OECD Kansas City Workshop on
High Growth SMEs, Innovation and Intellectual Assets:
Strategic Issues and Policies
May 8, 2008
Since 2004 the OECD has carried out important work on intellectual capital and value creation. The main policy conclusions of this work were presented to the Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) in May 2006 in the synthesis report Creating Value from Intellectual Assets. One main lesson from this work is that investment in intellectual assets is growing faster than investment in machinery and equipment, although its contribution to economic growth largely depends on the quality of management. Following the 2006 MCM, it was decided to undertake a follow-up study to deepen understanding of the importance of intellectual assets as a driving force for innovation and value creation.
In the framework of its 2007-2008 Programme of Work, the OECD Working Party on SMEs and Entrepreneurship (WPSMEE) decided to undertake a study on High-Growth SMEs, Innovation, Intellectual Assets and Value Creation. The HGSME project aims to investigate the extent to which innovation is a determinant of fast growth in SMEs and to analyse, in turn, the relationship between the use of intellectual assets and innovation in these firms.
The Kauffman Foundation, in support of the OECD, is hosting the Kansas City Workshop to provide an opportunity for international experts to contribute with their knowledge and experience to the OECD HGSMEs & Innovation project.