The OECD Business and Finance Outlook is an annual publication that presents unique data and analysis on the trends, both positive and negative, that are shaping tomorrow’s world of business, finance and investment.

The OECD Business and Finance Outlook is an annual publication that presents unique data and analysis on the trends, both positive and negative, that are shaping tomorrow's world of business, finance and investment. Using analysis from a wide range of perspectives, this year's edition considers the importance of public trust in business and finance, offering a conceptual approach to understanding facets of trust in finance, investment and business with respect to economic value, fairness and integrity of conduct, as well as alignment with societal values. The Outlook provides an assessment of factors that contributed to a deterioration of trust during the Global Financial Crisis; reviews recent developments that could contribute to a renewed erosion of trust; and, offers policy considerations to help strengthen public trust in business and finance.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, global demand for infrastructure is booming. National plans around the world show that infrastructure is likely to provide the backbone for a resurgence in public expenditure, and to support growth in economies badly hit by the pandemic. As all the biggest powers and blocs (the EU, the US, China, and Japan) have recently announced their plans for climate or carbon neutrality, the room and need for green and sustainable infrastucture are greatly expanding. Decarbonisation and digitalisation will be underpinning this latest investment drive in infrastructure, with sustainability and ESG principles at its core. However, infrastructure expenditure will not come without risk: after the pandemic, the world will be left with the highest levels of public and private debt since World War II, and the sustainability of key investment decisions must be carefully evaluated. How to foster quality and sustainable infrastructure investment? What role for the private sector? What future for sustainable mobility? What kind of policies will countries adopt to reach carbon neutrality?

This publication explores the policy options to finance more resilient health systems whilst maintaining fiscal sustainability. It finds that the scale of the additional health financing needs requires ambitious and transformative policy changes.

The Global Outlook on Financing for Sustainable Development 2021 calls for collective action to address both the short-term collapse in resources of developing countries as well as long-term strategies to build back better following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs have been hit hard during the COVID-19 crisis. Policy responses were quick and unprecedented, helping cushion the blow and maintain most SMEs and entrepreneurs afloat. Despite the magnitude of the shock, available data so far point to sustained start-ups creation, no wave of bankruptcies, and an impulse to innovation in most OECD countries.

The Sustainable Development Goals introduced by the United Nations in 2016 call for the significant mobilisation of finance. However, although sustainable investments are steadily increasing, there still remain large gaps within financing and the information that financial markets rely on is often incomplete or incorrect. For instance, the financial system has been structured around short-term frameworks and goals while the most pressing environmental and social challenges are long-term. Prices do not convey the cost of externalities associated with social and environmental challenges. It is therefore important to implement the effective pricing of externalities and create a common language and taxonomy between investors, issuers and policy-makers in order to best serve sustainable development. Addressing this challenge, the authors delve deeper into the levers that can be pulled within the financial system to prompt an efficient ecosystem of sustainability-related information, allowing social and environmental externalities to be incorporated into the decision-making process of all market agents. Incentives needed for investors, issuers and intermediaries are proposed along with regulation that can trigger these incentives. This book offers a comprehensive collection of chapters which explore the ongoing evolution of the European regulatory framework, providing essential reading for policymakers, practitioners and researchers alike.

This book examines the statistics of the G-20 members with the goal of providing an analysis of their economic policies, with a particular emphasis on the financial dynamics of each country's Balance of Payments, in order to offer a framework for better understanding where we are headed in an era of great economic and geopolitical reconfiguration. Furthermore, it delves into the current challenges to the US-led monopolar world that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union, beginning with the rise of China and India alongside Russia, and their potential role in reshaping the global financial system. The focus also extends to South America, where economies such as Brazil and Argentina are navigating complex relationships with traditional allies and emerging global powers. Africa's position in this evolving landscape is also analyzed, highlighting its growing autonomy as exemplified by the African Union's inclusion in the G-20. Furthermore, the Middle East is undergoing a remarkable geopolitical shift, undoubtedly representing another node of power in the emerging economic chessboard. These geopolitical dynamics are further complicated by major global events, including the 2008 global financial crisis, the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the Russo-Ukrainian conflict in 2022. Pressing challenges are also posed by the climate emergency, highlighting its direct impact on productivity and migration patterns. Finally, this book seeks to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the current economic realities of key global actors and their complex interplay with geopolitical choices. Based on a scholarly approach, the analysis provides insights into the complex and evolving global order.

The basic function of companies is to add value to society. Profits are a means to an end, not an end in itself. The ability of companies to innovate, scale and invest provides them with a powerful base for positive change. But companies are also criticized for not contributing sufficiently to society’s grand challenges. An increasingly VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world creates serious governance gaps that not only require new ways of regulation, but also new ways of doing business. Can companies effectively contribute to sustainable development and confront society’s systemic challenges? Arguably the most important frame to drive this ambition was introduced and unanimously adopted in 2015: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDG-agenda not only defines a holistic set of global goals and targets, but also foundational principles to guide meaningful action to their achievement by 2030. Multinational companies have signed up to the SDGs as the world’s long-term business plan. Realizing the SDGs provides a yearly $12 trillion investment and growth opportunity, while creating hundreds of millions of jobs in the process. But progress is too slow – witnessing society’s inability to deal with pressing human, ecological, economic and health crises – whilst the vast potential for societal value creation remains underutilized. This book provides a timely account of the systemic, strategic and operational challenges that need to be addressed to enhance the effectiveness of corporate involvement in society, by using the SDGs as the leading principles-based framework for actionable, powerful and transformative change. Principles of Sustainable Business is written for graduate and postgraduate (executive) students, policymakers and business professionals who want to understand the complex challenges of global sustainability. It shows how companies can design and implement SDG-relevant strategies at three levels: the macro level, to assess whether the SDGs present wicked problems or opportunities; the micro level, to develop and operationalize innovative business models, design new business cases and navigate organizational transition trajectories; and the meso level, to develop fit-for-purpose cross-sector partnering strategies. Principles of Sustainable Business presents innovative tools embedded in a coherent sequence of analytical frameworks that can be applied in courses for students, be put into practice by business professionals and used by action researchers to help companies contribute to the Decade of Action.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that scale up have long raised policy interest for their extraordinary potential in terms of job creation, innovation, competitiveness and economic growth. Yet, little is known about which firms could effectively become scalers, and what policies could effectively promote SME growth.