Seventeen in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2020 measures aspects of regulation affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity.

Economic and social progress requires a diverse ecosystem of firms that play complementary roles. Making It Big: Why Developing Countries Need More Large Firms constitutes one of the most up-to-date assessments of how large firms are created in low- and middle-income countries and their role in development. It argues that large firms advance a range of development objectives in ways that other firms do not: large firms are more likely to innovate, export, and offer training and are more likely to adopt international standards of quality, among other contributions. Their particularities are closely associated with productivity advantages and translate into improved outcomes not only for their owners but also for their workers and for smaller enterprises in their value chains. The challenge for economic development, however, is that production does not reach economic scale in low- and middle-income countries. Why are large firms scarcer in developing countries? Drawing on a rare set of data from public and private sources, as well as proprietary data from the International Finance Corporation and case studies, this book shows that large firms are often born large—or with the attributes of largeness. In other words, what is distinct about them is often in place from day one of their operations. To fill the “missing top†? of the firm-size distribution with additional large firms, governments should support the creation of such firms by opening markets to greater competition. In low-income countries, this objective can be achieved through simple policy reorientation, such as breaking oligopolies, removing unnecessary restrictions to international trade and investment, and establishing strong rules to prevent the abuse of market power. Governments should also strive to ensure that private actors have the skills, technology, intelligence, infrastructure, and finance they need to create large ventures. Additionally, they should actively work to spread the benefits from production at scale across the largest possible number of market participants. This book seeks to bring frontier thinking and evidence on the role and origins of large firms to a wide range of readers, including academics, development practitioners and policy makers.

Much of the debate about development in the past decade pitted proponents of unfettered markets against advocates of developmental states. Yet, in many developing countries what best explains variations in economic performance is not markets or states but rather the character of relations between business and government. The studies in Business and the State in Developing Countries identify a range of close, collaborative relations between bureaucrats and capitalists that enhance elements of economic performance and defy conventional expectations that such relations lead ineluctably to rent-seeking, corruption, and collusion. All based on extensive field research, the essays contrast collaborative and collusive relations in a wide range of developing countries, mostly in Latin America and Asia, and isolate the conditions under which collaboration is most likely to emerge and survive. The contributors highlight the crucial roles played by capable bureaucracies and strong business associations.

Business is increasingly being called upon to demonstrate 'what more' it does for society. In a climate in which companies are frequently painted as social outlaws who need fundamentally to change their ways, this determined if ill-founded attack has been met for the most part by appeasement in corporate circles. This acquiescence has given rise to the burgeoning 'corporate social responsibility' industry. Why is business going along with this? The current conversation about business and society is dominated by the perspectives and interests of those who live in rich western countries. Many activists, analysts and others do not grasp the realities of poverty and the hard choices of development outside the industrialised world. As a result, the debate about business, 'responsibility' and corporate involvement in development is distorted, with few voices from developing countries being heard and the positive contribution of 'just doing business' almost completely unacknowledged. In this book, Ann Bernstein argues that a new approach and a new discourse are required to cut through an increasingly flawed conversation with potentially dangerous consequences for the poor and for developing countries in particular. Informed by many years of living, working, and championing the role of business in growth and development in a middle-income developing country, Bernstein urges business not to let the attacks stand unchallenged. It must find the confidence and strategic vision to stop apologising, develop its own public agenda, and start propagating the phenomenal benefits of competitive capitalism for the less developed countries of the world.

This book focuses on the challenges and opportunities facing companies in emerging and developing countries. China and India have become the primary business destination for many global companies that are looking for market opportunities and low costs of production, whilst Morocco, Dubai, Brazil, Malaysia and Russia are also being targeted. This new edited volume helps develop a better understanding of the realities of doing business in emerging and developing countries, in particular exploring the dynamics between corporations – both indigenous and multinational – and local pressures in developing, transitional and emerging economies. The book points out the benefits and pitfalls of doing business in emerging and developing countries, as well as the adjustments that are necessary for success. It also discusses entrepreneurship in emerging and developing countries, exploring its new realities from women’s entrepreneurship in Muslim countries to social entrepreneurship in developing countries. The volume also points out the new challenges for SMEs of emerging and developing countries in a global competitive environment. Finally, it analyses corporate governance from a local partner perspective and an institutional perspective. Building Businesses in Emerging and Developing Countries will be of interest to business managers, students and researchers involved in international entrepreneurship and corporate governance.

"This books tackles issues of e-business with a vision to the future on how to bridge these gaps and close down the barriers between the different corners of the world"--Provided by publisher.

Sixteenth in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2019 measures aspects of regulation affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity: • 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 These areas are included in the distance to frontier score and ease of doing business ranking. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation, which is not included in these two measures. This edition also presents the findings of the pilot indicator entitled 'Contracting with the Government,' which aims at benchmarking the efficiency, quality and transparency of public procurement systems worldwide. The report updates all indicators as of May 1, 2018, ranks economies on their overall 'ease of doing business', and analyzes reforms to business regulation -- identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. Doing Business illustrates how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. It is a flagship product produced in partnership by the World Bank Group that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. Almost 140 economies have used the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground.