Access to finance represents one of the most significant challenges for entrepreneurs and for the creation, survival and growth of small businesses. As governments address this challenge, they are running up against a major and longstanding obstacle to policy making: insufficient evidence and data. Better data is needed to understand the financing needs of SMEs and entrepreneurs and to provide the basis for informed institutional and public policy decisions. This first edition of "Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs: An OECD Scoreboard" represents a major step in addressing this obstacle by establishing a comprehensive international framework for monitoring SMEs and entrepreneurs access to finance over time. Comprising 18 countries, including Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States, the Scoreboard presents data for a number of debt, equity and financing framework condition indicators. Taken together, they provide governments and other stakeholders with a tool to understand SMEs financing needs, to support the design and evaluation of policy measures and to monitor the implications of financial reforms on SMEs access to finance.Table of Content :Chapter 1. Financing SMEs and entrepreneurs: Understanding and developing the OECD Scoreboard -Introduction -Indicators -Data collection -Cross-country comparability -Definition of indicators and data collection: Current challenges and recommendations -Recommendations for data improvementsChapter 2. Emerging Trends in SME and Entrepreneurship Finance -Introduction -Business environment and economic prospects -Lending to smes in 2007-10 -Equity financing -Government responsesChapter 3. Basel III and SME Lending: Thematic Focus 3-Introduction -Background on Basel III capital and liquidity standards -The basics of Basel II and III -Potential impact on SME lendingChapter 4. Country profiles of SME lending 2007-10 -Canada -Chile -Denmark -Finland -France -Hungary -Italy -Korea -The Netherlands-New Zealand -Portugal -Slovak Republic -Slovenia -Sweden -Switzerland -Thailand -United Kingdom -United StatesAnnex 1: Methodology Annex 2: Surveys and statistical resources on SME and entrepreneurship finance Annex 3: Example of a simplified quantitative survey by industry Canada