2016年-世界发展银行全球_Doing_Business_Economy_Profile_2017___Barbados_99页_1mb

Doing Business 2017: Summary of Barbados

Core Content

The Doing Business 2017 report, published by the World Bank Group, evaluates the regulatory environment for businesses across 190 economies. It focuses on 11 key areas of business regulation, including starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency, and labor market regulation. The report provides both a global ease of doing business ranking and a distance to frontier (DTF) score, which measures how close an economy is to the best regulatory practices.

For Barbados, the report highlights its performance in these areas and compares it with other economies in the Caribbean and globally. The DTF score ranges from 0 (worst performance) to 100 (frontier), while the ranking is from 1 (best) to 190 (worst). The report also introduces gender-specific indicators in several areas, providing insights into how women face different regulatory challenges than men.

Key Indicators and Performance

Ease of Doing Business Ranking (2017)

• Barbados: 117
• Change from 2016: -2 (moved up 2 positions)
• DTF Score (2017): 57.42
• DTF Score (2016): 57.34
• Change in DTF: +0.08

Comparators

• Grenada: 130 (2017), 131 (2016)
• Jamaica: 93 (2017), 89 (2016)
• St. Kitts and Nevis: 133 (2017), 127 (2016)
• St. Lucia: 165 (2017), 166 (2016)
• Trinidad and Tobago: 133 (2017), 145 (2016)
• United Kingdom: 133 (2017), 10 (2016)
• Best performer globally: New Zealand (1), United Arab Emirates (1), Singapore (1), and others depending on the indicator.

Main Areas of Focus

Starting a Business

• Rank (2017): 101
• DTF Score (2017): 85.10
• Procedures (Men): 8
• Time (Men): 15 days
• Cost (Men): 7.7% of income per capita
• Procedures (Women): 8
• Time (Women): 15 days
• Cost (Women): 7.7% of income per capita

Dealing with Construction Permits

• Rank (2017): 161
• DTF Score (2017): 54.96
• Procedures: 9
• Time: 442 days
• Cost: 0.2% of warehouse value

Getting Electricity

• Rank (2017): 93
• DTF Score (2017): 69.38
• Procedures: 7
• Time: 87 days
• Cost: 64.7% of income per capita
• Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index: 6.0

Registering Property

• Rank (2017): 130
• DTF Score (2017): 52.35
• Procedures: 6
• Time: 105 days
• Cost: 5.6% of property value
• Quality of land administration index: 11.5

Getting Credit

• Rank (2017): 133
• DTF Score (2017): 35.00
• Strength of legal rights index: 7.0
• Depth of credit information index: 0.0
• Credit bureau coverage: 0.0% of adults
• Credit registry coverage: 0.0% of adults

Protecting Minority Investors

• Rank (2017): 165
• DTF Score (2017): 35.00
• Strength of minority investor protection index: 3.5
• Conflict of interest regulation index: 3.7
• Shareholder governance index: 3.3

Paying Taxes

• Rank (2017): 85
• DTF Score (2017): 72.7
• Payments per year: 28
• Time (hours per year): 237
• Total tax rate (% of profit): 34.7%
• Postfiling index: 73.6

Trading Across Borders

• Rank (2017): 125
• DTF Score (2017): 61.88
• Time to export (Border compliance): 41 hours
• Cost to export (Border compliance): $350
• Time to export (Documentary compliance): 54 hours
• Cost to export (Documentary compliance): $109
• Time to import (Border compliance): 104 hours
• Cost to import (Border compliance): $1,585
• Time to import (Documentary compliance): 74 hours
• Cost to import (Documentary compliance): $146

Enforcing Contracts

• Rank (2017): 167
• DTF Score (2017): 38.02
• Time (days): 1,340
• Cost (% of claim): 19.7%
• Quality of judicial processes index: 6.5

Resolving Insolvency

• Rank (2017): 36
• DTF Score (2017): 69.78
• Recovery rate (cents on the dollar): 65.8
• Time (years): 1.8
• Cost (% of estate): 15.0%
• Strength of insolvency framework index: 11.0

Key Findings and Insights

• Regulatory Improvements: While Barbados has made minor improvements in some areas (e.g., a slight increase in DTF score), it still lags behind many comparator economies and the global best performers.
• Gender Consideration: The report introduces gender-specific data for several indicators, showing that both men and women in Barbados face similar procedures, but there is potential for gender-specific reforms.
• Comparative Performance: Barbados is ranked lower than most of its regional neighbors, such as Grenada, Jamaica, and St. Lucia, and significantly behind the United Kingdom and global leaders like New Zealand.
• Challenges: The report highlights the complexity and cost of starting a business, dealing with construction permits, and enforcing contracts. These are among the most difficult areas for local entrepreneurs.
• Paying Taxes: Although the DTF score improved slightly, the time and cost of paying taxes remain relatively high compared to other economies.
• Import/Export Efficiency: Barbados has relatively high costs and time for importing and exporting, particularly in documentary compliance and border procedures.

Methodology and Limitations

• The report uses a standardized methodology to assess regulations, assuming a local limited liability company in the largest business city.
• It does not include labor market regulation in the overall ranking or the DTF score.
• The methodology does not cover all aspects of the business environment, such as proximity to large markets, infrastructure quality (beyond electricity and trade), or macroeconomic stability.
• The report includes data for 190 economies, including Somalia for the first time.

Conclusion

The Doing Business 2017 report provides a comprehensive overview of the regulatory environment in Barbados, highlighting both its strengths and areas for improvement. While some progress has been made, the country still faces significant challenges in reducing the time and cost of doing business, particularly in construction permits, contract enforcement, and trade processes. The inclusion of gender-specific indicators adds new dimensions to the analysis, helping to identify potential reforms that could benefit both men and women entrepreneurs. Policymakers can use this data to guide regulatory improvements and better understand the barriers to business growth.