Doing Business 2015: Japan Summary
Core Content
The Doing Business 2015 report evaluates the regulatory environment for small and medium-sized businesses across 189 economies, focusing on 11 key areas. It provides a ranking and distance to frontier (DTF) score for each economy, based on the number of procedures, time, and cost required to comply with regulations. The report also includes comparator data for Japan, enabling analysis of its performance relative to other economies.
Key Indicators and Rankings
| Indicator |
Japan DB2015 |
Japan DB2014 |
Comparator Economies (DB2015) |
Best Performer (DB2015) |
| Starting a Business (Rank) |
83 |
78 |
New Zealand (1) |
New Zealand (1) |
| Starting a Business (DTF) |
86.21 |
86.21 |
Korea, Rep. (99.83) |
New Zealand (99.96) |
| Procedures |
8.0 |
8.0 |
3.0 (New Zealand) |
1.0 (New Zealand) |
| Time (days) |
10.7 |
10.7 |
2.5 (New Zealand) |
0.5 (New Zealand) |
| Cost (% of income per capita) |
7.5 |
7.5 |
0.0 (Slovenia) |
0.0 (112 Economies) |
| Dealing with Construction Permits (Rank) |
83 |
83 |
Hong Kong SAR, China (1) |
Hong Kong SAR, China (1) |
| Dealing with Construction Permits (DTF) |
73.30 |
73.37 |
Korea, Rep. (95.53) |
Hong Kong SAR, China (95.53) |
| Procedures |
12.0 |
12.0 |
5.0 (Hong Kong SAR, China) |
5.0 (Hong Kong SAR, China) |
| Time (days) |
197.0 |
197.0 |
78.6 (United States) |
26.0 (Singapore) |
| Cost (% of warehouse value) |
0.6 |
0.5 |
0.0 (Qatar) |
0.0 (Qatar) |
| Getting Electricity (Rank) |
28 |
29 |
Korea, Rep. (1) |
Korea, Rep. (1) |
| Getting Electricity (DTF) |
86.51 |
86.51 |
Korea, Rep. (99.83) |
Korea, Rep. (99.83) |
| Procedures |
3.4 |
3.4 |
3.0 (Korea, Rep.) |
3.0 (12 Economies) |
| Time (days) |
97.7 |
97.7 |
18.0 (Korea, Rep.) |
18.0 (Korea, Rep.) |
| Cost (% of income per capita) |
0.0 |
0.0 |
41.1 (Korea, Rep.) |
0.0 (Japan) |
| Registering Property (Rank) |
73 |
70 |
Georgia (1) |
Georgia (1) |
| Registering Property (DTF) |
71.33 |
71.32 |
Korea, Rep. (99.88) |
Korea, Rep. (99.88) |
| Procedures |
6.0 |
6.0 |
5.0 (Georgia) |
1.0 (4 Economies) |
| Time (days) |
13.0 |
13.0 |
18.0 (Korea, Rep.) |
1.0 (3 Economies) |
| Cost (% of property value) |
5.8 |
5.8 |
5.1 (Korea, Rep.) |
0.0 (4 Economies) |
| Getting Credit (Rank) |
71 |
67 |
New Zealand (1) |
New Zealand (1) |
| Getting Credit (DTF) |
50.00 |
50.00 |
New Zealand (100) |
New Zealand (100) |
| Strength of Legal Rights Index (0-12) |
4 |
4 |
11 (New Zealand) |
12 (3 Economies) |
| Depth of Credit Information Index (0-8) |
6 |
6 |
8 (France) |
8 (23 Economies) |
| Protecting Minority Investors (Rank) |
35 |
35 |
New Zealand (1) |
New Zealand (1) |
| Protecting Minority Investors (DTF) |
62.50 |
62.50 |
New Zealand (81.67) |
New Zealand (81.67) |
| Strength of Minority Investor Protection Index (0-10) |
6.3 |
6.3 |
8.2 (New Zealand) |
8.2 (New Zealand) |
| Paying Taxes (Rank) |
122 |
114 |
United Arab Emirates (1) |
United Arab Emirates (1) |
| Paying Taxes (DTF) |
67.19 |
68.53 |
United Arab Emirates (99.44) |
United Arab Emirates (99.44) |
| Payments (per year) |
14.0 |
13.0 |
3.0 (Hong Kong SAR, China) |
3.0 (Hong Kong SAR, China) |
| Time (hours per year) |
330.0 |
330.0 |
55.0 (Luxembourg) |
55.0 (Luxembourg) |
| Trading Across Borders (Rank) |
20 |
20 |
Singapore (1) |
Singapore (1) |
| Trading Across Borders (DTF) |
87.23 |
87.26 |
Singapore (96.47) |
Singapore (96.47) |
| Documents to Export |
3 |
3 |
2 (Ireland) |
2 (Ireland) |
| Time to Export (days) |
11.0 |
11.0 |
6.0 (Ireland) |
6.0 (5 Economies) |
| Cost to Export (US$ per container) |
829.3 |
829.3 |
410.0 (Timor-Leste) |
410.0 (Timor-Leste) |
| Documents to Import | 5 | 5 | 2 (Ireland) | 2 (Ireland) |
| Time to Import (days) | 11.0 | 11.0 | 4.0 (Singapore) | 4.0 (Singapore) |
| Cost to Import (US$ per container) | 1,021.3 | 1,021.3 | 440.0 (Singapore) | 440.0 (Singapore) |
| Enforcing Contracts (Rank) |
26 |
27 |
Singapore (1) |
Singapore (1) |
| Enforcing Contracts (DTF) |
69.95 |
69.95 |
Singapore (89.54) |
Singapore (89.54) |
| Time (days) |
360.0 |
360.0 |
150.0 (Singapore) |
150.0 (Singapore) |
| Cost (% of claim) |
32.2 |
32.2 |
9.0 (Iceland) |
9.0 (Iceland) |
| Resolving Insolvency (Rank) |
2 |
2 |
Finland (1) |
Finland (1) |
| Resolving Insolvency (DTF) |
93.74 |
93.71 |
Finland (93.85) |
Finland (93.85) |
| Time (years) |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.4 (Ireland) |
0.4 (Ireland) |
| Cost (% of estate) |
3.5 |
3.5 |
1.0 (Norway) |
1.0 (Norway) |
| Recovery Rate (cents on the dollar) |
92.9 |
92.8 |
92.9 (Japan) |
92.9 (Japan) |
Main Points
- Ease of Doing Business Ranking: Japan ranked 29th in 2015, down by 2 from 2014.
- Distance to Frontier (DTF): Japan's DTF score was 74.8, slightly lower than the previous year (74.9).
- Methodology Changes: 2015 introduced several updates, including changes in DTF calculation, expanded scope of indicators, and inclusion of additional comparator economies.
- Business Environment Highlights:
- Starting a Business: Japan performed relatively well, but lagged behind top performers like New Zealand.
- Getting Credit: Japan ranked 71st, with a DTF score of 50.00, showing room for improvement.
- Protecting Minority Investors: Japan ranked 35th, with a DTF score of 62.50.
- Paying Taxes: Japan ranked 122nd, significantly behind top performers like the United Arab Emirates.
- Trading Across Borders: Japan ranked 20th, with a DTF score of 87.23.
- Enforcing Contracts: Japan ranked 26th, with a DTF score of 69.95.
- Resolving Insolvency: Japan ranked 2nd, with a DTF score of 93.74, indicating strong performance in this area.
Key Takeaways
- Japan maintains a relatively strong regulatory environment, particularly in resolving insolvency and trading across borders, which are among the top performers.
- The starting a business process is efficient, though still behind the best performers.
- Getting credit and paying taxes remain areas of concern, with Japan ranked relatively low in these indicators.
- Protecting minority investors and registering property show moderate performance, with room for improvement.
- Dealing with construction permits is one of the more challenging areas, though Japan's performance has remained stable.
- The DTF scores help to identify how close Japan is to the best practices globally, with a focus on reducing the number of procedures, time, and costs involved in business operations.
Conclusion
The Doing Business 2015 report provides a comprehensive overview of Japan's business environment, highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement. While Japan ranks relatively high in some areas like resolving insolvency, it has significant room for enhancement in others, such as getting credit and paying taxes. The report serves as a valuable tool for policymakers to assess and reform regulations to improve the overall business climate.
