SME Policy Index

Overview l Structure l Methodology l Analytical benefits l Available editions l Contact

The SME Policy Index is a benchmarking tool for EU pre-accession economies (Western Balkans and Turkey) to monitor and evaluate progress in implementing the main policy framework for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development elaborated by the European Union: The Small Business Act for Europe.
The OECD Investment Compact for South East Europe develops the Index in a joint effort with the European Commission, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Training Foundation.

The SME Policy Index is based on the broader Investment Reform Index in methodology and construction, and adapted to the Small Business Act (SBA) for Europe. The SBA is a wide-ranging set of pro-enterprise measures designed to guide the design and implementation of policies.

The Index assesses the following policy principles:

  1) education and training for entrepreneurship
  2) enhanced bankruptcy procedures
  3) better legislation and regulation
  4) simpler administrative procedures 
  5) business support services (for established SMEs and start-ups)
  6) access to finance
  7) more benefits from the Single Market
  8) support in business innovation and enterprise skills
  9) promotion of environmental friendly businesses
  10) aid in export promotion

• The OECD Investment Compact for South East Europe and its partner organisations (the European Commission, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Training Foundation) first design the SME Policy Index self-evaluation toolkit
• Western Balkan countries and Turkey conduct self-evaluations structured in a national report following the policy dimensions
• a team of independent consultants conducts independent counter-assessments
• a company survey measures effectiveness of government policy action 
• preliminary scorings are determined by the partner organisations
• governments comment on preliminary scorings
• final decisions on scores are made by the partner organisations
• final results of the SME Policy Index are published in a comprehensive report
  

 The final results of the SME Policy Index are published in a report that aims to benefit governements by:

• providing an overview of each country's performance on small enterprise development
• benchmarking country performance relative to peers in the region
• comparing country progress to previous assessments
• setting priorities to further improve the small enterprise environment, and 
• providing direction on how to make improvements within each policy dimension by adopting OECD good practices
  

The third SME policy assessment cycle was launched in May 2011. The SME Policy Index 2011 is based on a modified assessment grid that embraces the ten principles of the Small Business Act for Europe. While the SME Policy Index 2009 and 2007 assessed economies in the Western Balkans, the new report additionally reviews SME policies in Turkey. The SME Policy Index 2011 regional publication will be available in Spring 2012. 
The next SME Policy Index will be published in the summer of 2012. The report will show the progress made in SME policy development since the 2007 and 2009 reports, and will contain a special section on how to monitor the impact of SME policy measures.

Also available:

• SME Policy Index 2009
• SME Policy Index 2007

For further information or to obtain hard copies of the SME Policy Index, please write to investmentcompact@oecd.org

For further information on the SME Policy Index, contact Antonio Fanelli, Deputy Head of the Private Sector Development Division, at antonio.fanelli@oecd.org, Jakob Fexer, Policy Analyst, at jakob.fexer@oecd.org or Anita Richter, Policy Analyst, at anita.richter@oecd.org