Entrepreneurial activity is pivotal to the continued dynamism of the private sector, with the generation of new businesses fostering competition and economic growth. This study uses data and in depth case studies to help make the environment in Azerbaijan more conducive for high-growth entrepreneurial activities.

Entrepreneurial activity is pivotal to the continued dynamism of the private sector, with the generation of new businesses fostering competition and economic growth. This study uses data and in depth case studies to help make the environment in Azerbaijan more conducive for high-growth entrepreneurial activities.

Job creation and productivity growth are at the forefront of the global development agenda. The central challenge today for the government of Georgia is to find sources of long-term economic growth, particularly through private sector development. This study seeks to identify determinants of high-growth entrepreneurial activity. The stusy uses data from the new 2012 World Bank Entrepreneurship Survey conducted to gauge new firm growth in the formal sector in Georgia and data from World Bank Enterprise Surveys to analyze innovative activity in existing firms. It includes detailed case study analyses to complement these findings. The study finds that while a number of reforms have been undertaken to alleviate the business environment, there remain a number of constraints that inhibit the growth of entrepreneurial and innovative activity. These constraints include a major skills mismatch, insufficient research and development and ineffective industry-research linkages. While outlining broad policy directions in areas namely improving business environment, access to finance, developing skills, increasing access to markets, incentivizing greater firm level research and development, and raising awareness it lays out some priority areas that the government could embark on. The government could remove bottlenecks that impede entrepreneurialism in the general business environment and design new financial policy instruments to foster entrepreneurship and innovation. We hope that the issues discussed and the dialogue initiated during the course of this study would lend itself to policy design to foster high-growth entrepreneurship with a view to higher growth and job creation in this highly globalized world.

The COVID-19 crisis has given renewed urgency to efforts to support the digitalisation of SMEs. In this context, the Government of Azerbaijan requested the OECD’s assistance in supporting the design and implementation of strategies and policies to foster the digital transformation of Azerbaijan’s SME sector.

The SME Policy Index is a benchmarking tool designed for emerging economies to assess SME policy frameworks and monitor progress in policy implementation over time.

"The central challenge facing the government of Georgia today is the need to find sources of long-term economic growth, particularly through development of the private sector. Key to the dynamism of that sector is entrepreneurial activity, which generates new businesses and fosters competition and economic growth. Fostering Entrepreneurship in Georgia uses data and in-depth case studies to identify the determinants of high-growth entrepreneurial activity. It finds that, while a number of reforms have been undertaken to improve the business environment, a number of constraints to the growth of entrepreneurial and innovative activity remain. Based on these findings, the book outlines broad policy directions for improving the business environment, providing access to finance, developing skills, increasing access to markets, incentivizing firm-level research and development, and raising awareness, and it identifies priority areas for government action. The issues discussed in this book will be of particular interest to policy makers who are aiming to achieve higher growth and job creation through entrepreneurship, as well as to development practitioners and those in the private sector."--Page 4 of cover.