Independent Evaluation Group2012-05-252012-05-252008978-0-8213-7552-5https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6467Doing Business (DB), the annual World Bank- International Finance Corporation (IFC) benchmarking exercise launched in 2004, is one of the Bank Group's flagship knowledge products. It aims to measure the costs to firms of business regulations in 178 countries and ranks the countries along 10 dimensions. It also aims to advance the World Bank Group's private sector development agenda by motivating and informing the design of regulatory reforms, enriching international initiatives on development effectiveness, and informing theory. By ranking countries and spotlighting both leaders and laggards, DB has attracted the interest of senior policy makers and is claimed to have inspired reforms on business climate issues. DB's lively communications style has helped give the DB indicators an international profile. The report has five sections: the first chapter reviews the intellectual underpinnings of the DB indicators. The second chapter reports on how DB collects and assembles data. The chapters third and fourth discuss the relevance of the dimensions measured by the exercise and their use inside and outside the Bank. And finally, chapter fifth presents findings and recommendations.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CAPITALACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO EDUCATIONACCOUNTINGADMINISTRATIVE BURDENADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORTBANK ACTIVITIESBANK CREDITBANK LENDINGBANKING SECTORBANKRUPTCYBANKSBARRIERS TO COMPETITIONBENEFICIARIESBEST PRACTICEBEST PRACTICESBUDGET DEFICITSBUSINESS ACTIVITYBUSINESS CLIMATEBUSINESS DEPARTMENTBUSINESS DEVELOPMENTBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTBUSINESS INDICATORBUSINESS INDICATORSBUSINESS LEADERSBUSINESS MANAGERSBUSINESS REGISTRATIONBUSINESS REGULATIONBUSINESS REGULATIONSBUSINESS SCHOOLBUSINESSESCALCULATIONCAPACITY BUILDINGCAPACITY DEVELOPMENTCAPITAL INFLOWSCHECKSCHILD LABORCIVIL LAWCLIENT COUNTRIESCOLLATERALCOLLATERAL FOR LOANSCOMMON LAWCOMMUNICATION STRATEGYCOMPETITION POLICIESCOMPLIANCE COSTCONSUMERSCONTRACT ENFORCEMENTCONTRIBUTIONSCOPYRIGHTCOPYRIGHT CLEARANCECOPYRIGHT CLEARANCE CENTERCORPORATE TAX RATESCOST OF CREDITCREDIBILITYCREDIT BUREAUSCREDIT HISTORIESCREDIT INFORMATIONCREDIT PROVIDERSCREDITORCREDITOR RIGHTSCREDITORSCRIMES AGAINST PROPERTYCUSTOMSDEBTDEBT CONTRACTSDEBT RELIEFDEBTORSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDIRECT INVESTMENTE-MAILECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTELECTRICITYEMERGING MARKETSENABLING ENVIRONMENTENFORCEABILITYENTERPRISE SURVEYSENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIESENTRY BARRIERSEXCHANGE RATESEXPROPRIATIONFINANCE CORPORATIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL SECTORFIRM PERFORMANCEFISCAL POLICYFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN INVESTMENTFOREIGN INVESTORSFRAUDGLOBAL COMPETITIVENESSGLOBAL KNOWLEDGEGLOBAL LEADERGLOBALIZATIONGOVERNMENT REGULATIONGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROUP INVESTMENTHARMONIZATIONHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN RESOURCESINCOMEINCOME LEVELSINCOMESINDIVIDUAL FIRMINFLATIONINFORMAL ECONOMYINFRASTRUCTURE FINANCEINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL COMPARISONSINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTINTERNATIONAL FINANCEINTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATIONINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINVESTMENT CLIMATEINVESTMENT CLIMATE ASSESSMENTINVESTMENT CLIMATE ASSESSMENTSINVESTMENT CLIMATESINVESTMENT DECISIONSKNOWLEDGE PRODUCTKNOWLEDGE PRODUCTSLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLABOR STANDARDSLACK OF TRANSPARENCYLEGAL RIGHTSLEGAL TRANSACTIONSLENDERLENDERSLEVEL PLAYING FIELDLIABILITYLICENSESLIMITED LIABILITYLINES OF CREDITLOANLOW-INCOMELOW-INCOME COUNTRIESMACROECONOMIC INSTABILITYMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMARKET FAILURESMARKETINGMATERIALMICRO-ENTERPRISESMICROENTERPRISESMIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIESMINORITY SHAREHOLDERSNATURAL DISASTERSNEW BUSINESS OWNERSNOTARIESPENSIONPENSION REFORMPENSION SYSTEMSPHOTOPHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTUREPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL STABILITYPRESS COVERAGEPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIVATE BANKPRIVATE CREDITPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTPRIVATE SECTOR GROWTHPRODUCTIVITYPROPERTY RIGHTSPROTECTION OF MINORITY SHAREHOLDERSPROTOCOLSPUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONPUBLIC GOODPUBLIC GOODSPUBLIC REGISTRYQUERIESQUESTIONNAIREQUESTIONNAIRESREGULATORY BARRIERSREGULATORY CONSTRAINTSREGULATORY ENVIRONMENTREGULATORY ENVIRONMENTSREGULATORY FRAMEWORKREGULATORY FRAMEWORKSREGULATORY REGIMEREGULATORY REQUIREMENTSRELIABILITYRENEWABLE ENERGYREPAYMENTREPAYMENT CAPACITYRESOURCE ALLOCATIONRESOURCE ALLOCATIONSRESULTSSALARYSEARCHSENIORSHAREHOLDERSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL FUNDSSOCIAL INSURANCESOCIAL PROTECTIONSOLAR PANELSSTAKEHOLDERSSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTTAXTAX RATETAX RATESTAX SYSTEMTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETECHNICAL SKILLSTELEPHONETRADINGTRANSITION ECONOMYTRANSPARENCYTURNOVERUNEMPLOYMENTUSERSUSESVALUABLEWAGEWAGESWAREHOUSEWEBWEB SITEWORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORSWorld Bank10.1596/978-0-8213-7552-5