30 June 2008 | Washington, D.C., United States
Co-published by The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Doing Business Report 2008 is the fifth in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. In particular, it identifies countries where to do business, from the easiest to the most difficult places, through indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights.
In the Doing Business annual reports, regulations affecting 10 areas of everyday business are measured: starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business. Doing Business 2008 updates all 10 sets of indicators, ranks countries on their overall ease of doing business, and analyzes reforms to business regulation - identifying which countries are improving their business environment the most and which ones slipped. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. Doing Business 2008 focuses on how complex business regulations dampen investment, growth and job creation in all businesses, and especially opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
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