Policies for Inclusive Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment
The Missing Entrepreneurs 2021 is the sixth edition in a series of biennial reports
that examine how public policies at national, regional and local levels can support
job creation, economic growth and social inclusion by overcoming obstacles to business
start-ups and self-employment by people from disadvantaged or under-represented groups
in entrepreneurship. It shows that there are substantial untapped opportunities for
entrepreneurship in populations such as women, youth, the unemployed, and immigrants
and highlights the need for more differentiated government entrepreneurship policies
that respond to the specific barriers they face. The report includes an assessment
of the impact of COVID-19 across these populations of entrepreneurs and the effectiveness
of the policy response. It also contains thematic policy chapters on microfinance
and leveraging the potential of immigrant entrepreneurs. These chapters present the
range of current policy actions in EU and OECD countries and make recommendations
for future policy directions. Finally, the report contains country profiles for each
of the 27 EU Member States that identify for each county the major recent trends in
entrepreneurship by women, youth, seniors and immigrants, the key policy issues and
the recent policy actions.
Published on November 29, 2021Also available in: French, German
Men aged 30-49 face the fewest barriers in business creation. If other demographic
groups participated at the same rate, there would be 35 million more entrepreneurs
across OECD countries. Women make up 75% of these “missing” entrepreneurs, highlighting
the importance of crafting inclusive entrepreneurship policies.
Gap between youth ambition and action
Nearly half of university students intend to start a business within 5 years of graduating,
yet only 5% of youth aged 18-30 are actively working on a start-up. Lack of finance,
skills and tailored support are holding OECD economies back from innovation, growth
and jobs.
EUR 14 billion gap
Microfinance can play a critical role in supporting entrepreneurs with difficulty
accessing traditional financial markets, notably women, youth and immigrants. Governments
should increase funding to start-ups, particularly microfinance where there is unmet
demand in the EU of EUR 14 billion per year.