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The Ease of Doing Business Index as a Tool for Investment Location Decisions

Author

Listed:
  • João Zambujal-Oliveira

    (Technical University of Lisbon (UTL-IST))

  • Ricardo Pinheiro-Alves

    (Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos do Ministério da Economia, da Inovação e do Desenvolvimento, Portugal)

Abstract

The Ease of Doing Business Index (EDBI) uses 41 variables to compare the business environment of different countries. It is widely used by policy makers, researchers and multinational companies. This paper aims to assess EDBI’s consistency and validity in representing the business environment by using factor analysis. It is found that the EDBI presents a limited consistency and descriptive power of a country’s business environment. The consequence of these findings is that multinational firms should handle carefully the EDBI in their investment decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • João Zambujal-Oliveira & Ricardo Pinheiro-Alves, 2011. "The Ease of Doing Business Index as a Tool for Investment Location Decisions," Working Papers 2011.2, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    • Handle: RePEc:inf:wpaper:2011.2
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    2. Petróczy, Dóra Gréta, 2021. "An alternative quality of life ranking on the basis of remittances," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Bersan Haliti & Safet Merovci, 2020. "The Impact of the Investment Environment on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the European Transition Economies," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 1, pages 138-147, March.
    4. Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid & Sukumar, Arun & Pagán-Castaño, Esther & Dana, Léo-Paul, 2021. "What drives women towards domestic vs international business venturing? An empirical analysis in emerging markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 647-660.
    5. Pal, Debdatta & Mitra, Subrata K. & Chatterjee, Somdeep, 2022. "Does “investment climate” affect GDP? Panel data evidence using reduced-form and stochastic frontier analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 301-310.
    6. Brixiova, Zuzana & Ncube, Mthuli, 2013. "Entrepreneurship and the Business Environment in Africa: An Application to Ethiopia," IZA Discussion Papers 7553, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid & Garcia-Perez, Alexeis & Candelo, Elena & Couturier, Jerome, 2021. "Exploring the impact of digital transformation on technology entrepreneurship and technological market expansion: The role of technology readiness, exploration and exploitation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 100-111.
    8. Qian, Xinbei & Huang, Liangxiong & Wang, Xianbin & Wang, Shuqi, 2022. "Detecting pivotal countries of China's OFDI in the “Belt and Road” initiative: The perspective of similarity of doing business," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 296-311.
    9. Cull, Robert & Navajas, Sergio & Nishida, Ippei & Zeiler, Renate, 2015. "A New Index of the Business Environment for Microfinance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 357-388.
    10. 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.
    11. Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid, 2020. "The motivational factors of business venturing: Opportunity versus necessity? A gendered perspective on European countries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 279-289.
    12. Estevão, João & Lopes, José Dias & Penela, Daniela & Soares, José Miguel, 2020. "The Doing Business ranking and the GDP. A qualitative study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 435-442.
    13. Matheus Pereira Libório & Lívia Maria Leite Silva & Petr Iakovlevitch Ekel & Letícia Ribeiro Figueiredo & Patrícia Bernardes, 2022. "Consensus-Based Sub-Indicator Weighting Approach: Constructing Composite Indicators Compatible with Expert Opinion," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1073-1099, December.
    14. Carmen Comăniciu, 2019. "Is There a Correlation Between the Ease of Doing Business Index and the Haven Score?," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 686-694, December.
    15. Ms. Deniz O Igan & Ali Mirzaei & Tomoe Moore, 2018. "How Do Regulations of Entry and Credit Access Relate to Industry Competition? International Evidence," IMF Working Papers 2018/084, International Monetary Fund.
    16. 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.
    17. Shengbing He & Huilin Yao & Zhou Ji, 2021. "Direct and Indirect Effects of Business Environment on BRI Countries’ Global Value Chain Upgrading," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-16, November.
    18. Christoph Doerffel & Peter Draper & Andreas Freytag & Sebastian Schuhmann, 2021. "Drivers of Inclusive Development: An Empirical Investigation," Jena Economics Research Papers 2021-015, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    19. Valentina Diana RUSU & Angela ROMAN, 2016. "The Business Environment In Cee Countries: Current Challenges And Perspectives," CES Working Papers, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 8(1), pages 128-147, March.
    20. Karama, Dalal, 2014. "Ease of Doing Business: Emphasis on Corruption and Rule of Law," MPRA Paper 58662, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi & Jean-Marie Nkongolo-Bakenda & Léo-Paul Dana & Robert B. Anderson & Paolo Pietro Biancone, 2020. "Home Country Institutional Context and Entrepreneurial Internationalization: The Significance of Human Capital Attributes," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 165-195, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Location Decisions; Factor Analysis; Cross-Border Investments; Institutional Environment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C38 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Classification Methdos; Cluster Analysis; Principal Components; Factor Analysis
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements

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