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Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are important for their contribution to employment, innovation, economic growth and diversity. This report examines the tax treatment of SMEs, the case for SME preferences, and the use of tax preferences and simplification measures for SMEs in thirty-nine OECD and G20 countries. It finds that many of the tax systems examined provide incentives to incorporate and to distribute income in certain types of capital form. Ideally, taxes should be neutral with regard to the business decisions of SMEs, including decisions related to their creation, form and growth. However, certain features of the tax system may disproportionately affect SMEs, for example, the asymmetric treatment of profits and losses, a bias toward debt over corporate equity, and the higher fixed costs of tax and regulatory compliance for small businesses. This report recommends that measures designed to address these concerns be carefully targeted to affected firms and seek to avoid introducing further distortions and complexity.
Taxing Wages provides unique information on income tax and social security contributions levied from employees and their employers in all OECD countries. In addition, this annual publication specifies family benefits paid as cash transfers. Amounts of taxes and benefits are detailed program by program, for eight household types which differ by income level and household composition. Results reported include the marginal and effective tax burden for one- and two-earner families, and total labour costs of employers.
Taxing Wages provides unique information on income tax and social security contributions levied from employees and their employers in all OECD countries. In addition, this annual publication specifies family benefits paid as cash transfers. Amounts of taxes and benefits are detailed program by program, for eight household types which differ by income level and household composition. Results reported include the marginal and effective tax burden for one- and two-earner families, and total labour costs of employers.
While the development of new knowledge is becoming increasingly important in the emerging knowledge-based economy, the impact of technology on growth, jobs and welfare is determined largely by the way in which technology is diffused, absorbed and used throughout the economy. For technological progress to bring not only higher productivity but also economic expansion and new jobs it is pivotal with conditions which allow for industrial restructuring, entry and expansion of small firms, growth of new industries, launching of new products, and mechanisms accounting for effective upskilling of the labour force.
This report points to a decline in public support for research and development (R&D), mainly affecting basic, long-term research, and examines the levelling-off in private sector R&D along with changes in its direction away from basic, exploratory research towards more market-driven and short-term innovative efforts. It explores how the special characteristics of national innovation systems impact on the mechanisms for innovation and diffusion of technology, and examines the rationale for policy in this area. A key challenge for policy makers is to co-ordinate measures so as to obtain consistent and credible incentives for firms and individuals. Assessing what works and what does not work in policy, the report identifies "best practices" in specific areas: management of the science base; financial support for industrial R&D efforts; technology diffusion policies and initiatives; policies for new technology-based firms; policies for facilitating growth in new demand; and policies for high-performance workplaces and intangible investment.
Despite many initiatives, OECD countries have not yet fully adapted to the characteristics and challenges of knowledge-based economies. Technology policies continue to be too piecemeal, paying insufficient attention to linkages within national innovation systems and to broader structural reforms. They focus too much on the small high-tech segment of the economy and too little on fostering innovation and technology diffusion economy-wide. There is also scope for improving the effectiveness of policies, notably through increased use of market-based instruments and better evaluation. Recommendations are put forward of measures to be taken by individual OECD countries.
This book offers policy guidance to Thailand for fostering entrepreneurship and strengthening the performance of SMEs and their contribution to growth and development. It provides evidence-based analysis and policy recommendations on thematic issues such as access to finance for SMEs and entrepreneurs, SME participation in global markets, intellectual assets and innovation, high-growth SMEs and women’s entrepreneurship.
The application of tax treaties to cases involving partnerships raises a number of complex issues. When is a partnership entitled to the benefits of a tax convention? What happens when the residence and source States apply different articles of the Convention on the basis of differences in their domestic law? How can the problems arising from conflicts of income allocation be solved? This report addresses these issues in detail and focuses on specific factual examples. For each example, the facts and, where applicable, relevant aspects of domestic tax laws are described. Comprehensive recommendations for dealing with the international taxation of partnerships in practice are also presented.
International trade has played a key role in the transition process. Exports were essential for the recovery from the transition shock and sustainable growth depends on the capacity of each country to reap the benefits of the openness to international trade and foreign investment. This book offers a comprehensive and a comparative approach on the different interactions between trade, FDI and the process of economic transformation. One of its original points is the quantification of both price and non-price aspects of product market competition. Based on this analysis, each country is ranked according to the type and strength of its competitive position and conclusions are drawn concerning further economic restructuring.
Cultural and creative sectors and industries are a significant source of jobs and income. They are a driver of innovation and creative skills, within cultural sectors and beyond. They also have significant social impacts, from supporting health and well-being, to promoting social inclusion and local social capital. As national and local governments reconsider growth models in the wake of COVID-19, cultural and creative sectors can be a tool for a resilient recovery if certain longer-term challenges in the sector are addressed. The report outlines international trends with new data, including at subnational scale. It addresses issues in cultural and creative sectors in terms of employment, business development, cultural participation and funding, both public and private. It provides analysis of how these sectors contribute to economic growth and inclusion, taking into account the impact of COVID-19 related crisis on jobs and firms. Finally, it offers recommendations on how to capitalise on the role of cultural and creative sectors in national and local recovery strategies.
Despite potentially tremendous benefits, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lag in the digital transformation. Emerging technologies, as diverse as they are, offer a range of applications for them to improve performance and overcome the size-related limitations they face in doing business. However, SMEs must be better prepared, and stakes are high. SMEs make the most of the industrial fabric in many countries and regions, they create jobs (most jobs sometimes) and are the cement of inclusive and sustainable societies. The SME digital gap has increased inequalities among people, places and firms, and there are concerns that the benefits of the digital transformation could accrue to early adopters, further broadening these inequalities. Enabling SME digitalisation has become a top policy priority in OECD countries and beyond. The report looks at recent trends in SME digital uptake, including in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. It focuses on issues related to digital security, online platforms, blockchain ecosystems, and artificial intelligence. The report identifies opportunities, risks of not going digital, and barriers to adoption. It looks to concrete policy action taken worldwide to speed the SME transformation and raises a series of considerations to advance the SME digital policy agenda.
This report examines digitalisation’s effects on science, technology and innovation and the associated consequences for policy. In varied and far-reaching ways, digital technologies are changing how scientists work, collaborate and publish. While examining these developments, this book also assesses the effects of digitalisation on longstanding policy themes, from access to publicly funded research data, to the diffusion of technology and its absorption by firms. New and emerging topics are also explored. These include the roles of artificial intelligence and blockchain in science and production, using digital technology to draw on the collective intelligence of the scientific community, advances in the digitalisation of biotechnology, and possible "dark sides" of digitalisation.
Counterfeiting and piracy are illicit businesses in which criminal networks thrive. The report shows that the items that they and other counterfeiters and pirates produce and distribute are often substandard and can even be dangerous, posing health and safety risks that range from mild to life-threatening. Economy-wide, counterfeiting and piracy undermine innovation, which is key to economic growth.
The magnitude and effects of counterfeiting and piracy are of such significance that they compel strong and sustained action from governments, business and consumers. More effective enforcement is critical in this regard, as is the need to build public support to combat the counterfeiting and piracy. Increased co-operation between governments, and with industry, would be beneficial, as would better data collection.
Globally, the environmental goods and services industry is growing rapidly in response to environmental pressures and the shift towards business and government strategies that are more sustainable over the long term. However, the industry which supplies the goods and services that enable businesses and nations to meet environmental challenges is poorly identified, measured and understood.
This manual, which has been jointly developed by the OECD and Eurostat, aims to provide a firm basis for constructing comparable statistics of the environmental industry. It is based on recent experience in OECD countries in building up a quantitative statistical picture of this crosscutting industry that is not well identified in traditional statistical systems.
The Future of Rural Manufacturing provides insights on the transformations that have occurred in manufacturing across rural regions in recent decades. It describes opportunities and challenges in this context, highlighting those relating to climate and demographic change and digitalisation, as well as shifting patterns in globalisation. With support from the European Commission, the project combines a wide range of both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The former examines broad trends in manufacturing performance across OECD rural (TL3) regions between 2000 and 2019, with deeper dives that draw on more granular microdata in 14 OECD countries. Case studies were conducted across 12 regions in Slovenia, Germany, Italy, and France. They comprised interviews with over 300 local, regional, and national actors across government, private sector, universities, research institutes, NGOs and non-profit community organisations. The project also benefited from foresight and futures workshops conducted in January and July 2022 with experts and policymakers across OECD countries.
As the 20th century draws to a close, powerful forces of change are converging that could set the stage for a long, sustained economic boom in the next few decades -- the transition to a knowledge-based society with its potentially huge productivity gains; the emergence of more deeply integrated, global markets for goods, services, capital and technology; and a fast-growing environmental awareness that could greatly accelerate the shift to new, less resource-intensive production and consumption patterns. The result could be several decades of above-average economic growth, substantial increases in income and wealth, and significant improvements in well-being across the world.
But what will it take to unleash these dynamic forces? Not only will it call for a range of initiatives to establish the rules and frameworks for guiding the transition to a sustainable global knowledge economy, but above all, it will require exceptional efforts among decision makers in government, business and society at large to encourage continuous innovation, creativity and high levels of investment, and to promote bold new approaches to closer international co-operation and institution building. Inevitably some countries will benefit more than others, but a long boom with all its wealth creating capacity would offer a unique opportunity to reverse the trends of the last decades towards deepening inequality and exclusion.
This book reviews the forces driving economic and social change in today's world. It asesses the likelihood of a long boom materialising in the first decades of the 21st century and explores the strategic policies essential for making it happen.
The Geography of Firm Dynamics provides methods and data to measure and analyse business demography across OECD regions. It first discusses the methodological challenges of measuring consistently the creation and destruction of businesses at the subnational scale and from an international perspective. Second, it presents a novel database that not only makes such comparison possible but also provides the basis for an analysis of the major trends in business dynamics across regions. The report identifies regional factors that are associated with entrepreneurship and also examines the impact of business creation on regional employment. The Geography of Firm Dynamics provides a tool for national and local policy makers to design strategies for healthier business environments that are tailored to the specific characteristics of each region, thereby boosting prosperity.
The iron and steel sector accounts for almost 8% of global emissions, making it one of the highest emitting industry sectors with around 30% of industrial carbon emissions. Decarbonising the steel sector is therefore key to achieving climate goals. This report, prepared for the 2023 Japanese G7 Presidency, demonstrates that considering the heterogeneity of steel industries is vital for reaching climate goals and for a just and inclusive transition to a low-carbon future. The report maps the heterogeneity of global steel industries, highlighting the differences between them in key areas relevant to decarbonisation. Additionally, it examines how these differences should be considered when developing definitions for near-zero and low-emissions steel production, as well as emissions measurement methodologies and data collection frameworks.
Nanotechnology has its origin in the converging abilities of physics, chemistry and materials science. Its purpose is the manipulation of atoms and molecules in order to create new properties of materials and systems for a wide variety of applications in a very broad range of sectors. Nanotechnology is forecast to create large markets and many new jobs and may be the springboard for industrial renewal and long-term growth. Governments around the world have targeted this emerging technology in their R&D investments and are strategising about the best ways to promote the responsible development and use of nanotechnology given the absence of any in-depth analysis of its commercialisation.
What are the potential economic impacts of nanotechnology, how are companies using nanotechnology for innovation, and what are the key challenges in its commercialisation? These are some of the issues that this book addresses, based on a large number of company case studies in several countries.
Well-timed and targeted innovation boosts productivity, increases economic growth and helps solve societal problems. But how can governments encourage more people to innovate more of the time? And how can government itself be more innovative?
The OECD Innovation Strategy provides a set of principles to spur innovation in people, firms and government. It takes an in-depth look at the scope of innovation and how it is changing, as well as where and how it is occurring, based on updated research and data.