Doing Business
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This series was discontinued after Doing Business 2020 (see statement: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/statement/2021/09/16/world-bank-group-to-discontinue-doing-business-report ). The goal of this series is to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business. Each year, since the project began in 2003, Doing Business has presented a quantitative measure of regulations throughout the life cycle of small and medium-size domestic enterprises—key drivers of competition, growth, and job creation, especially in developing countries. This corporate flagship undergoes extensive internal and external review and is one of the key outputs of the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank.
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Doing Business 2014 : Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises
(Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2013-10-28) World Bank ; International Finance CorporationEleventh in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 185 economies, Doing Business 2014 measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity: Starting a business, Dealing with construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting credit, Protecting investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders, Enforcing contracts, Closing a business, Employing workers. The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2013, ranks economies on their overall “ease of doing business”, and analyzes reforms to business regulation – identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. The Doing Business reports illustrate how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. Doing Business is a flagship product by the World Bank and IFC that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. More than 60 economies use the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground. In addition, the Doing Business data has generated over 870 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals since its inception. -
Publication
Doing Business 2013 : Smarter Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013) International Finance Corporation ; World BankTenth in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 185 economies, Doing Business 2013 measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity: Starting a business, Dealing with construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting credit, Protecting investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders, Enforcing contracts, Closing a business, Employing workers. The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2012, ranks economies on their overall “ease of doing business”, and analyzes reforms to business regulation – identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. The Doing Business reports illustrate how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the global Doing Business report. Doing Business is a flagship product by the World Bank and IFC that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. More than 60 economies use the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground. In addition, the Doing Business data has generated over 870 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals since its inception. -
Publication
Doing Business 2012 : Doing Business in a More Transparent World
(World Bank, 2012) International Finance Corporation ; World BankNinth in a series of annual reports comparing business regulations in 183 economies, Doing Business 2012 measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity: • starting a business • dealing with construction permits • employing workers • registering property • getting credit • protecting investors • paying taxes • trading across borders • enforcing contracts • closing a business • getting electricity The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2011, ranks countries on their overall "ease of doing business", and analyzes reforms to business regulation—identifying which countries are strengthening their business environment the most. Doing Business 2012 includes a new set of indicators on the time, steps, and cost for a private business to get an electricity connection. The data on connection services can inform utilities, regulators and governments seeking to strengthen the performance of the electricity sector. Drawing on a now longer time series, this year's report introduces a measure to illustrate how the regulatory environment for business has changed in each economy since Doing Business 2006 was published in 2005. A new "distance to frontier" measure complements the aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business, which benchmarks each economy's current performance on the indicators against that of all other economies in the sample for a given year. A fundamental premise of Doing Business is that economic activity requires good rules that are transparent and accessible to all. Such regulations should be efficient, striking a balance between safeguarding some important aspects of the business environment and avoiding distortions that impose unreasonable costs on businesses. Where business regulation is burdensome and competition limited, success depends more on whom you know than on what you can do. But where regulations are relatively easy to comply with and accessible to all who need to use them, anyone with talent and a good idea should be able to start and grow a business in the formal sector. “The Doing Business report, which was started in 2003, has become one of the key ways in which the bank and other observers gauge business climate within developing countries...” -- The Financial Times “[Doing Business started] as a way to encourage countries to reduce obstacles to entrepreneurship. Developing countries compete to land a spot on the top 10 list of most-improving countries because it is seen as a way to get attention and investment.” -- The Wall Street Journal “[Doing Business] has succeeded in putting the issue of business red tape on the international political agenda.” -- The Economist -
Publication
Doing Business 2011 : Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs - Comparing Business Regulation in 183 Economies
(World Bank, 2010) International Finance Corporation ; World BankDoing Business 2011: making a difference for entrepreneurs is the eighth in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. A set of regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business's are covered: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business. Data in Doing Business 2011 are current as of June 1, 2010. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why. The paper includes the following headings: overview, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business. -
Publication
Doing Business 2010 : Reforming through Difficult Times - Comparing Regulation in 183 Economies
(World Bank, 2009) International Finance Corporation ; World BankDoing Business 2010 is the seventh in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies-from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe-and over time. The methodology for the employing workers indicators changed for Doing Business 2010. Research is ongoing in two new areas: getting electricity and worker protection. Initial results are presented in this report. The paper includes the following headings: overview, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business. -
Publication
Doing Business 2009 : Comparing Regulation in 181 Economies
(Washington, DC : World Bank and Palgave Macmillon, 2008) International Finance Corporation ; World BankDoing Business 2009 is the sixth in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 181 economies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and over time. Regulations affecting 10 stages of the life of a business are measured: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business. Data in Doing Business 2009 are current as of June 1, 2008. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why. The methodology for the legal rights of lenders and borrowers, part of the getting credit indicators, changed for Doing Business 2009. The paper includes the following headings: overview, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business. -
Publication
Doing Business 2008 : Comparing Regulation in 178 Economies
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007) International Finance Corporation ; World BankDoing business 2008 is the fifth in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 178 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, and over time. Regulations affecting 10 stages of a business's life are measured: starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business. Data in doing business 2008 are current as of June 1, 2007. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why. The Doing business methodology has limitations. Other areas important to business-such as a country's proximity to large markets, the quality of its infrastructure services, the security of property from theft and looting, the transparency of government procurement, macroeconomic conditions or the underlying strength of institutions-are not studied directly by doing business. To make the data comparable across countries, the indicators refer to a specific type of business-generally a limited liability company operating in the largest business city. -
Publication
Doing Business in 2006 : Creating Jobs
(Washington, DC, 2006) World Bank ; International Finance CorporationDoing Business in 2006: Creating Jobs is the third in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. New quantitative indicators on business regulations and their enforcement can be compared across 155 countries-from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe-and over time. Doing Business in 2004: Understanding Regulation presented indicators in 5 topics: starting a business, hiring and firing workers, enforcing contracts, getting credit and closing a business. Doing Business in 2005: Removing Obstacles to Growth updated these measures and added another two sets: registering property and protecting investors. Doing Business in 2006 again up-dates all previous measures and adds three more sets: dealing with licenses, paying taxes and trading across borders, to create a total of 10 areas measured. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why. -
Publication
Doing Business 2007 : How to Reform
(Washington, DC, 2006) World Bank ; International Finance CorporationDoing Business 2007: How to reform is the fourth in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 175 economies-from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe-and over time. This publication points out how regulations affecting 10 areas of everyday business are measured: starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. The study stresses that there are 4 steps to successful reform: 1) Start simple and consider administrative reforms that don't need legislative changes; 2) Cut unnecessary procedures, reducing the number of bureaucrats entrepreneurs interact with; 3) Introduce standard application forms and publish as much regulatory information as possible; 4) And remember: many of the frustrations for businesses come from how regulations are administered. The internet alleviates these frustrations without changing the spirit of the regulation. -
Publication
Doing Business in 2005: Removing Obstacles to Growth
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004) World Bank ; International Finance Corporation2004 was a good year for doing business in most transition economies, the World Bank Group concluded in its Doing Business in 2005 survey, the second in its series tracking regulatory reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business in the world's economies. However, the survey found that conditions for starting and running a business in poorer countries were consistently more burdensome than in richer countries. The top 5 economies on the ease of doing business were, in order: New Zealand, United States, Singapore, Hong Kong (China), and Australia. Slovakia was the leading reformer, together with Lithuania breaking into the list of the 20 economies with the best business conditions. The major impetus for reform in 2003 was competition in the enlarged European Union. Doing Business in 2004 presented indicators in 5 topics (starting a business, hiring and firing workers, enforcing contracts, getting credit and closing a business), so this report updates these measures. There are two additional sets: registering property and protecting investors. The indicators are used to analyze economic and social outcomes, such as productivity, investment, informality, corruption, unemployment, and poverty, and identify what reforms have worked, where and why.