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Economies that improve the efficiency of regulatory procedures and strengthen the legal institutions that support enterprise, trade and exchange are better able to facilitate growth and development, a new World Bank (WB) report has found.
The ‘Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond Efficiency’ study reported that local entrepreneurs in 123 economies saw improvements in their regulatory environment in the past year.
Between June 2013 and June 2014, the report, which covered 189 economies worldwide, documented 230 business reforms, with 145 aimed at reducing the complexity and cost of complying with business regulations, and 85 aimed at strengthening legal institutions.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for the largest number of reforms.
“An economy’s success or failure depends on many variables; among these, often overlooked, are the nuts and bolts that facilitate enterprise and business.
“By this, I mean the regulations that determine how easy it is to start a business, the speed and efficiency with which contracts are enforced, the paperwork needed for trade, and so on. Making [such] improvements are virtually costless, but can play a transformative role in promoting growth and development,” oulined WB senior VP and chief economist Kaushik Basu.
Since its inception, the report had captured over 2 400 regulatory reforms that had made it easier to do business and had led to tangible results for small businesses globally.