What can public policies do to promote start-ups?

In OECD and Latin American countries there is a growing interest in start-ups. This chapter presents the different definitions of “start-ups”. It highlights the challenges for the creation and expansion of these businesses and discusses the rationale for public policy. It presents a taxonomy of instruments to promote start-ups, focusing on financing, business services and the appropriate legal framework. Based on the experience of OECD and Latin American countries, it presents a taxonomy of direct-support instruments to promote start-ups, based on the firm’s development stage and on the type of support (financing, business training and legal framework).