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...

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...

Reforming business licenses is part of a suite of products delivered by the World Bank group's investment climate advisory services, under the business operations practice. The approach to reforms highlighted in this handbook fits into the broader policy framework for business 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...

The purpose of this report is to introduce and present key components of the regulatory governance agenda, and to discuss its relevance for developing countries. The paper identifies failings and knowledge gaps relevant to the implementation of regulatory governance initiatives, and it discusses...

This report has been developed by the international Finance Corporation (IFC) and summarizes findings from a recent study of the business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises and individual entrepreneurs in Belarus. The survey and report have been conducted as part of the second...

Investing Across Borders 2010 (IAB) presents cross-country indicators analyzing laws, regulations, and practices affecting foreign direct investment (FDI) in 87 economies. The indicators focus on 4 thematic areas measuring how foreign companies invest across sectors, start local businesses,...

This paper looks at the role and design of regulatory reform institutions in developing countries. These institutions are classified into four broad types: 1) regulatory reform units, commonly known in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries as oversight bodies for...

Over the last few years the Standard Cost Model (SCM) has become the regulatory reform tool of choice in European Union (EU) and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries for identifying and reducing regulatory compliance costs. SCM provides a relatively simple...

Since investment climate reforms in developing countries started gaining traction in the 1990s, most efforts have focused on issues at the national level, achieving varying degrees of success for reasons that are relatively well understood. This handbook provides an overview of efforts and...