Bigsten, ArneSöderbom, Måns2013-12-202013-12-202006-08-02World Bank Research Observerdoi:10.1093/wbro/lkl003https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16424In the early 1990s the World Bank launched the Regional Program on Enterprise Development (RPED) in several African countries, a key component of which was to collect data on manufacturing firms. The data sets built by these and subsequent enterprise surveys in Africa generated considerable research. This article surveys the research on the African business environment, focusing on risk, access to credit, labor, and infrastructure, and on how firms organize themselves and do business. It reviews the research on enterprise performance, including enterprise growth, investment, and exports. The article concludes with a discussion of policy lessons.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO FORMAL CREDITACCOUNTINGBANKING CRISESBANKING CRISISBANKING PRACTICESBANKING RELATIONSHIPBANKING RELATIONSHIPSBANKSBIASESBORROWINGBRIBESBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTCAPITAL COSTSCAPITAL STOCKCASH FLOWCOMPANYCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVE MARKETCOMPETITIVENESSCONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALECONTRACT ENFORCEMENTCORPORATIONCORRUPTIONCOUNTRY CREDITCREDIBILITYCREDIT ACCESSCREDIT CONSTRAINTCREDIT CONSTRAINTSCREDIT HISTORIESCREDIT MARKETCREDIT PROVISIONCREDIT RATINGCREDIT RATING AGENCIESCREDIT RATINGSCREDIT RELATIONSHIPSCREDIT RISKCREDITWORTHINESSDEMAND FOR CREDITDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRYDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDEVELOPMENT POLICYDOMESTIC MARKETDOMESTIC MARKETSEARNINGSECONOMIC ANALYSISECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC PERFORMANCEECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIC PROBLEMSECONOMIC RENTSECONOMIC RISKECONOMIC THEORIESECONOMICSECONOMISTSEFFICIENCY WAGESELASTICITYEMPIRICAL ANALYSISEMPIRICAL EVIDENCEEMPLOYEEEMPLOYEREMPLOYMENTENDOGENOUS VARIABLESENDOWMENTSENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENTENTERPRISE FINANCINGENTERPRISE GROWTHENTERPRISE PERFORMANCEENTERPRISE SIZEENTREPRENEURENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENTENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESSENTREPRENEURSENTRY BARRIERSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITYETHNIC GROUPSEXCHANGE RATEEXPANSIONEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURESEXPORTERSEXPORTSEXTERNAL FINANCEEXTERNAL FUNDSFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL REFORMSFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SECTOR REFORMSFIRM PERFORMANCEFIRM SIZEFIRMSFIXED CAPITALFIXED COSTFIXED COSTSFOREIGN EXCHANGEFOREIGN INVESTORSFORMAL ANALYSESFORMAL BORROWINGFORMAL CREDITFORMAL LOANFORMAL LOANSFUTURE RESEARCHGDPGENDERGOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROWTH RATEHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN RESOURCESINCREASING RETURNSINCREASING RETURNS TO SCALEINDEBTEDNESSINDIGENOUS ENTREPRENEURSINFLATIONINFORMATION ON INVESTMENTINSURANCEINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL ECONOMICSINTERNATIONAL FINANCEINTERNATIONAL MARKETSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINVENTORIESINVESTINGINVESTMENT ACTIVITYINVESTMENT CLIMATEINVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIESINVESTMENT PROJECTSINVESTMENT RATEINVESTMENT RATESIRREVERSIBILITYJOB CREATIONLABOR COSTSLABOR FORCELABOUR MARKETLACK OF ACCESSLACK OF CREDITLEARNING OPPORTUNITIESLOANLOAN APPLICATIONLOAN APPLICATIONSLOCAL BUSINESSMACROECONOMIC ANALYSISMACROECONOMIC VARIABLESMANUFACTURERSMANUFACTURING ENTERPRISEMANUFACTURING ENTERPRISESMARGINAL COSTSMARGINAL PRODUCTMARKET CONDITIONSMARKET FAILUREMARKET FAILURESMARKET PARTICIPANTSMIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIESMINORITY ENTREPRENEURSMONOPOLYNEW MARKETSOBSTACLES TO GROWTHOPPORTUNITY COSTSPHYSICAL CAPITALPORTFOLIOPORTFOLIO CHOICEPOSITIVE EFFECTSPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRODUCERSPRODUCTION FUNCTIONPRODUCTIVITYPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPROFIT RATEPROFITABILITYPROVISION OF CREDITRATES OF RETURNRED TAPEREGULATORY SYSTEMRESOURCE ALLOCATIONRETURNS TO SCALERISK AVERSERISK PREMIUMSALES GROWTHSMALL FIRMSMALL FIRMSSOURCE OF INFORMATIONSTOCK DATASTRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENTSUNK COSTSSUPPLIERSUPPLIERSTAXTAX REVENUESTELECOMMUNICATIONSTOTAL COSTSTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRADE CREDITTRADINGTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTSTURNOVERVALUE ADDEDWAGE DIFFERENTIALSWAGESWEALTHJournal ArticleWorld Bank10.1596/16424