Inclusive entrepreneurship policies aim to offer all people an equal opportunity to create a sustainable business, whatever their social group or background. This is an important requirement for achieving the goal of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth set out in the Europe 2020 strategy. It is also a means to respond to new economic challenges, to create jobs and to fight social and financial exclusion. Among the key targets of inclusive entrepreneurship policies and programmes are women, youth, seniors, the unemployed, immigrants and people with disabilities, who all continue to face challenges in the labour market and are under-represented or disadvantaged in entrepreneurship. The Missing Entrepreneurs series of publications of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union discuss how public policies and programmes can support inclusive entrepreneurship. This includes refining regulatory and welfare institutions, facilitating access to finance, building entrepreneurship skills through training, coaching and mentoring, strengthening entrepreneurial culture and networks for target groups, and putting strategies and actions together for inclusive entrepreneurship in a co-ordinated and targeted way. Governments are increasingly recognising the challenge of inclusive entrepreneurship, but there is still much to do to spread good practice.
This fourth edition of The Missing Entrepreneurs contains several new features relative to earlier editions in this series. In addition to containing updated data, many figures in this edition now include data for OECD economies in addition to European Union Member States. Second, the book benefits from a new network of policy makers and entrepreneurship stakeholders in all EU Member States who design and deliver inclusive entrepreneurship policies and programmes. This network was used to systematically collect information on recent developments in inclusive entrepreneurship policy and this intelligence is featured throughout the report and in this edition’s country profiles.
The report is organised in three sections. The first presents data on the level and quality of selfemployment and entrepreneurship activities by key social target groups such as women, youth, seniors, the unemployed and immigrants, as well as on the barriers that they face. The second section contains two chapters that examine timely policy issues, namely measuring and improving the quality of self-employment work and the potential for entrepreneurship policy to be used as an adjustment mechanism in major firm restructuring. Finally, the third section of this report provides a snapshot of inclusive entrepreneurship policy in each European Union Member State. Each Country Profile presents recent trends in self-employment and entrepreneurship activities by women, youth and seniors, as well as the current “hot” policy issue in the Member State and recent policy developments. Key inclusive entrepreneurship indicators are also included in each country profile.
In addition to this series of Missing Entrepreneurs reports, the joint OECD-European Union collaboration on inclusive entrepreneurship produces policy briefs, country-level policy reviews and capacity building seminars. A good practice compendium book has also been produced and work is ongoing on a new online tool to support the design and development of inclusive entrepreneurship policies and programmes. This online tool is expected to be launched in 2018.
Access to The Missing Entrepreneurs 2017