世界银行-2018年做生意：改革创造就业（英文）-2017.11-312页-12mb

Doing Business 2018: Reforming to Create Jobs

Core Content

Doing Business 2018 is the 15th annual report by the World Bank, focusing on business regulation and its impact on economic growth and job creation. It provides quantitative indicators on regulatory practices that affect business operations, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), across 190 economies.

The report measures 11 key areas of business regulation, including starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, paying taxes, resolving insolvency, and others. These indicators are used to assess the ease of doing business and identify successful regulatory reforms.

Main Points

• Business Regulation and Economic Outcomes: Improved business regulation leads to lower unemployment and poverty levels. Efficient and transparent regulatory frameworks enable entrepreneurs to transform ideas into viable businesses, fostering economic development and job creation.

• Global Trends in Regulatory Reform: Over the past decade, more than 60 economies have implemented regulatory reform committees using Doing Business indicators. As a result, over 3,180 reforms have been carried out, with about 920 directly inspired by the report.

• Efficiency and Regulatory Quality: While the report traditionally focused on the efficiency of business processes (time, cost, and number of interactions), it now also emphasizes regulatory quality. This includes the strength of legal institutions and the incorporation of international good practices.

• Digital Transformation: Many economies have adopted digital tools to streamline business processes. In 2018, 65 economies allow at least one business incorporation procedure online, compared to just nine in 2004.

• Impact of Regulatory Reforms: Reforms in business regulation, such as simplifying procedures and improving transparency, can significantly enhance economic performance. For example, Georgia ranks 9th in the ease of doing business and has implemented the most business regulation reforms since 2003 (47 reforms).

• Regional Performance:

  • Top 20 Economies: Dominated by high-income economies, with notable exceptions like Georgia (lower-middle-income) and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (upper-middle-income). The top 5 are New Zealand, Singapore, Denmark, Republic of Korea, and Hong Kong SAR, China.
  • South Asia: The only region not represented in the top 50 ranking. However, India made significant progress in 2016/17, improving its ranking among the top 10.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: Shows the most variation in performance, with Mauritius at rank 25 and Somalia at 190.

• Legal Infrastructure and Investor Protection: Strong legal institutions and protections for minority investors are crucial for attracting investment and ensuring fair business practices. During the 2008 financial crisis, economies with better investor protections saw less decline in market value.

• Insolvency Reforms: Efficient insolvency systems are vital for resource reallocation. Poorly designed systems can lead to low recovery rates for creditors and hinder economic growth. Hungary is cited as an example where inadequate creditor rights allocation distorted insolvency outcomes.

• Trade Logistics: Improving port efficiency significantly reduces shipping costs and increases trade volumes. Better port automation leads to cost-effectiveness and improved worker safety.

Key Information

• Data Sources: The data is current as of June 1, 2017, and includes detailed information on regulatory procedures, costs, and time required for business activities.

• Methodology: The report is based on rigorous academic analysis and includes contributions from leading scholars. It uses a distance to frontier (DTF) metric to benchmark regulatory performance against best practices.

• Open Access: The report is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license, allowing for free use and adaptation with proper attribution.

• Resources: A variety of resources are available on the Doing Business website, including rankings, data, case studies, and methodology details.

Conclusion

Doing Business 2018 underscores the importance of regulatory reform in fostering economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction. By highlighting best practices and providing data-driven insights, it encourages governments to streamline regulations, enhance transparency, and improve legal frameworks to support entrepreneurship and business efficiency. The report also emphasizes that while wealth is a factor, it is not the sole determinant of success in the ease of doing business ranking—continuous and effective reform is essential for long-term economic development.