IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/b/wbk/wbpubs/6467.html
   My bibliography  Save this book

Doing Business, An Independent Evaluation : Taking the Measure of the World Bank-IFC Doing Business Indicators

Author

Listed:
  • Independent Evaluation Group

Abstract

Doing 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Independent Evaluation Group, 2008. "Doing Business, An Independent Evaluation : Taking the Measure of the World Bank-IFC Doing Business Indicators," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6467.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbpubs:6467
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/6467/449950PUB0Box310evaluation01PUBLIC1.pdf?sequence=1
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alejandro Cuñat & Marc J. Melitz, 2012. "Volatility, Labor Market Flexibility, And The Pattern Of Comparative Advantage," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 225-254, April.
    2. Richard B. Freeman, 2007. "Labor Market Institutions Around the World," NBER Working Papers 13242, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Galiani, Sebastian & Schargrodsky, Ernesto, 2010. "Property rights for the poor: Effects of land titling," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 700-729, October.
    4. David Kaplan & Eduardo Piedra & Enrique Seira, 2006. "Are Burdensome Registration Procedures an Important Barrier on Firm Creation? Evidence from Mexico," Discussion Papers 06-013, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    5. Joel Hellman & Mark Schankerman, 2000. "Intervention, Corruption and Capture: The Nexus between Enterprises and the State," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 8(3), pages 545-576, November.
    6. Kaplan, David S. & Piedra, Eduardo & Seira, Enrique, 2011. "Entry regulation and business start-ups: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(11), pages 1501-1515.
    7. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    8. Simeon Djankov & Oliver Hart & Caralee McLiesh & Andrei Shleifer, 2008. "Debt Enforcement around the World," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 1105-1149, December.
    9. Dollar, David & Hallward-Driemeier, Mary & Mengistae, Taye, 2005. "Investment Climate and Firm Performance in Developing Economies," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(1), pages 1-31, October.
    10. Jappelli, Tullio & Pagano, Marco, 2002. "Information sharing, lending and defaults: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(10), pages 2017-2045, October.
    11. Leora Klapper & Raphael Amit & Mauro F. Guillén, 2010. "Entrepreneurship and Firm Formation across Countries," NBER Chapters, in: International Differences in Entrepreneurship, pages 129-158, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jorge García García & María Mercedes Collazos & Enrique Montes Uribe, 2015. "Las instituciones en el sector externo colombiano: ¿Apoyo o escollo al comercio?," Borradores de Economia 12995, Banco de la Republica.
    2. Pinheiro-Alves, Ricardo & Zambujal-Oliveira, João, 2012. "The Ease of Doing Business Index as a tool for investment location decisions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 66-70.
    3. Arruñada, Benito, 2017. "Property as sequential exchange: the forgotten limits of private contract," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 753-783, December.
    4. Patrícia Bernardes & Petr Iakovlevitch Ekel & Sérgio Fernando Loureiro Rezende & Joel Gomes Pereira Júnior & Angélica Cidália Gouveia Santos & Maurício Andrade Rodrigues Costa & Rafael Lopes Carvalhai, 2022. "Cost of doing business index in Latin America," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2233-2252, August.
    5. repec:ces:ifodic:v:7:y:2009:i:2:p:14567123 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. International Finance Corporation & World Bank, 2008. "Doing Business 2009 : Comparing Regulation in 181 Economies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6313.
    7. Hannah Murphy, 2014. "The World Bank and core labour standards: Between flexibility and regulation," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 399-431, April.
    8. Maričić Milica & Bulajić Milica & Radojičić Zoran & Jeremić Veljko, 2019. "Shedding Light on the Doing Business Index: a Machine Learning Approach," Business Systems Research, Sciendo, vol. 10(2), pages 73-84, September.
    9. Takaaki Masaki & Bradley C. Parks, 2020. "When do performance assessments influence policy behavior? Micro-evidence from the 2014 Reform Efforts Survey," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 371-408, April.
    10. Thomas Strobel, 2010. "Entry and Exit Regulations - The World Bank's Doing Business Indicators," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 8(01), pages 42-53, April.
    11. Wolfgang Ochel, 2009. "Employment Protection: Concepts and Measurement," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 7(2), pages 30-38, 07.
    12. repec:ces:ifodic:v:8:y:2010:i:1:p:14566902 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. International Monetary Fund, 2009. "Union of the Comoros: Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix," IMF Staff Country Reports 2009/046, International Monetary Fund.
    14. Rogge, Nicky & Archer, Geoffrey, 2021. "Measuring and analyzing country change in establishing ease of doing business using a revised version of World Bank's ease of doing business index," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 290(1), pages 373-385.
    15. Danielle Venn, 2009. "Legislation, Collective Bargaining and Enforcement: Updating the OECD Employment Protection Indicators," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 89, OECD Publishing.
    16. Wolfgang Ochel, 2009. "Employment Protection: Concepts and Measurement," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 7(02), pages 30-38, July.
    17. Chiara Guglielmetti, 2010. "Measuring the Business Environment for Entrepreneurship in Fragile States," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-014, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Tilman Altenburg & Aimée Hampel-Milagrosa & Markus Loewe, 2017. "A Decade On: How Relevant is the Regulatory Environment for Micro and Small Enterprise Upgrading After All?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 457-475, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jean-Jacques Dethier & Maximilian Hirn & Stéphane Straub, 2011. "Explaining Enterprise Performance in Developing Countries with Business Climate Survey Data," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 258-309, August.
    2. Andrei Shleifer & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Rafael La Porta, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    3. Francesco Bripi, 2016. "The Role of Regulation on Entry: Evidence from the Italian Provinces," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 383-411.
    4. World Bank & International Finance Corporation, "undated". "Doing Business in the East African Community 2011," World Bank Publications - Reports 27390, The World Bank Group.
    5. Pellegrino, Bruno & Zheng, Geoffery, 2024. "Quantifying the impact of red tape on investment: A survey data approach," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    6. International Finance Corporation & World Bank, 2009. "Doing Business 2010 : Reforming through Difficult Times - Comparing Regulation in 183 Economies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2562.
    7. Lixin Colin Xu, 2011. "The Effects of Business Environments on Development: Surveying New Firm-level Evidence," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 310-340, August.
    8. Djankov, Simeon, 2008. "The Regulation of Entry: A Survey," CEPR Discussion Papers 7080, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Clarisse Nguedam Ntouko, 2013. "Regulatory Framework and Private Investment: Empirical Evidence for Developing Countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(1), pages 494-510.
    10. Thomas Strobel, 2010. "Entry and Exit Regulations - The World Bank's Doing Business Indicators," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 8(1), pages 42-53, 04.
    11. Tristan Canare, 2018. "The Effect of Ease of Doing Business on Firm Creation," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 19(2), pages 555-584, November.
    12. Gustavo Henrique de Andrade & Miriam Bruhn & David McKenzie, 2016. "A Helping Hand or the Long Arm of the Law? Experimental Evidence on What Governments Can Do to Formalize Firms," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 30(1), pages 24-54.
    13. Andrea Asoni, 2008. "Protection Of Property Rights And Growth As Political Equilibria," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 953-987, December.
    14. Rok Spruk & Mitja Kovac, 2018. "Inefficient Growth," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 9(2).
    15. Alvaro Aguirre, 2017. "Contracting Institutions and Economic Growth," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 24, pages 192-217, March.
    16. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2009-034 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Anos-Casero, Paloma & Udomsaph, Charles, 2009. "What drives firm productivity growth ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4841, The World Bank.
    18. Andrea Lasagni & Annamaria Nifo & Gaetano Vecchione, 2015. "Firm Productivity And Institutional Quality: Evidence From Italian Industry," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(5), pages 774-800, November.
    19. Trew, Alex, 2009. "Institutions and the Scale Effect," SIRE Discussion Papers 2009-51, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    20. Dana C. Andersen, 2016. "Credit Constraints, Technology Upgrading, and the Environment," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(2), pages 283-319.
    21. Suresh de Mel & David McKenzie & Christopher Woodruff, 2013. "The Demand for, and Consequences of, Formalization among Informal Firms in Sri Lanka," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 122-150, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbpubs:6467. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tal Ayalon (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.