This report argues for the crafting of public policies that recognize how small enterprises (1) do not invest directly in new “target markets” but (2) leverage the internet and platforms to reach customers in global markets and then (3) serve those customers remotely without any facilities in the consumers’ jurisdictions while (4) remaining independent.
To that end, the report presents robust data that demonstrate the real-world behavior of platform-enabled enterprises across the EU; puts forward recommendations for policy action at the EU level, proposing an agenda for the forthcoming mandate of the European Commission; and introduces an innovative modelling tool to help guide EU policy prioritization. This is a tool for analyzing how EU regions are equipped to support online commerce enterprise activity. For the purposes of this report, we have applied the modelling tool to Bulgaria, France, Germany, Romania, Spain and the UK, home to the six entrepreneurs featured in the report. We have used the tool to identify what type of policy actions would have the greatest impact across those countries and then measure the potential regional impact should such policy actions be carried out.
Our hope is that this report and the policy modelling tool can help promote the growth of small, independent yet global enterprises throughout the EU, inspire a new policy mindset, and speed up a transition to the next paradigm where more individuals and enterprises in more places benefit from technology and globalization.
This report describes how the online platform model for commerce reduces the costs of doing business over distance and thereby allows small businesses throughout Germany to extend their market reach. Indeed, almost all small firms leveraging the eBay Marketplace in Germany are international, they served customers in on average 18 different countries in 2016, and they operated from almost anywhere in the country. The research presented in this report shows that the online platform model of commerce has the potential to support inclusive growth by micro and small enterprises, to promote regional inclusion, and to enable self-employment.
This paper compares the contribution by regions to net enterprise growth in the traditional economy with the online platform-enabled economy for the UK and Germany from 2010 to 2015. Our study shows that the growth in eBay-enabled firms is more evenly spread across regions in both countries. We also find it to be less concentrated to regions with high GDP per capita levels than traditional enterprise growth. In short, more regions and more poor regions are able to contribute to total enterprise growth in the platform-enabled economy than in the traditional economy. Our findings point to the online platform model being a powerful tool for driving more inclusive and broader participation in entrepreneurial activity and for expanding access to economic opportunities throughout a country. We believe that this should be reflected in national policies and actions aimed at promoting regional and rural development.
Read eBay’s report on how the online commerce platform reduces the costs of doing business over distance and enables small businesses throughout France to extend their market reach:
eBay’s Public Policy Lab launches a new report looking at how the online platform model of commerce supports the internationalization and growth of small businesses in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
Read eBay’s Central and Eastern European report on how the online platform model of commerce allows small firms in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia to expand beyond their home markets, and how:
This post originally appeared on eBayInc.com.
At eBay, we recognize the large contribution that small businesses make to the economy, and work to support our sellers’ success. The European Commission estimates that 99 per cent of all enterprises are SMEs, and provide over two thirds of total employment in the European economy.
This paper looks at the ability of small online commercial enterprises to adapt to macroeconomic changes. The analysis is based on the European Commission’s study of how companies of different sizes attempted to rebalance their export destinations in response to significant relative decrease in export opportunities within Europe due to the recent economic and financial crisis. All size classes of European exporters attempted to expand their extra-EU exporting relative to intra-EU exports as demand from outside of Europe grew more rapidly relative to demand from within Europe. All size classes of business achieved a rebalancing in favor of more pronounced extra-EU exports. However, the largest businesses were more adaptable and flexible. We have replicated this analysis for EU eBay-enabled firms and found that they showed the strongest rebalancing of export destinations: they exceeded even the rate of rebalancing toward extra-EU exports of the largest European businesses, and they were considerably more adaptable than the general classes of small business exporters. Government export support programs should take this learning into account. We recommend partnerships between towns or regions, the local businesses and online commerce platform providers to bring platform-based exporting to local MSMEs.
We also invite you to view the accompanying infographic which provides a quick snapshot of the data.
This report focuses on SMEs and entrepreneurs using the eBay platform in the European Union and its 28 Member States. Using trade and economic data, the report describes how the online platform model for commerce is allowing European SMEs and entrepreneurs to extend their geographic reach and actively engage in global trade. The research shows that the ability to directly operate in foreign markets creates enterprises capable of growing and successfully entering and participating in new markets – despite recent years’ financial recession and stagnation. The report offers recommendations to help guide Europe towards its goal of a “fully functioning” Digital Single Market and also contains a detailed county-by-country data appendix.