Doing business 2008 is the fifth in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 178...

The global economic crisis has opened an uncertain chapter, especially for the 2.5 billion people who live on less than $2 a day. Many of them lack access to electricity, or clean water, or basic health care. For at least a decade, economic growth in developing countries helped expand the...