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This publication presents the findings of the OECD review of SME and entrepreneurship policy in Brazil. SMEs play an important role for economic growth and social inclusion in Brazil, accounting for 62% of total employment and 50% of national value added. However, productivity gaps between SMEs and large companies are wider in Brazil than in the OECD area, which is also the result of low innovation and export propensity among Brazilian SMEs. Business ownership and business creation are common, but growth-oriented entrepreneurship is much less widespread. Brazil’s SME policy is enshrined in the 1988 Federal Constitution, which grants to micro and small enterprises a preferential treatment in different policy areas (e.g. tax and labour law). Brazilian SME policies are, therefore, mostly aimed at this constituency, whereas mid-sized firms are largely missing in the national policy debate. Simples Nacional, a preferential tax and regulatory regime, is the main federal SME policy, but Brazil also operates a large number of targeted programmes for SMEs. This report provides policy recommendations to enhance Brazil’s SME and entrepreneurship performance, covering, among others, innovation policy, export support, access to finance, and women’s entrepreneurship.

This technical paper describes the methodology and main features of the second pilot of the OECD International Survey of Scientific Authors (ISSA2). ISSA2 was carried out in 2018 to provide evidence on the nature and effects of digitalisation in science. This paper describes the key design and implementation feature of the ISSA2 online survey. It also provides an overview of the data collected focusing on the profiles of the survey respondents in relation to the broader population they represent. This aims to guide third-party research use of the data and code made openly available under two different access regimes.

This paper examines possible methodologies for estimating consumer detriment, as well as the impacts of consumer agency actions and consumer policy more broadly. It also provides practical guidance for developing and strengthening the effectiveness of consumer policymaking frameworks. The report was prepared to inform a project by the OECD Committee on Consumer Policy (CCP) to explore ways to ensure that consumer policymaking is based on the best available data on likely costs and benefits.

This paper presents the results of the 2018 OECD International Survey of Scientific Authors (ISSA2), a global online survey designed and implemented to measure the key features of the digital transformation of science. The paper explores the potential impacts of digitalisation based on a combination of different indicators on research impact and responses from nearly 12 000 authors across the world. The evidence shows that although digital activity is pervasive, the transformation is uneven across fields and sectors, and is influenced by factors such as norms, experience, skills and data availability. Overall, scientists appear to be optimistic about the potential of digitalisation, especially in relation to the efficiency of research and collaboration across national borders. This paper is also the first analysis to leverage a new OECD approach to data collection in priority science policy topics for which evidence might be scarce or insufficiently timely.

This paper explores selected long-term sustainability issues related to increasing activities in outer space, with a particular focus on the economics of space debris. It reviews trends of selected space sustainability issues and discusses a range of possible policy actions. A notable policy response would be to strengthen space situational awareness systems and data reporting structures, while addressing operator compliance behaviour at both the national and international levels. Adequately addressing these challenges will require a reinforced coordinated international approach, in addition to increased collaboration with the private sector.

This paper uses a distributed microdata analysis approach to map patterns of technology adoption in Canadian firms, exploring the relationship between technology adoption, business practices and innovation. Prepared by the OECD NESTI secretariat in collaboration with Statistics Canada, the paper leverages a unique enterprise database combining information on innovation, technology adoption and the use of selected business practices. This work suggests a number of possible pathways for selecting and defining priority technology and business practices for data collection and reporting, implementing recommendations in the 2018 Oslo Manual on enablers and objectives of business innovation, and identifying potential synergies between business innovation, management and ICT, and other surveys focused on various aspects of technology adoption.

Les gouvernements du XXIe siècle doivent suivre l'évolution des attentes de leurs citoyens et tenir les promesses de l'ère numérique. Les approches basées sur les données sont particulièrement efficaces pour répondre à ces attentes et repenser la manière dont les gouvernements et les citoyens interagissent. Ce rapport souligne le rôle important que les données peuvent jouer dans la création de conditions améliorant les services publics, augmentant l'efficacité des dépenses publiques et éclairant les considérations éthiques et de confidentialité. Il présente un cadre du secteur public fondé sur les données pouvant aider les pays ou les organisations à évaluer les éléments nécessaires à l'utilisation des données afin de prendre des décisions mieux informées dans tous les secteurs publics.

We live in a period of profound systemic change, and as in similar periods in the past, there is bound to be considerable instability and uncertainty before the new society and economy take shape. We have to identify actions that will shape change for the better, and help to build resilience to the inevitable shocks inherent in, and generated by, the complex system of systems constituted by the economy, society and the environment. These challenges require updating the way policies are devised and implemented, and developing more realistic tools and techniques to design those policies on the basis of appropriate data. In Systemic Thinking for Policy Making world experts from the OECD and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) pool their expertise and experience to propose new approaches to analysing the interconnected trends and issues shaping today’s and tomorrow’s world. The authors argue that to tackle planetary emergencies linked to the environment, the economy and socio-political systems, we have to understand their systemic properties, such as tipping points, interconnectedness and resilience. They give the reader a precise introduction to the tools and techniques needed to do so, and offer hope that we can overcome the challenges the world is facing.