If we leave aside cross-country differences and do some time-series analyses, we notice a decline in business dynamism since the early 2000s all over the world: for most OECD countries, new firms’ entry rates are now significantly lower than at the beginning of the century. What are the causes of this phenomenon? One may be the possible increased market power of incumbents.
Another may be the fact that technological change and globalization increase the ability of more productive firms to gain market 4  share. These two possible explanations have markedly different policy implications. The scientific debate is currently ongoing, and during this workshop other possible explanations will be discussed in depth by several presenters.