Supporting Youth Entrepreneurship in Italy
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SUPPORTING YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ITALY A REVIEW OF POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES This paper is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and the arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD member countries. © OECD 2016 You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, databases and multimedia products in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgment of the source and copyright owner is given. All requests for public or commercial use and translation rights should be submitted to [email protected]. Requests for permission to photocopy portions of this material for public or commercial use shall be addressed directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at [email protected] or the Centre français d'exploitation du droit de copie (CFC) at [email protected]. FOREWORD Entrepreneurship development 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. The impact of the global financial and economic crisis calls for giving entrepreneurship and self-employment a stronger role in economic and social development policies. This is particularly relevant for youth who face higher unemployment rates than the adult population and increased difficulties entering the labour market to start their careers. However, the effectiveness of national, regional and local measures and actions to promote inclusive entrepreneurship development in Europe can be hindered by a fragmentation of responsibilities, resources and strategies, and a failure to understand the goals of inclusive entrepreneurship. This project is part of a series of youth entrepreneurship reviews that are conducted by the Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme of the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) in collaboration with the European Commission, Directorate- General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. This work builds on a collaborative project between the OECD and the European Commission on inclusive entrepreneurship. For more information on this project, please refer to: http://www.oecd.org/employment/leed/inclusive- entrepreneurship.htm. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study has been a collaborative project between the Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, with the co-operation of the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. It is part of a multi-year programme of work on inclusive entrepreneurship undertaken by the LEED Programme of the OECD and DG Employment of the European Commission. The report was prepared by David Halabisky under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Potter, both of the LEED Programme of the OECD. Sections of this report were prepared by Dr. David Deakins of Lancaster University and Dr. Petra Reszkető of the Budapest Institute. This report also draws on a report by Filippo Addarii of The Young Foundation, which was prepared as part of this project. A key source of information for this report was a study visit to Rome, Italy. This study visit was organised by Filippo Addarii, Nadja Ohranovic and Stuart Goodey of The Young Foundation. The knowledge and insights shared by those who participated in interviews and meetings during the study visit is gratefully acknowledged. The report authors would like to acknowledge the assistance received from Romolo De Camillis, Paola Tambuscio and Danilo Giovanni Festa from the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. Also, Barbara Cachova, Eleanor Davies and François Iglesias of the LEED Programme had an invaluable role in providing technical assistance. The project would not have been possible without their support. 3 ABBREVIATIONS EC European Commission ERDF European Regional Development Fund ESF European Social Fund GEM Global Entrepreneurship Monitor HEI Higher education institution ISFOL Institute for the Development of Vocational Training of Workers ISTAT National Institute for Statistics LEED Local Economic and Employment Development Programme of the OECD LFS Labour Force Survey MFI Microfinance Institute MiSE Ministry for Economic Development MIUR Ministry of Education, Universities and Research NEET Not in employment, education or training OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development SME Small- and medium-sized enterprise SUAP Sportello unico dell’attivita produttive (“Single Information Points for Production Activities”) VET Vocational education and training 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ............................................................................................................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... 3 ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 7 Key strengths of youth entrepreneurship support in Italy .......................................................... 7 Key areas for improvement of youth entrepreneurship support in Italy .................................... 8 Key policy recommendations .................................................................................................... 9 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 10 OECD-European Commission youth entrepreneurship review series ..................................... 10 OECD principles for youth entrepreneurship support ............................................................. 10 Project methodology ................................................................................................................ 12 References................................................................................................................................ 14 CHAPTER 1: THE ITALIAN CONTEXT ................................................................................. 15 Youth unemployment .............................................................................................................. 15 Youth entrepreneurship rates ................................................................................................... 18 Barriers to entrepreneurship for youth ..................................................................................... 21 References................................................................................................................................ 22 CHAPTER 2: STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP ..................... 23 The importance of strategy and co-ordination ......................................................................... 23 Findings and analysis ............................................................................................................... 24 Conclusions and policy recommendations .............................................................................. 30 References................................................................................................................................ 32 CHAPTER 3: BUILDING A SUPPORTIVE INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT FOR YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP ............................................................................................................. 33 The role of formal and informal institutions ............................................................................ 33 Findings and analysis ............................................................................................................... 33 Conclusions and policy recommendations .............................................................................. 41 References................................................................................................................................ 42 CHAPTER 4: ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS FOR YOUTH ................................................ 43 The importance of entrepreneurship skills ............................................................................... 43 Findings and analysis ............................................................................................................... 44 Conclusions and policy recommendations .............................................................................. 51 References................................................................................................................................ 53 CHAPTER 5: ACCESS TO FINANCE FOR YOUTH ENTREPRENEURS ............................ 55 Facilitating access to finance for youth ................................................................................... 55 Findings and analysis ............................................................................................................... 58 Conclusions and policy recommendations .............................................................................. 64 References...............................................................................................................................