2012年-世界发展银行全球_Doing_Business_Economy_Profile_2013___Latvia_114页_1mb

Summary of Latvia's Economy Profile in Doing Business 2013

Core Content

The Doing Business 2013 report provides an assessment of the ease of doing business in Latvia, focusing on regulations affecting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It evaluates 11 key areas of the business life cycle, including starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency, and employing workers.

Main Points

Ease of Doing Business Index

• Latvia's overall rank in the 2013 ease of doing business index is 25, a drop of 4 positions from 2012.
• The index ranks economies from 1 to 185 based on the average of percentile rankings across 10 topics.
• The distance to frontier measure highlights how far Latvia is from the best regulatory practices globally.

Key Indicators Overview

Construction Permits

• Rank: 113 in 2013, up from 109 in 2012.
• Procedures: 21, Time: 203 days, Cost: 18.6% of income per capita.
• Comparator Economies: Denmark (8), Estonia (13), Finland (16), Lithuania (15), Norway (10), Poland (29).
• Best Performer: Hong Kong SAR, China (6).

Getting Electricity

• Rank: 83, Procedures: 5, Time: 108 days, Cost: 389.1% of income per capita.
• Comparator Economies: Denmark (4), Estonia (4), Finland (5), Lithuania (5), Norway (4), Poland (6).
• Best Performer: Germany (3).

Registering Property

• Rank: 31, Procedures: 5, Time: 18 days, Cost: 2.0% of property value.
• Comparator Economies: Denmark (3), Estonia (3), Finland (3), Lithuania (3), Norway (1), Poland (6).
• Best Performer: Georgia (1).

Getting Credit

• Rank: 4, Strength of legal rights index: 10, Depth of credit information index: 5, Public registry coverage: 63.8%, Private bureau coverage: 0.0%.
• Comparator Economies: Denmark (23), Estonia (40), Finland (40), Lithuania (53), Norway (70), Poland (4).
• Best Performer: United Kingdom (6).

Protecting Investors

• Rank: 70, Extent of disclosure: 5, Ease of shareholder suits: 8, Strength of investor protection: 5.7.
• Comparator Economies: Denmark (32), Estonia (70), Finland (70), Lithuania (70), Norway (25), Poland (49).
• Best Performer: New Zealand (10).

Paying Taxes

• Rank: 52, Payments: 7 per year, Time: 264 hours, Cost: 2.3% of income per capita.
• Comparator Economies: Denmark (13), Estonia (50), Finland (23), Lithuania (60), Norway (19), Poland (114).
• Best Performer: United Arab Emirates (1).

Trading Across Borders

• Rank: 16, Documents to export: 5, Time to export: 10 days, Cost to export: $600 per container.
• Comparator Economies: Denmark (4), Estonia (7), Finland (6), Lithuania (24), Norway (21), Poland (50).
• Best Performer: Singapore (1).

Enforcing Contracts

• Rank: 24, Time: 469 days, Cost: 23.1% of claim.
• Comparator Economies: Denmark (34), Estonia (31), Finland (9), Lithuania (14), Norway (4), Poland (56).
• Best Performer: Luxembourg (1).

Resolving Insolvency

• Rank: 33, Time: 3.0 years, Cost: 13% of estate.
• Comparator Economies: Denmark (10), Estonia (72), Finland (5), Lithuania (40), Norway (3), Poland (37).
• Best Performer: Japan (1).

Key Findings

• Latvia's business environment is relatively stable but has room for improvement in several areas.
• The ease of starting a business has seen some improvements, with a reduction in the minimum capital requirement in 2012.
• Construction permits and getting electricity are among the most challenging areas, with high time and cost requirements.
• Registering property is more efficient than in many comparator economies.
• Getting credit is one of the easiest in the region, though private bureau coverage remains low.
• Protecting investors is moderately strong, but not as robust as in top performers like New Zealand.
• Trading across borders is efficient compared to some comparator economies, but still lags behind global best practices.
• Enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency are areas where Latvia has significant room for improvement.

Methodology and Limitations

• The report uses a standardized methodology to measure and compare business regulations across 185 economies.
• It does not account for all factors influencing the business environment, such as proximity to large markets, infrastructure quality, or institutional strength.
• The distance to frontier measure helps track progress over time and identify areas of potential reform.
• Reforms are tracked by the report, but some may not have been captured due to the methodology's focus on specific indicators.

Conclusion

Latvia's regulatory environment for SMEs is moderately good, with some areas showing improvement. While the country has made strides in reducing capital requirements, it still faces challenges in areas like construction permits, electricity access, and contract enforcement. The report serves as a valuable tool for policy makers to identify and address these bottlenecks.