Investment Climate Around the World

This work presents enterprise data from 10,000 firms in 80 countries carried out between late 1998 and mid 2000. In addition to the general findings, detailed explanations and the core questionnaire are provided in this paper, as well as a presentation of key findings across regions and firm size.

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The World Business Environment Survey provides a unique look at the impact of the investment climate on enterprise performance. This book presents enterprise data from more than 10,000 firms in 80 countries carried out between late 1998 and mid 2000. In addition to the general findings, detailed explanations and the core questionnaire are provided in this paper, as well as a presentation of key findings across regions and firm size. The substantial variance in the extent of business governance constraints across regions and types of firms suggests the need for caution when averaging across broad categories. The survey's detailed questions permit an econometric analysis of the sources of firm-level growth and formality. This analysis confirms the clear importance of a few key country conditions for firm growth and investment: financing problems, high taxes, corruption, policy uncertainty and insufficient business consultation, which together can make a difference of more than ten percentage points.