Pressing the digital accelerator: Small firms racing to upgrade

Reading Time: 3 minutesAs communities around the world once again retreat into confinement, for many it will no doubt feel like heading in reverse. However, if you peek beneath the bonnet – as the latest OECD report does – we can find much is changing. While the virus rages outside, our economic engine is being remade: with digital drive.

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Entrepreneurship in Times of COVID-19

Reading Time: 3 minutesEntrepreneurs have been hit hard by the crisis. Surveys show that since the start of the pandemic, globally, 70-80% of SMEs experienced a serious drop in revenues/sales, and over 40% stopped operations altogether in the first wave of the crisis.

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After the Boom? COVID-19 and European City Labour Markets

Reading Time: 6 minutesBerlin, London, Madrid and Paris are engines of productivity growth that have long been magnets for young and skilled workers. COVID-19 has brought this boom to a halt. Indeed job posting data offer an unparalleled view of how the pandemic has transformed labour markets in Europe’s four largest capitals at the start of 2021.

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Rural well-being

An imagined country

Reading Time: 4 minutesIn the early stages of the pandemic, the focus was squarely on cities. Urban density and shared spaces contributed to surging case numbers and deaths: before June, the rise in excess deaths was more than three times higher in large metropolitan areas compared to remote regions. But rural areas still reeled from the economic impacts. Businesses closed to comply with containment measures, trade slowed, and tourism activity all but ceased.

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