Reports

Start-ups are gaining momentum in Latin America. Start-up Latin America 2016: Building an innovative future reviews the dynamics of start-ups and the policies for start-up promotion in four countries in the region –  Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The report reviews the policy mix for start-up promotion and highlights the progress made by each country and future challenges. It identifies good practices in promoting start-ups and lessons learned in Latin America in the design and implementation of policies.

The economic performance of Peru in recent times has been impressive. There is now a transition underway as commodity prices fall, and the key challenge for Peru is how to improve productivity and maintain this growth trajectory. Peru is a territorially diverse country and addressing these challenges will require policies that are designed for the specific needs of different cities and regions. The importance of regional policies is particularly important for the case of Peru. Within the OECD only four countries have a larger land mass. The physical geography of the country is shaped by a thin coastal region, the Andes and the Amazon forest in the interior. These different areas are not well connected and have vastly different levels of service provision and infrastructure. The report sets out how regional policies can be improved to address these challenges. This includes ensuring the preconditions (such as revenues, capabilities and coordinating mechanisms) are in place for decentralisation to work. Lifting national productivity will largely depend on well-functioning cities. The report also includes recommendations for how Peru can develop a comprehensive approach to urban policy, including enhancing linkages with rural areas.
 

This publication presents an original collection of indicators for measuring the state of entrepreneurship and its determinants, produced by the OECD-Eurostat Entrepreneurship Indicators Programme. The 2016 edition introduces data from a new online small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) survey prepared by Facebook in co-operation with the OECD and the World Bank. It also features a special chapter on SME productivity, and indicators to monitor gender gaps in entrepreneurship.

Productivity growth in the Turkish agricultural sector is supported today by better technologies, crop varieties and animal breeds. Yet improvements have slowed since the late 2000s, and the productivity gap between agriculture and the rest of the economy remains large. To overcome these challenges, Turkey will need to reduce the substantial technological and human resource disparities between small-holder and commercial segments in agriculture, and ensure more equal regional development. Considerable structural adjustment is also required, both within agriculture and in the overall economy, supported by broad policy actions in the areas of labour, education, social security systems, and land reform. Important efforts have been made to boost national innovation systems, but there remains considerable catch up in terms of the quality and impact of R&D.

OECD’s Innovation Strategy calls upon all sectors in the economy and society to innovate in order to foster productivity, growth and well-being. Education systems are critically important for innovation through the development of skills that nurture new ideas and technologies. However, whereas digital technologies are profoundly changing the way we work, communicate and enjoy ourselves, the world of education and learning is not yet going through the same technology-driven innovation process as other sectors.

This report served as the background report to the second Global Education Industry Summit which was held on 26-27 September 2016. It discusses the available evidence on innovation in education, the impact of digital technologies on teaching and learning, the role of digital skills and the role of educational industries in the process of innovation. The report argues for smarter policies, involving all stakeholders, for innovation in education.

The OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy offer a comprehensive assessment of the innovation system of individual OECD countries and partner economies, focusing on the role of government. They provide concrete recommendations on how to improve policies that affect innovation performance, including R&D policies. Each review identifies good practices from which other countries can learn.