This book describes the recent activities of the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (a joint facility of the IFC and the World Bank) to help governments in developing and transition economies to identify and remove administrative barriers to investment. Lessons learned include the critical need for political will to implement reforms, leadership from center of government, and capacity to ensure sound implementation of legislative and regulatory reform over an extended period of time, including regular monitoring and evaluation.

Red tape is burdensome to companies, inhibits entrepreneurship, and reduces competitiveness. This book examines country strategies and tools for reducing red tape and the institutional frameworks set up to reduce red tape, and finds what the trends ...

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.

Private firms are at the forefront of the development process, providing more than 90 percent of jobs, supplying goods and services, and representing a significant source of tax revenues. Their ability to grow, create jobs, and reduce poverty depends critically on a well-functioning investment climate--defined as the policy, legal, and institutional arrangements underpinning the functioning of markets and the level of transaction costs and risks associated with starting, operating, and closing a business. The World Bank Group has provided extensive support to investment climate reforms. This evaluation by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) assesses the relevance, effectiveness, and social value of World Bank Group support to investment climate reforms as it relates to concerns for inclusion and shared prosperity. IEG finds that the World Bank Group has supported a comprehensive menu of investment climate reforms and has improved investment climate in countries, as measured by number of laws enacted, streamlining of processes and time, or simple cost savings for private firms. However, the impact on investment, jobs, business formation, and growth is not straightforward. Regulatory reforms need to be designed and implemented with both economic and social costs and benefits in mind; IEG found that, in practice, World Bank Group support focuses predominantly on reducing costs to businesses. In supporting investment climate reforms, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation use two distinct but complementary business models. Despite the fact that investment climate is the most integrated business unit in the World Bank Group, coordination is mostly informal, relying mainly on personal contacts. IEG recommends that the World Bank Group expand its range of diagnostic tools and integrate them in the areas of the business environment not yet covered by existing tools; develop an approach to identify the social effects of regulatory reforms on all groups expected to be affected by them beyond the business community; and exploit synergies by ensuring that World Bank and IFC staff improve their understanding of each other's work and business models.

This 2002 edition of OECD's periodic reviews of Turkey's economy examines recent economic developments, policies and prospects and includes special features on banking system restructuring and structural reforms for a new role for the public sector.

The potential membership of Turkey to the European Union (EU) carries significant challenges for EU policymaking and integration, and this volume brings together academics from several disciplines, including international relations, economics, sociology, and public administration, to present a holistic picture of the economic dimension of the accession process. Assessing the current strengths and weaknesses of the Turkish candidacy, this study provides a historical overview of EU–Turkey economic relations, a comprehensive review of the EU–Turkey customs union agreement, as well as a discussion of the implications of membership for various sectors of the Turkish economy. This comprehensive analysis of Turkey’s bid for EU membership will interest government officials and academics alike as more candidate countries seek accession in the years ahead.

This study analyzes the characteristics, motivations, strategies, and needs of FDI from emerging markets. It draws from a survey of investors and potential investors in Brazil, India, South Korea, and South Africa.