The report is organized as follows: the executive summary (I) pulls together all major conclusions and recommendations of the report. The following five sections then focus on key requirements of any successful regulatory reform program: (II) business regulation policy, (III) measurements and...

This publication details 14 firms recognized for better corporate governance practices that had suffered less damage than average listed Latin American companies during the finanicial crisis. It offers an opportunity for business leaders in Latin America to learn from the experience of peers who...

In the private sector, outsourcing has become a recognized feature of the business scene. While there are various reasons for contracting out functions to external organizations, in general the justification relates to the potential cost-benefit from adopting this approach. This study set out to...

One of the problems in discussing one-stop shops is that everyone seems to have a different idea of what one is. There have been one-stop shops since at least the 1920s, mostly in the retail trade, epitomized by the development of supermarkets and, in recent years, internet sales outlets. This...

Regulatory reform and competition policy are two important and inter-related areas of regulatory policy and public administration. Both can play a key role in improving the quality of regulation, and creating healthy and competitive markets and an attractive investment climate. This in turn...

This report is an output of the Better Regulation for Growth Program between the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and IC, the Investment Climate Advisory Services of the World Bank Group. The reports identifies a set of minimum...

This paper includes an overall introduction to the uses (and abuses) of business licenses, and to the way business licensing reforms can be organized. It also provides a broad overview and framework for licensing reforms. This paper is supported by more detailed case studies of licensing reform...

Regulatory reform has emerged as an important policy area in developing countries. For reforms to be beneficial, regulatory regimes need to be transparent, coherent, and comprehensive. They must establish appropriate institutional frameworks and liberalized business regulations; enforce...

This paper looks at the existing tools and approaches most commonly used in developed and developing countries to review the stock of regulations. The tools reviewed can generate benefits in the short term, but they are most effective as part of a longer-term sustained initiative. This paper has...

In this first working paper the authors present and compare systems of indicators of regulatory quality, analyzing their conceptual underpinnings, technical properties, and usage by governments, stakeholders and academics. After having discussed the datasets and the types of data available, they...