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EASE OF DOING BUSINESS: A CRITICAL OVERVIEW

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Abstract

The World Bank provides ten factors which form the basis of its ranking to different countries in respect of Ease of Doing Business (EODB). It is generally understood that this ranking affects the inflow of FDIs in the countries. Higher ranking carries higher chances of FDI inflows and vice versa. The present paper attempts to look into the comparative weightage of the factors of ranking and their applicability in different sets of economic developments stages. Other traits which responsible for ease of doing business on overall basis are also looked into influencing the investment flow. The basic plan of the paper is to consult the papers available on the topic and chalk out the different factors and their outcomes. Based on the literature survey, it is opined that improved rankings in general favours FDI inflow but not all the parameters are equally effective and their weightage vary on case to case basis. Extra commercial considerations are also bound to get priorities when it comes to serve strategic interests of the investors. Over prioritizing the EODB rankings also diverts specially underdeveloped countries from taking up their structural reforms as they try to value few one over those more vital aspects need to be looked into. Besides all these, analysis of de facto implications of different indicators and aspects should also be done at sub economic level or at micro level which have definitely the bearings upon EoDB rankings at overall macro level. Finally, drawing the own utility of this wholesome exercise in producing the present paper, the Indian context has been taken into consideration. India's ranking has continuously bettered in recent years but Indian priorities of socioeconomic development cannot fully be market driven combined with the goal of self-reliance under prevailing strategic and global concerns.
EASE OF DOING BUSINESS: A CRITICAL OVERVIEW
Mr. Pawan Kumar
Research Scholar,
Faculty of Management Studies,
ICFAI University, Jharkhand.
Email- id- pawan.kr.43@gmail.com
Dr. Dilip Kumar
Assistant Professor,
Faculty of Management Studies,
ICFAI University, Jharkhand.
Email- id- dilip.kumar@iujharkhand.edu.in
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ABSTRACT
The World Bank provides ten factors which form the basis of its ranking to different
countries in respect of Ease of Doing Business (EODB). It is generally understood that this
ranking affects the inflow of FDIs in the countries. Higher ranking carries higher chances of
FDI inflows and vice versa. The present paper attempts to look into the comparative
weightage of the factors of ranking and their applicability in different sets of economic
developments stages. Other traits which responsible for ease of doing business on overall
basis are also looked into influencing the investment flow. The basic plan of the paper is to
consult the papers available on the topic and chalk out the different factors and their
outcomes. Based on the literature survey, it is opined that improved rankings in general
favours FDI inflow but not all the parameters are equally effective and their weightage vary
on case to case basis. Extra commercial considerations are also bound to get priorities when it
comes to serve strategic interests of the investors. Over prioritizing the EODB rankings also
diverts specially underdeveloped countries from taking up their structural reforms as they try
to value few one over those more vital aspects need to be looked into. Besides all these,
analysis of de facto implications of different indicators and aspects should also be done at sub
economic level or at micro level which have definitely the bearings upon EoDB rankings at
overall macro level. Finally, drawing the own utility of this wholesome exercise in producing
the present paper, the Indian context has been taken into consideration. India’s ranking has
continuously bettered in recent years but Indian priorities of socio-economic development
cannot fully be market driven combined with the goal of self-reliance under prevailing
strategic and global concerns.
Key Words: Ease of Doing Business, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), World Bank, GST
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Introduction
Almost a quarter century ago, when India adopted the open market economy, the
jargons like “Economic Liberalisation”, “Globalisation”, “Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)”
became the quite commonly used terms. Nowadays, when a whole new generation has taken
the cue in its hands to move forward in the future, everywhere, second generation reforms are
being much talked about. Of course, spread of COVID 19 has put the world on somehow
different track for the time being, but the Nations are poised to bounce back, once this period
is over. The changed scenario in this one of the most awkward challenges before the humans
shall definitely shift the way of business with new ideas. There are further doses of labour
reforms with new law adaptation, Taxation reforms with focus on development of
infrastructural facilities like transport, energy sector, education and training facilities etc. and
not to forget the most prominent one ie. Health sector. The first stage economic reforms
prepared the platform of growth, the second stage economic reforms are supposed to take a
flight on that platform.
India aspires to be five trillion dollars’ economy in the next five years. This ambitious
feature has been reiterated by the PM and other leaders many a times. Though this vision has
definitely suffered a jolt due to COVID 19, but changing international opinion in this
pandemic era shows signs of opportunity as well for India. “Make in India” programme can
be seen as flag bearer in this direction. We can see the news coming about offering of land
“twice to that of Luxemburg” to the companies planning to leave China after COVID 19.
This looks possible, but demands lots of hard work, concrete and bold labour as well as
financial sector reforms and huge investments in infrastructure sector. However, one cannot
deny the fact that huge amount of capital infusion of around 1.3 trillion dollars in every five
years and even more than that shall be required to facilitate this aspired growth engine, which
is not available through domestic sources only. It is but natural that the country shall sort
after foreign capital infusion. Here, our topic i.e. “Ease of doing Business or EODB” comes
into play.
‘Ease of doing Business” may be defined as combined outcome of the simplified laws, rules
and regulations, taxation process etc. facilitating the smooth business operations with proper
back up of developed infrastructural facilities like transportation, law and order position,
banking and financial system along with the presence of conducive equality population
having the role, both as consumers and human resources for the business.
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Ease of doing Business
The term has been introduced and defined by the World Bank, to indicate the positive and
negative aspects in economic life of any country which contribute and hinder the
development of healthy business environment there. It underlines the necessary steps that
need to be taken to maximise those positive aspects and minimise the negative ones. Based
on these aspects, the World Bank also declares annual rankings of various countries, thus
acknowledging their business environment globally. It’s a general opinion that the higher
rank holders become the preferred choices of global investors for their stakes.
From the investors’ point of view, analyses of factors of EODB are vital phenomena which
will suggest the safety and viability of their investment. Another aspect is that how the host
country is able to guide these investments according to its specific needs which cannot
always be related to profitability only. Parallely, it should not be forgotten that around the
globe, there are so many contenders who are trying to woo these foreign investors with
various reforms on their domestic fronts. In fact, in modern era’s global economy, every
country tries to get higher on the ladder of scale on EODB standards in the eyes of World
Bank.
Under these circumstances, huge young population, training institutions, growing economy
etc. are of course giving India an edge over its other global contenders, but to be very frank
these factors alone cannot turn the scales on board. Further massive efforts are mandatory to
bring more ease in doing the business in this country in order to motivate the investors to zero
in on India as their favourable destination. We can see the much publicised news about the
India’s improvement in the latest EODB rankings from 100 in 2017 to 77 in the year 2018
with further jump to 63
rd
position 2020 World Bank Report. It’s all about giving new hopes
and impetus to slowing down Indian economy. It also generates the positive feelings among
the masses about the reform measures being undertaken by the Government. It is further
helpful for the latter to pursue such policies to push the reforms more aggressively while
calming down the opposition from many quarters. Of course, it also offers more favourable
terms for the government’s persuasiveness for the potential investors around the world.
World Bank has identified ten factors to determine the rankings on EODB such as Starting a
business, Dealing with construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting
credit, Protecting minority investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders, Enforcing
contracts and Resolving insolvency. If we carefully go through these factors, it is apparent
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that second, fourth, sixth, ninth and tenth one i.e. five out of total ten factors, relate to legal
aspects. Appropriate changes and reforms in laws and their implementation can ensure the
proper functioning of these five factors. These include Arbitration and Adjudication process,
Dispute settlement mechanisms, labour laws and other related statutes, entry and exit
procedures for the business etc. In modern era, time consumed in these legal processes are
very important for the business firms and is considered as very effective tool in attracting or
frustrating the investors. The Legislature and Lawmakers have to take care of these aspects
along with the bureaucratic ranks and files of the land.
The rest i.e. seventh factor relates to one of the most important aspect i.e. paying taxes.
Koutilya (Chanakya) has said in Arthashastra that wise people get the fruits only up to certain
limit but never harm the trees so that they can bear the fruits for a long time to come.
Similarly, a wise king never harms the taxpayers, but facilitates them for paying their taxes in
foreseeable futures to come. Here fruits are the taxes and trees are the taxpayers. High rates
of taxes beyond certain limits will only be counterproductive to economic activities of the
country. Besides rate of taxes, their compliance cost and procedural formalities along with
the attitude of the government and tax department towards taxpayers plays a very important
role in the hardships or ease to them. All countries which are striving for FDI are trying to
reform their tax structures, simplify them and ensuring the removal of compliance procedural
bottlenecks. If we go around the world, several countries, especially Asian countries are very
busy in revamping their tax structures.
As per the different research papers, World bank reports, articles, books some of the major
constructs has been playing vital role to promote foreign investment. First factor i. e.
“Starting a business” relates to smooth functioning of Government departments and steps like
time taken in various clearances, land acquisition, single window systems, maintenance of
law and order situation, attitude of general public as well as those of administration etc. Fifth
one i.e. Getting Credit owes its effectiveness in healthy functioning of the financial systems
of the country. Though the law of the land has the role to play here but strengthening of the
financial institutions are long drawn procedures and take a considerable period of time. Third
and eighth factor relates to infrastructure developments in power sector, transportation in all
forms i.e. surface, air and water so that the products and services are ready on time and to be
delivered on time at proper destination. Trading across the borders also depend upon the
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country’s priority in its economic system, its political and commercial relations with other
countries, quality offered in the products and services, cost competitiveness etc.
Fig. No. 1. Major stages of Ease of Doing Business
Source:-Doing business database
Latest example is the adoption of GST i.e. Goods & Services Tax by Indian Union and State
governments in this regard. The slogan One Nation” One Tax” “One Market” is much in
vogue today. After initial hiccups and removal of procedural plus system’s lacunae, this
taxation system is bound to reduce the cost of tax collection to the Government, increase the
tax collection and ease the compliance formalities to the taxpayers. As it is an indirect tax,
general public will be the biggest beneficiary. The system needs to learn from the experiences
of other countries as well as to innovate the methods according to its needs.
Review of Literature
There is some review of literature that provides critical review on ease of doing business. Has
EODB has any role to play in attracting FDI or upliftment of domestic economy, trade and
production? If yes, then to what extent? What are the factors other than EODB which are
worth considered for their role in ensuring the advantages to the investors? A critical analysis
has been attempted in the forthcoming paragraphs cutting across the spectrum of thoughts
and studies by the various scholars to decipher the importance of EoDB.
Adrian and Robert (2012), exhibited that “most of the FDI inflow can be explained solely by
how easy it is to trade across borders, with other components of doing business having little
or no eects. In other words, they are trying to give the entire credit to eighth factor only
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while bypassing others but there is a caveat. Policy makers should be aware that this is not a
one size that fits all policy”. Here it can be seen that the author’s duo has emphasized only
one factor over and above the other factors. It may be true for export oriented economies or
the economies like Singapore, Mauritius, which act as a transit market for the big sized
economies. But priorities economies like India may have this factor as only one out of
several. However, it is also a factor that the other part of the board i.e. the infusion of
domestic capital is ensured by the healthy business environment which directly links with
ease of doing business. Ultimately it is bound to affect the FDI inflow also.
Simeon Djankov (2007) talked about the various new emerging norms measuring a
successful enterprise as well as its environment. Also gives the degrees of freedom of several
parameters like investment, employment, product variation etc. He also provides the vision of
future business environment; it can be tested against the real time data in any region or
country like India. It shall provide a theoretical base for analysis of various parameters
through ease of doing business angle.
Judith G et al., (2016) demonstrated the intentionality behind the World Bank’s EDB ranking
system and how it affects policy through bureaucratic, transnational, and domestic-political
channels. They use the observational and experimental data to show that states respond to
being publicly ranked as well as work with the Bank and reform strategically to improve their
ranking. They study the role of government machineries in improving the Ease of doing
business. Their observations and proposed methodologies are useful for third world countries.
Mengistu (2016) examined how each element of “good governance infrastructure” may
influence the “ease of doing business” for a sample of 41 African countries from 2005 to
2012.His estimation methods reveal government effectiveness, political stability, rule of law,
regulatory quality, and absence of corruption are robust determinants for creating conducive
business atmosphere, taking into account other factors such as human capital, physical
infrastructure and the level of development of a country. Utility and absence of corruption are
robust determinants for creating conducive business atmosphere, taking into account other
factors such as human capital, physical infrastructure and the level of development of a
country. This way insight is developed towards the Government’s role in ensuring conducive
business environment
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Teodorica (2015) explained the effect of ease of doing business to economic growth among
selected economies in Asia for the year 2014.The study has established a positive relationship
of economic growth and ease of doing business in the selected economies of Asia like
Singapore, China, and Korea etc.
Philip Lignier (2009) looked into the taxpaying aspect of the small businesses. He is of the
opinion that a large majority of small business taxpayers believed that, as a result of tax
compliance requirements their record keeping had improved, and that they had a better
knowledge of their financial affairs. The major limitation to his study relates to the
representativeness of the sample of small businesses chosen for the survey. However, it
cannot be overemphasized that, managerial awareness about taxation policy is also the part of
ease of doing business.
Dinuk Jayasuriya (2011) has seen the positive relationship in EODB and FDI inflow for the
average country. However, when the sample is restricted to developing countries, the results
suggest an improved ranking has, on average, been insignificant. The paper mainly discusses
about the factors which are extra commercial and cannot be related to purely business
environment. It is a useful literature in Indian case where there are so many intermingling of
various commercial and non-commercial issues.
However, Benito Arruñada (2009) depicted that the World Bank in improving the EODB
which have pressurised the developing countries lacking the resources for their institutional
reforms. This gap lies for economies which are in the transitional phase. India has also
crossed and still crossing through this phase and hence the observations are very much
relevant for the research. The paper points out the global dominance by the advanced
countries and their trade & protectionist tactics using the agencies like World Bank as a tool.
Khee Giap Tan, Mulya Amri and Nurina Merdikawati (2017) suggest deferring from
conventional ways to the study of doing business which have tendency to predominantly
stress on regulatory features. They are of the opinion that macroeconomic factors such as
market potential and infrastructure build-upshould be combined with micro-level variables
such as profitability and cost effectiveness, and the role of government in managing
competition. Thus, Attractiveness to Investors, Business Friendliness and Competitive
Policies (ABC) has a very concrete role to play in deciding about the ease or difficulty in
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doing business. They have focussed themselves on the analysis of 33 Indonesian provinces’
sub economise for their studies.
Khee Giap Tan, Sasidaran Gopalan and Will Nguyen (2018) further extend the ABC model
of measuring the ease of doing business with analysis at sub economy level to the case of
Indian context. By providing realistic view of both de jure and de facto business conditions in
21 sub-national economies of India, through holistic framework analysing the indicators
under EDB–ABC index in previous para, they find a positive association between the
proposed EDB–ABC index and competitivenessofaswellasinvestmentsintoIndiansub-
nationaleconomies. They also conclude de facto implementation issues at the sub-national
matter more than de jure competitive policies. The results are in stark contrast to the existing
doing business studies highlighting the importance of the comprehensiveness of the index.
Dana L. Haggard and K. Stephen Haggard (2018) examine the effects of other longer-term
and less dynamic factors like culture, legal origin and religion on four aspects of the ease of
starting a new business i.e. the number of procedures required, the number of days required
the ease of getting credit and the cost to start a business. They conclude that The cost of
starting a business remains neutral to culture, legal origin or religion. However, they are of
the opinion that Legal origin causes the number of procedures and the length of time needed
to start a business, along with the ease of getting credit as well. Culture (power distance) and
religion have their importance in explaining gender differences in the ease of starting a
business.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
The World Bank (2006) identifies and compiled a set of factors which is the indicators of
“ease of doing business” and it helps to measure the regulatory environment of the economy.
The constructs are 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.
Table. No. 1. Ease of Doing Business Ranking
Rank Economy EODB Score EODB Score Change
1 New Zealand 86.59 0.00
2 Singapore 85.24 +0.27
3 Denmark 84.64 +0.59
4 Hong Kong SAR, China 84.22 +0.04
5 Korea, Rep. 84.14 -0.01
6 Georgia 83.28 +0.48
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7 Norway 82.95 +0.25
8 United States 82.75 -0.01
9 United Kingdom 82.65 +0.33
77 India 67.23 +6.63
Source: Doing Business database
Interpretation: The above table depicted that the, New Zealand was the most favourable
destination for the companies to start their business followed by Singapore, Denmark, Hong
Kong, Korea etc. In ease of doing business list India secured 77 ranks with score 67.23 which
far away to attract more and more foreign direct investment in India.
Table No. 2. Ten Economies Improving the Most across three or more areas
S.N. Economy Ease of Doing Business Rank Change in Ease of Doing
Business Score
1 Afghanistan 167 +10.64
2 Djibouti 99 +08.87
3 China 46 +08.64
4 Azerbaijan 25 +07.10
5 India 77 +06.63
6 Togo 137 +06.32
7 Kenya 61 +05.25
8 Cote d’lvoire 122 +04.94
9 Turkey 43 +04.34
10 Rwanda 29 +04.15
Source: Doing Business database
Interpretation: The above table exhibited that the, top ten countries in the world which
implemented the changes regarding ease of doing business indicator and motivated the
investors to invest in the respected countries. Afghanistan made change with +10.64 in ease
of doing business and secured 167 ranks which help to attract more companies regarding
invest in different sector. These changes depicted the awareness and active involvement of
the different countries regarding foreign investment. India has secured fifth rank regarding
changes in ease of doing business score, which also shown the active involvement of the
government for more and more foreign investment.
Conclusions
There is a general opinion that the international ranking in ease of doing business should be
improved. The opinions expressed by the different studies indicate towards this opinion at
various degrees. This requires the multi-faceted roles by the law makers, executive action,
general mind set and education among the common citizens and confidence in the efforts
what they do. Though minority of the study has also expressed some grey areas of such
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ranking exercises but this does not at all counters the need of the betterment. In the Indian
context there should be no doubt that the continuous efforts towards improving the rankings
in EODB is the need of the hour, it is quite observable in the recent efforts like
implementation of GST, disinvestment of PSUs, reforms in labour laws, efforts to
remodelling of bureaucracy etc. Positive approach creates positivity about future. The
inherent observations out of discussions in this paper may be summarised below:
In general scale of Ease of Doing Business shows positive correlation with the investment
environment as it includes various facets of administration, legal system, HRD policy etc.
EoDB is self-propelling in itself. Increased investment means greater economic expansion
and ultimately contributes to continuous betterment of EoDB as well. Both are synergising
each other. However, underdeveloped countries require massive reforms in their economic
and social system. While, growth is main concern for the developed countries, development
is for the underdeveloped ones. Therefore, the latter ones have to fix different priorities for
themselves. They cannot blindly follow the system of developed countries in labour reforms
and legal overhauling as the social security concerns are at big stake in underdeveloped
countries. It may cause social chaos and political destabilisation. This will ultimately harm
the economic system of the country with going down of the graph of EoDB as well. Extra
commercial interests like geopolitical strategic equations, border disputes, security challenges
and social aspects many a times undermine the rankings of EoDB in investment concerns.
For small economies and export based economies, the trade barriers and liberal system play a
much bigger role in deciding the capital inflows in comparison to other factors. In fact,
strengthening the basics of the economy like sectoral reforms, healthy business environment
and political social stabilisation can ensure the long term positive effects on Ease of Doing
Business and investment pattern, otherwise only the overexploitation of scarce resources will
result in drained away of the capacity of the economy and society to survive.
Besides these formal measures of ease of doing business, it cannot be ignored that the
implication of the different aspects of starting and conducting the business at micro level or
say sub economy level have a significant role to play. In fact, despite all macro level
indicators whatever they may be on paper, the de facto implications of their several variables
on ground or say at micro level have much to conclude about the ease of doing business in
those economies. In other words, it is more prudent to analyse and study them at sub
economy level. This feature cuts across almost all and particularly developing economies.
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Though the culture, legal origin and religion may not have their bearing on cost of starting a
new business but at social level, it is prudent to study their impacts on spatial business
distribution on the lines of gender and other social biasedness.
Researcher’s Observations in Indian Context
Looking into Indian context, the economy is at the transition stage. The second stage
economic reforms are being undertaken with caution. The recent COVID 19 menace has at
least taught the lessons that self-sufficiency is much needed thing. Even consumption based
economic development concept is poised to change when the very survival of the human
being is at stake. In such scenario, when the economy is already at doldrums, massive
reforms are the need of the hour in this emergency like situation. General mentality around
the globe against Chinese economic influence provides big opportunities and wants huge
efforts at the same time especially in the area of Research and Development activities in
health sector. While taxation reforms are on the rolls but it is yet to deliver envisioned results.
However, as one of the ABC study suggests, sub economy level analysis is a much required
option in Indian context, given the vast differences in different stages of developments among
the various regions, social echelons and cultural values in highly diversified demographic
distribution in this country.
References
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Kelley, J. G., Simmons, B. A., & Doshi, R. (2016). The power of ranking: the ease of
doing business indicator as a form of social pressure. Wharton School University.
Alemu, A. M. (2015). The nexus between governance infrastructure and the ease of
doing business in Africa. In Comparative case studies on entrepreneurship in
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Khee Giap Tan, Sasidaran Gopalan and Will Nguyen (2018).Measuring ease of doing
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... Ease of doing business is defined as the accumulation of clear and simple tax laws, rules, regulations, and procedures that support efficient business operations with sufficient support of advanced infrastructure facilities such as banking and financial systems, transportation, and an appropriate open society (Kumar and Kumar, 2020). The EODB index measures a country's overall score according to a set of criteria that influence how easy it is to do business there. ...
... International investors increasingly desire higher ratings for their stakes because they believe they will increase the security and longevity of their assets and will benefit from a business-friendly regulatory environment. Additionally, it enables countries to focus these investments on their unique needs, which go beyond financial success (Kumar and Kumar, 2020). ...
... 'EODB' means simplification of rules and regulations for doing business in a country. Kumar and Kumar [14] defined EODB as "the combined outcome of the simplified laws, rules and regulations, taxation process etc. facilitating the smooth business operations with proper back up of developed infrastructural facilities like transportation, law and order position, banking and financial system along with the presence of conducive equality population having the role, both as consumers and human resources for the business". ...
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This paper examines the effect that a country’s business regulatory environment has on the amount of foreign direct investment it attracts. We use the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking to capture the costs that firms face when operating in a country. Several interesting results emerge. Firstly, the Doing Business rank is highly significant when included in a standard empirical FDI model estimated on data averaged over the period 2004-2009. Secondly, the significance of the overall Doing Business is driven by the Ease of Trading Across Borders component. We argue that this is a more intuitively appealing proxy for trade costs than the often used openness variable. The relationship does not seem to exist for the World’s poorest region, Sub-Saharan Africa, or for the OECD. Finally, we find no evidence that the ease of doing business of nearby countries has an effect on the FDI that a country gets in general. However, in terms of attracting FDI from the US, it helps to be near countries with good trade regulation and bad regulation in other respects.
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The field of measuring the ease of enterprise is maturing. In 2001, a dozen organizations put together indicators and ratings of the environment for doing business. 2 Six years later, four have overtaken the rest and become the source of information for reformers in government, for investors and researchers. These come from the Fraser Institute's Economic freedom of the world, the Heritage Foundation's Index of economic freedom, and the World Bank's Doing Business project and Enterprise surveys. There is a clear trend: moving from indicators constructed by commercial entities—as a side business for their clients—to indicators constructed by organizations that provide a public good. This has brought in improved methodologies and better sources of information. And has resulted in an innovation: aid flows or advisory services informed by measurement of the ease of enterprise. The United States' Millennium Challenge Account is the pioneer in this market. Improving the business environment is an active development area. There have been notable successes: reforms in business start-up are so numerous that by the end of this decade it may be universally easy to start a business. And many African countries have reformed: Mauritius (ranked 27 in Doing Business 2008) leads the way, with Rwanda, Ghana, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Benin, Kenya, and Madagascar all making progress. Eastern Europe, the fastest reforming region (figure 1), is also the world's fastest growing region. Estonia, Slovakia, Georgia and Macedonia—the top reformers worldwide— provide inspiration to the governments of many countries.
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Simplifying business formalisation and eliminating outdated formalities is often a good way of improving the institutional environment for firms. Unfortunately, the World Bank's Doing Business project is harming such policies by promoting a reform agenda that gives them priority even in countries lacking functional business registers, so that the reformed registers keep producing valueless information, but faster. Its methodology also promotes biased measurements that impede proper consideration of the essential tradeoffs in the design of formalisation institutions. If Doing Business is to stop jeopardising its true objectives and contribute positively to scientific progress, institutional reform and economic development, then its aims, governance and methodology need to change.
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The World Bank's Ease of Doing Business reports have been ranking countries since 2006. However, do improvements in rankings generate greater foreign direct investment inflows? This study is the first to test such a proposition empirically with Arellano-Bond dynamic panel estimators using the official rankings from 2006 to 2009. The paper shows this relationship is significant for the average country. However, when the sample is restricted to developing countries, the results suggest an improved ranking has, on average, an insignificant (albeit positive) influence on foreign direct investment inflows. Although robust, this result should be taken with caution given that it refers to the average developing country using data across a four-year time period. Finally, the paper demonstrates that, on average, countries that undertake large-scale reforms relative to other countries do not necessarily attract greater foreign direct investment inflows. This analysis may have important ramifications for developing country governments wanting to improve their Doing Business Rankings in the hope of attracting foreign direct investment inflows.
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Research undertaken in 2006 – 2007 investigated the perception of managerial benefits of tax compliance by small business taxpayers. Survey data from a sample of 300 small business taxpayers and responses to semi-structured interviews of owner managers were examined. The study found that a majority of small business taxpayers recognised that tax compliance activities led to better record keeping and to an improved knowledge of their financial affairs. However, there seemed to be a general reluctance by respondents to accept the idea that benefits could be derived as a result of complying with tax. The findings of this study are important as it is the first research that systematically investigated managerial benefits and their perception by small business taxpayers in Australia.
The power of ranking: the ease of doing business indicator as a form of social pressure
  • J G Kelley
  • B A Simmons
  • R Doshi
• Kelley, J. G., Simmons, B. A., & Doshi, R. (2016). The power of ranking: the ease of doing business indicator as a form of social pressure. Wharton School University.