IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/idb/brikps/3301.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Investment Climate and Employment Growth: The Impact of Access to Finance, Corruption and Regulations across Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Reyes Aterido
  • Mary Hallward-Driemeier
  • Carmen Pagés

Abstract

Using firm level data on 70,000 enterprises in 107 countries, this paper finds important effects of access to finance, business regulations, corruption, and to a lesser extent, infrastructure bottlenecks in explaining patterns of job creation at the firm level. The paper focuses on how the impact of the investment climate varies across sizes of firms. The results suggest strong composition effects: A weak business environment shifts downward the size distribution of firms. In the case of finance and business regulations this occurs by reducing the employment growth of all firms, particularly micro and small firms. On the other hand, corruption and poor access to infrastructure reduce employment growth by affecting the growth of medium size and large firms. With significant differences between firms with less than 10 employees and SMEs, these results indicate significant reforms are needed to spur micro firms to grow into the ranks of the SMEs.

Suggested Citation

  • Reyes Aterido & Mary Hallward-Driemeier & Carmen Pagés, 2007. "Investment Climate and Employment Growth: The Impact of Access to Finance, Corruption and Regulations across Firms," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 3301, Inter-American Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:idb:brikps:3301
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://publications.iadb.org/bitstream/handle/11319/3301/Investment%20Climate%20and%20Employment%20Growth%3a%20The%20Impact%20of%20Access%20to%20Finance%2c%20%20Corruption%20and%20Regulations%20Across%20Firms%20.pdf?sequence=1
    Download Restriction: no

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James R. Tybout, 2000. "Manufacturing Firms in Developing Countries: How Well Do They Do, and Why?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(1), pages 11-44, March.
    2. Arturo Galindo & Alejandro Micco, 2005. "Bank Credit To Small And Medium Sized Enterprises: The Role Of Creditor Protection," DOCUMENTOS CEDE 002049, UNIVERSIDAD DE LOS ANDES-CEDE.
    3. Haltiwanger, John C. & Scarpetta, Stefano & Schweiger, Helena, 2006. "Assessing Job Flows across Countries: The Role of Industry, Firm Size and Regulations," IZA Discussion Papers 2450, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    4. James J. Heckman & Carmen Pagés, 2004. "Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number heck04-1.
    5. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirguc-Kunt & Luc Laeven & Ross Levine, 2008. "Finance, Firm Size, and Growth," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(7), pages 1379-1405, October.
    6. Almeida, Rita K. & Carneiro, Pedro, 2005. "Enforcement of Regulation, Informal Labor and Firm Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 1759, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    7. Klapper, Leora & Laeven, Luc & Rajan, Raghuram, 2004. "Business environment and firm entry : Evidence from international data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3232, The World Bank.
    8. Arne Bigsten & Mans Söderbom, 2006. "What Have We Learned from a Decade of Manufacturing Enterprise Surveys in Africa?," World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, vol. 21(2), pages 241-265.
    9. William Kerr & Adriana Kugler & David Autor, 2007. "Do Employment Protections Reduce Productivity? Evidence from U.S. States," Working Papers 07-04, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    10. Juan C. Botero & Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "The Regulation of Labor," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 119(4), pages 1339-1382.
    11. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    12. Bartelsman, Eric & Haltiwanger, John C. & Scarpetta, Stefano, 2004. "Microeconomic Evidence of Creative Destruction in Industrial and Developing Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 1374, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    13. Amil Petrin & Jagadeesh Sivadasan, 2006. "Job Security Does Affect Economic Efficiency: Theory, A New Statistic, and Evidence from Chile," NBER Working Papers 12757, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Eric Bartelsman & John Haltiwanger & Stefano Scarpetta, 2009. "Measuring and Analyzing Cross-country Differences in Firm Dynamics," NBER Chapters,in: Producer Dynamics: New Evidence from Micro Data, pages 15-76 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2004. "Can Labor Regulation Hinder Economic Performance? Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 119(1), pages 91-134.
    16. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2005. "Financial and Legal Constraints to Growth: Does Firm Size Matter?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 137-177, February.
    17. Reinikka, Ritva & Svensson, Jakob, 2002. "Coping with poor public capital," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 51-69, October.
    18. John Haltiwanger & Steven J. Davis, 1999. "On the Driving Forces behind Cyclical Movements in Employment and Job Reallocation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1234-1258, December.
    19. Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 1998. "Law, Finance, and Firm Growth," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(6), pages 2107-2137, December.
    20. Ahsan, Ahmad & Pages, Carmen, 2007. "Are all labor regulations equal ? Assessing the effects of job security, labor dispute, and contract labor laws in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4259, The World Bank.
    21. Inessa Love & Nataliya Mylenko, 2003. "Credit reporting and financing constraints," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3142, The World Bank.
    22. Fisman, Raymond & Svensson, Jakob, 2007. "Are corruption and taxation really harmful to growth? Firm level evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 63-75, May.
    23. 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.
    24. Meghana Ayyagari & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2008. "How Important Are Financing Constraints? The Role of Finance in the Business Environment," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 22(3), pages 483-516, November.
    25. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1992. "Gross Job Creation, Gross Job Destruction, and Employment Reallocation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 107(3), pages 819-863.
    26. Hallward-Driemeier, Mary & Aterido, Reyes, 2009. "Comparing Apples with....Apples : how to make (more) sense of subjective rankings of constraints to business," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5054, The World Bank.
    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. T. Dinh, Hinh & Mavridis, Dimitris A. & Nguyen, Hoa B., 2010. "The binding constraint on firms'growth in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5485, The World Bank.
    2. Rita K. Almeida, 2010. "Openness and Technological Innovation in East Asia: Have They Increased the Demand for Skills?," Asia-Pacific Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 17(1), pages 63-95, June.
    3. repec:taf:macfem:v:11:y:2018:i:1:p:1-18 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Campos, Nauro F & Estrin, Saul & Proto, Eugenio, 2010. "Corruption as a Barrier to Entry: Theory and Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 8061, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Jean-Jacques Dethier & Maximilian Hirn & Stéphane Straub, 2011. "Explaining Enterprise Performance in Developing Countries with Business Climate Survey Data," World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, vol. 26(2), pages 258-309, August.
    6. Paunov, Caroline & Rollo, Valentina, 2016. "Has the Internet Fostered Inclusive Innovation in the Developing World?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 587-609.
    7. Bartelsman, Eric & Haltiwanger, John & Scarpetta, Stefano, 2010. "Cross-country and within-country differences in the business climate," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 368-371, July.
    8. Rijkers, Bob & Soderbom, Mans & Loening, Josef, 2009. "Mind the gap ? a rural-urban comparison of manufacturing firms," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4946, The World Bank.
    9. Thorsten Beck & Samuel Munzele Maimbo & Issa Faye & Thouraya Triki, 2011. "Financing Africa : Through the Crisis and Beyond," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 2355, August.
    10. Rita K. Almeida & Z. Bilgen Susanlı, 2012. "Firing Regulations and Firm Size in the Developing World: Evidence from Differential Enforcement," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 540-558, November.
    11. Marialuz Moreno Badia & Veerle Slootmaekers, 2008. "The Missing Link Between Financial Constraints and Productivity," LICOS Discussion Papers 20808, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    12. Eric Bartelsman & John Haltiwanger & Stefano Scarpetta, 2013. "Cross-Country Differences in Productivity: The Role of Allocation and Selection," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 305-334, February.
    13. Villa, Stefania., 2010. "Exploring the linkages between investment and employment in Moldova : a time-series analysis," ILO Working Papers 994553423402676, International Labour Organization.
    14. Tidiane Kinda, 2018. "The quest for non-resource-based FDI: Do taxes matter?," Macroeconomics and Finance in Emerging Market Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, January.
    15. Nakhoda, Aadil, 2014. "The impact of electricity constraints on access to finance: A firm-level study," MPRA Paper 59507, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Dall'Olio, Andrea & Iootty, Mariana & Kanehira, Naoto & Saliola, Federica, 2013. "Productivity growth in Europe," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6425, The World Bank.
    17. World Bank, 2011. "Challenges to Enterprise Performance in the Face of the Financial Crisis : Eastern Europe and Central Asia," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 2316, September.
    18. Diagne, Youssoupha S, 2013. "Impact of business environment on investment and output of manufacturing firms in Senegal," MPRA Paper 54227, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Dall'Olio, Andrea & Iootty, Mariana & Kanehira, Naoto & Saliola, Federica, 2014. "Enterprise productivity: a three-speed Europe," Working Paper Series 1748, European Central Bank.
    20. Hinh T. Dinh & George R.G. Clarke, 2012. "Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Africa : An Empirical Analysis," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 11959, September.
    21. Pasali, Selahattin Selsah, 2013. "Where is the cheese ? synthesizing a giant literature on causes and consequences of financial sector development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6655, The World Bank.
    22. Jan de Kok & Sophie Doove & Peter Oeij & Karolus Kraan, 2014. "Scale effects in workplace innovations," Scales Research Reports H201402, EIM Business and Policy Research.
    23. repec:ilo:ilowps:455342 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Floreani, Vincent Arthur, 2014. "Fixing Europe's youth unemployment and skills mismatch, can public financial support to SMEs be effective? The case of the European Commission and European Investment Bank joint initiatives," MPRA Paper 55849, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial Services; Business Development; Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises; investment climate; employment; corruption; regulations; job creation; corporation law;

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:idb:brikps:3301. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Felipe Herrera Library). General contact details of provider: http://edirc.repec.org/data/iadbbus.html .

    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 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.

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.