Xu, Lixin Colin2012-03-192012-03-192010-08-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3886In the past decade, the World Bank has promoted improving business environments as a key strategy for development, which has resulted in a significant amount of investment in collecting firm-level investment climate surveys across countries. What lessons have emerged from the papers using these new data? The key finding is that the effects of business environments are heterogeneous and depend crucially on industry, initial conditions, and complementary institutions. Some elements of the business environment, such as labor flexibility, low entry and exit barriers, and a reasonable protection from the "grabbing hands" of the government, seem to matter a great deal for most economies. Other elements, such as infrastructure and contracting institutions (courts and access to finance), hinge on their initial status and the size of the market.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO BANKACCESS TO EXTERNAL FINANCEACCESS TO FINANCEACCOUNTINGADVERSE DEMANDADVERSE EFFECTSAGENCY COSTSANTI-SWEATSHOP CAMPAIGNAUCTIONAVERAGE PRODUCTIVITYBANK OFFICIALSBANK POLICYBANKING SECTORBANKRUPTCIESBANKRUPTCYBANKRUPTCY LAWSBANKRUPTCY PROCEDUREBARRIERBRIBEBRIBESBRIBINGBUDGET CONSTRAINTBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTSCAPITAL INVESTMENTCAPITAL MARKETCAPITAL OWNERSCHECKSCODES OF CONDUCTCOLLATERALCOLLATERAL REQUIREMENTSCOMPUTER TECHNOLOGYCONTRACT ENFORCEMENTCORPORATE GOVERNANCECORPORATE TAXCORPORATE TAX RATECORPORATE TAX RATESCORPORATE TAXESCORRUPTIONCOUNTRY DUMMIESCREDITORCREDITORSDEREGULATIONDEREGULATIONSDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPING ECONOMIESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDISMISSALDISPUTE RESOLUTIONSECONOMETRICSECONOMIC ACTIVITIESECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCESECONOMIC CONSEQUENCESECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC EFFICIENCYECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC PERFORMANCEECONOMIC REFORMECONOMIC REFORMSECONOMICSEFFICIENCY OF LABOREMERGING ECONOMIESEMPIRICAL STUDIESEMPLOYEREMPLOYMENT GROWTHENFORCEMENTSENTREPRENEURENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIESENTREPRENEURSENTRY BARRIERSENVIRONMENTSEXCHANGE RATEEXCLUSIONEXPORTERSEXPOSUREEXPROPRIATIONEXPROPRIATIONSEXTERNAL FINANCEFARMERSFINANCIAL DEVELOPMENTFINANCIAL MANAGEMENTFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SECTORSFIRM GROWTHFIRM PERFORMANCEFIRM PERFORMANCESFIXED ASSETSFOOD POLICY RESEARCHFORECLOSURESFOREIGN BANKFOREIGN BANK ENTRYFOREIGN BANKSFOREIGN COMPETITIONFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN FIRMSFOREIGN OWNERSHIPGLOBALIZATIONGOVERNANCE INDICATORSGOVERNMENT POLICIESGOVERNMENT REGULATIONGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROWTH RATEGROWTH RATESHOLDINGHUMAN CAPITALINCOMEINCOME INEQUALITYINCOME LEVELINCOME LEVELSINCOME TAXINFLATIONINFORMAL CREDITINFORMATION DISCLOSUREINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINNOVATIONINNOVATIONSINPUT PRICESINSTRUMENTINTANGIBLEINTANGIBLE ASSETSINTELLECTUAL PROPERTYINTERNATIONAL BANKINVESTMENT CLIMATEINVESTMENT CLIMATESINVESTMENT DECISIONSINVESTOR PROTECTIONJOB CREATIONJOB CREATIONSJUDICIAL SYSTEMLABOR ADJUSTMENT COSTSLABOR ALLOCATIONLABOR COSTSLABOR DEMANDLABOR ECONOMICSLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET FLEXIBILITYLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLABOR REGULATIONSLABOR TURNOVERLAW ENFORCEMENTLEGAL CONSTRAINTSLEGAL RIGHTSLEGAL SYSTEMLEGAL SYSTEMSLIBERALIZATIONLIMITED LIABILITYLIMITED LIABILITY CORPORATIONLIQUIDATIONLOANLOAN AMOUNTSLOCAL BANKSLOCAL BUSINESSLOCAL BUSINESSESLOCAL ECONOMYLOCAL GOVERNMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENTSMANUFACTURING INDUSTRIESMARGINAL REVENUEMARKET COMPETITIONMARKET DISCIPLINEMARKET REFORMSMICRO DATAMINIMUM WAGEMINIMUM WAGESMONOPOLIESMONOPOLYMULTINATIONALOUTPUTOUTPUTSOVERDRAFTPOLICY MAKERSPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL INSTITUTIONSPOLITICAL STABILITYPOLLUTIONPRIVATE PARTIESPRIVATE PROPERTYPRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTPRIVATIZATIONPRODUCERSPRODUCTION COSTSPRODUCTIVE INVESTMENTPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPROFIT MARGINSPROPERTY RIGHTSPROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTIONPROPRIETORSHIPSPUBLIC ENFORCEMENTPUBLIC GOODSRED TAPEREGULATORSREINVESTMENTREINVESTMENT RATEREINVESTMENT RATESREPUTATIONRETAINED EARNINGSRETURNRETURNSRULE OF LAWSAFETYSALES GROWTHSEVERANCE PAYSHAREHOLDERSSINGLE MARKETSMALL BUSINESSSOCIAL CAPITALSOCIAL COSTSOCIAL NETWORKSUPPLIERSSUSTAINABLE GROWTHTAXTAX BURDENTAX BURDENSTAX RATESTELECOMMUNICATIONSTRADE CREDITTRADE UNIONSTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSITION ECONOMIESUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYMENTVILLAGEWAGESWELFARE EFFECTSWORKING CONDITIONSWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5402