and marketing destinations.
One of the major challenges in the experience economy is dealing with the shift towards intangible culture and heritage.  The focus of many tourists has changed from the classic 'must see' physical sights such as museums and monuments towards a ‘must-experience’ imperative to consume intangible expressions of culture, such as atmosphere, creativity and lifestyle.  This provides new opportunities for tourism destinations as well as new challenges, particularly in the areas of experience development, marketing and branding.

This publication provides an understanding of the role of food tourism in local economic development and its potential for country branding. It also presents several innovative case studies in the food tourism sector and the experience industry.