Development Centre Studies Start-up Latin America Promoting Innovation in the Region

This report reviews the policy mix to support knowledge-based start-ups in six countries in Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. It discusses role of public policies in supporting the creation of start-ups, it presents an overview of the rationale and scope of state intervention and it summarises the experience of OECD countries, focusing on Australia, Finland and Israel. The report provides a comparative assessment of the experience of the six Latin American countries. Following the literature and the experience of countries it develops a taxonomy of instruments targeted to promote entrepreneurship and it compares the policy mix available in the different countries in Latin America. It also identifies recommendations to improve the policy framework for start-up promotion in Latin America. Country notes are available for each of the six studied countries. The report has been elaborated in the framework of the Development Centre's policy dialogue on innovation policies in Latin America.