This review of the empirical literature shows that industries with more intense domestic competition will export more. Competition law enforcement can be traced to export performance and is complementary...
The willingness of banks and investors to support new businesses depends a great deal on the rules that govern failing businesses. Effective insolvency regimes save struggling firms when possible, or reallocate...
Tax rates and the administrative costs of tax compliance are key concerns of business. Studies within and across countries suggest that lowering corporate tax rates can increase investment, reduce tax...
Alternative dispute resolution can help the justice system in a country function more efficiently. It often saves costs and time and increases user satisfaction. For cases that go back to court, however...
The 2008 financial crisis and consequent rise in corporate insolvencies highlight the clear need for efficient bankruptcy systems to liquidate unviable firms and reorganize viable ones and to do so in...
Business opportunities-as reflected in the size and growth potential of markets-are the most powerful drivers of foreign direct investment. But investment climate features such as strong institutions and...
World Bank Group client governments as well as donors often ask about the effects of business entry reforms and the persistence of those effects. Four clear findings emerge from existing research. First...
An update of the World Bank group's privatization database shows that in 2008 privatizations in developing countries fell to US$38 billion, down 70 percent from 2007. Privatizations lowed as the global...
Oil prices more than tripled between January 2004 and March 2008. The effects can be hard on countries with large net oil imports relative to income. This note sets out a measure of vulnerability to oil...
A recent study examining privatization results in four Sub-Saharan African countries yielded two broad conclusions: First, privatization is not easy to do, and getting it right can be tough in low-income...
Cette note porte sur les équipes de réforme.Celles-ci appartiennent à un groupe exclusif d’économies sorties de la pauvreté en moins de 30 ans. De plus, elles ont fait initialement appel à une petite équipe...
This note is about reform teams.They belong to an exclusive group of economies that grew out of poverty in less than 30 years. They also initially relied on a small, dedicated team of experts to get the...
This note is based on a World Bank Group database that uses transaction values as a proxy for measuring privatization trends. It includes only the values resulting from the full or partial sale, concession...
The World Bank Group Entrepreneurship Survey continues to extend our knowledge of the importance of entrepreneurship for a dynamic economy. In its second year, with more countries participating, the survey...
More than 24 countries operate separate boards and exchanges aimed at small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Equity markets play a critical role in fostering economic productivity by financing innovation...
An update of the World Bank Group's Privatization Database shows that privatization in developing countries continued to pick up in 2004 and 2005, with 400 transactions worth US$90 billion. Apart from...
Entrepreneurship is important for the continued dynamism of modern economies and for job creation. Policymakers need to know how new firms get started and what financial and institutional factors promote...
As governments turn to the private sector to provide services once delivered by the public sector, they must learn new skills. An increasingly common way to provide the new capacities needed is to establish...
Self-dealing, prevalent in emerging markets, often harms minority shareholders. The related-party transaction is one common technique, especially in markets with weak law enforcement. Beyond self-dealing...
Many developing countries subsidize petroleum products. The doubling of world oil prices since January 2004 has had very high fiscal costs for these countries, increasing public debt and squeezing other...