The
Firms Speak: What the World Business Environment
Survey Tells Us about Constraints on Private
Sector Development
by
G. Batra, D. Kaufmann and A.H.W. Stone (2003),
Chapter 9 in Pathways Out of Poverty: Private
Firms and Economic Mobility in Developing Countries,
eds. G. Fields and G. Pfefferman, Kluwer Academic
Publishers
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This
chapter is part of the book Pathways
Out of Poverty, which can be purchased
online through the World Bank Bookstore.
(113
kb)
Note: Please refer to the published book for
the final version.
Summary
note by the authors:
(32
kb PDF)
Access
the WBES interactive dataset:
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This
chapter summarizes the salient results of the
World Business Environment Survey (WBES), which
show that important dimensions of the climate
for business operation and investment can be
measured, analyzed, and compared across countries,
and that important aspects of governance are
central related to the business environment
and investment climate. The survey findings
suggest that key policy, institutional, and
governance indicators are connected to the growth
of a firm's sales and investment, and the extent
to which firms operate in the unofficial economy.
Further, the paper provides empirical confirmation
for some commonly held truths, while challenging
others. For example, it provides a clear connection
between taxation, financing, and corruption
on the one hand, and growth and investment on
the other. Conversely, it highlights the costs
to economies where the state is captured by
a narrow set of private interests.
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