October 2016: In a series of publications, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has provided updates on entrepreneurship, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and bonds’ contribution in a low-carbon transition. OECD also presented data from a survey conducted in partnership with Facebook and the World Bank, to gather insights on the new digital and mobile economy.

The 2016 edition of ‘Entrepreneurship at a Glance,’ which represents OECD’s annual assessment of entrepreneurial activity in several countries, features indicators to: monitor small business activity before, during and since the global economic crisis; assess international trade by SMEs; and better understand gender gaps in entrepreneurship. The indicators are the result of the OECD -Eurostat Entrepreneurship Indicators Programme (EIP). The 2016 report also assesses SME productivity and introduces the latest data from ‘The Future of Business Survey.’

The Survey, which was launched in February 2016 after the three organizations were brought together by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, polls Facebook business Page owners and aims to provide regular insights on how SMEs view their current and future economic environment, as well as to offer data on the challenges companies face, the tactics they will employ and demographics on small companies and entrepreneurs. The survey was designed to be simple to ensure a high response rate and a low response burden. In the first seven months since its launch, more than 90,000 SMEs on Facebook, across 22 countries, have responded. The survey currently contains 15 questions, and new questions will be added in the future, in response to emerging policy needs. As the project expands, it aims to expand country coverage to include low income countries, which currently are not included owing to low sample size.

The publication titled ‘A quantitative framework for analysing potential bond contributions in a low-carbon transition’ considers scenarios for the potential contribution of the bond markets to meet low-carbon investment financing needs in a 2 degrees Celcius “energy pathway.” The analysis covers debt securities markets in China, the EU, Japan and the US, which represent almost 70% of the global annual investment needs projected for the next five years.

The report suggests that the 2020s have the potential to be the beginning of the “golden years” for bond issuance in the low-carbon sectors. It explains that as low-carbon technologies mature, they become more familiar to bond markets, which can become substantial contributors to the financing and re-financing of new-build assets, and then, as the costs of assets fall and as policy stabilizes, the role played by bonds can expand rapidly. [Entrepreneurship at a Glance 2016] [The Future of Business Survey] [A quantitative framework for analysing potential bond contributions in a low-carbon transition] [OECD Press Release] [World Bank Press Release]