Starting a business
     
     
     
     
     

Number of  procedures

   January
2005

Time required days

 January
2005

Cost % of per capita income

 January
2005

Registering Property

 
 
 
 
 

Number of procedures

   January
2005

Time required days

 January
2005

Dealing with licences
 
 
 
 

Number of procedures to build a warehouse

   January
2005

Time required days

 January
2005

Hiring
and firing workers 

    
    

Rigidity of employment index 0 (less rigid) to 100(more rigid) January

 2005

Enforcing contracts
     
     
     
     
     
     

Number of
procedures

     January
2005

Time required days

  January
2005

Protecting investors

   

Disclosure
index
0 (less)disclosure to 10 (more disclosure) January
       2005

Closing a business 

    
    
    
    

Time to resolve insolvency years January
   2005
 
Afghanistan 1 7 52.8 11 252 .. .. 39 .. 400 0 ..
Albania 11 41 31.1 7 47 22 344 48 39 390 0 4.0
Algeria 14 26 25.3 16 52 25 244 51 49 407 8 3.5
Angola 14 146 642.8 7 334 15 326 64 47 1,011 5 6.2
Argentina 15 32 13.4 5 44 23 288 48 33 520 7 2.8
Armenia 10 25 6.1 4 6 20 176 49 24 185 .. 1.9
Australia 2 2 1.9 5 5 16 121 17 11 157 8 1.0
Austria 9 29 5.7 3 32 14 195 44 20 374 2 1.1
Azerbaijan 14 115 12.5 7 61 28 212 38 25 267 0 2.7
Bangladesh 8 35 81.4 11 363 13 185 24 29 365 6 4.0
Belarus 16 79 22.9 7 231 18 354 27 28 225 1 5.8
Belgium 4 34 11.1 7 132 15 184 20 27 112 8 0.9
Benin 8 32 190.8 3 50 22 335 53 49 570 5 3.1
Bolivia 15 50 154.8 7 92 13 187 40 47 591 1 1.8
Bosnia and Herzegovina 12 54 40.9 7 331 17 476 42 36 330 3 3.3
Botswana 11 108 10.9 6 69 42 160 30 26 154 8 2.2
Brazil 17 152 10.1 15 47 19 460 56 24 546 5 10.0
Bulgaria 11 32 9.6 9 19 24 212 44 34 440 8 3.3
Burkina Faso 12 45 149.9 8 107 46 241 84 41 446 6 4.0
Burundi 11 43 200.7 5 94 18 302 69 47 433 .. 4.0
Cambodia 10 86 276.1 7 56 28 247 59 31 401 5 ..
Cameroon 12 37 172.8 5 93 15 444 56 58 585 8 3.2
Canada 2 3 0.9 6 10 15 87 14 17 346 8 0.8
Central African Republic 10 14 211.6 3 69 21 237 76 45 660 .. 4.8
Chad 19 75 360.8 6 44 16 199 72 52 526 3 10.0
Chile 9 27 10.3 6 31 12 191 24 28 305 8 5.6
China 13 48 13.6 3 32 30 363 30 25 241 10 2.4
Hong Kong, China 5 11 3.4 5 83 22 230 0 16 211 10 1.1
Colombia 12 43 25.3 7 23 12 150 57 37 363 7 3.0
Congo, Dem. Rep. 13 155 503.3 8 106 16 306 90 51 909 3 5.2
Congo, Rep. 8 67 288.8 6 103 15 174 80 47 560 4 3.0
Costa Rica 11 77 23.8 6 21 19 120 39 34 550 2 3.5
Côte d’Ivoire 11 45 134.0 7 369 22 569 45 25 525 6 2.2
Croatia 12 49 13.4 5 956 28 278 57 22 415 2 3.1
Cuba .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Czech Republic 10 40 9.5 4 123 31 245 24 21 290 2 9.2
Denmark 3 5 0.0 6 42 7 70 20 15 83 7 3.3
Dominican Republic 10 75 30.9 7 107 12 150 44 29 580 3 3.5
Ecuador 14 69 38.1 10 21 19 149 58 41 388 1 4.3
Egypt, Arab Rep. 10 34 104.9 7 193 30 263 53 55 410 5 4.2
El Salvador 12 40 118.0 5 52 22 144 41 41 275 6 4.0
Eritrea 13 91 128.6 6 91 19 187 27 27 385 4 1.7
Estonia 6 35 6.2 4 65 12 116 51 25 150 8 3.0
Ethiopia 7 32 65.1 15 56 12 133 41 30 420 1 2.4
Finland 3 14 1.2 3 14 17 56 48 27 228 6 0.9
France 7 8 1.2 9 183 10 185 66 21 75 10 1.9
Gabon .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Gambia, The .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Georgia 8 21 13.7 6 9 29 282 43 18 375 4 3.3
Germany 9 24 4.7 4 41 11 165 55 26 175 5 1.2
Ghana 12 81 78.6 7 382 16 127 34 23 200 7 1.9
Greece 15 38 24.6 12 23 17 176 66 14 151 1 2.0
Guatemala 15 39 58.4 5 69 22 294 40 37 1,459 1 4.0
Guinea 13 49 178.8 6 104 29 278 48 44 306 5 3.8
Guinea-Bissau .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Haiti 12 203 153.1 5 683 12 186 24 35 368 4 5.7
Honduras 13 62 64.1 7 36 14 199 34 36 545 1 3.8
Hungary 6 38 22.4 4 78 25 213 37 21 365 1 2.0
India 11 71 61.7 6 67 20 270 62 40 425 7 10.0
Indonesia 12 151 101.7 7 42 19 224 57 34 570 8 5.5
Iran, Islamic Rep. 8 47 6.3 9 36 21 668 49 23 545 3 4.5
Iraq 11 77 37.4 5 8 14 210 69 65 320 4 ..
Ireland 4 24 5.3 5 38 10 181 33 16 217 9 0.4
Israel 5 34 5.3 7 144 21 219 33 27 585 8 4.0
Italy 9 13 15.7 8 27 17 284 57 18 1,390 7 1.2
Jamaica 6 9 8.3 5 54 13 242 10 18 202 3 1.1
Japan 11 31 10.7 6 14 11 87 19 16 60 6 0.6
Jordan 11 36 45.9 8 22 17 122 34 43 342 5 4.3
Kazakhstan 7 24 8.6 8 52 32 258 23 47 380 7 3.3
Kenya 13 54 48.2 8 73 11 170 28 25 360 4 4.5
Korea, Dem. Rep. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Korea, Rep. 12 22 15.2 7 11 14 60 45 29 75 7 1.5
Kuwait 13 35 2.2 8 75 26 149 20 52 390 5 4.2
Kyrgyz Republic 8 21 10.4 7 10 16 152 38 46 492 8 3.5
Lao PDR 9 198 15.1 9 135 24 208 50 53 443 4 5.0
Latvia 7 18 4.2 9 54 21 160 59 20 186 5 1.1
Lebanon 6 46 110.6 8 25 16 275 24 39 721 8 4.0
Lesotho 9 92 56.1 6 101 12 254 42 49 285 2 2.6
Liberia .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Libya .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Lithuania 8 26 3.3 3 3 14 151 44 17 154 5 1.2
Macedonia, FYR 13 48 11.3 6 74 18 214 54 27 509 5 3.7
Madagascar 11 38 54.3 8 134 19 356 59 29 280 5 ..
Malawi 10 35 139.6 6 118 23 205 21 16 277 4 2.6
Malaysia 9 30 20.9 4 143 25 226 10 31 300 10 2.2
Mali 13 42 190.7 5 44 17 260 66 28 340 6 3.6
Mauritania 11 82 143.6 4 49 19 152 73 28 410 .. 8.0
Mauritius 6 46 8.8 5 210 21 132 37 17 367 6 2.0
Mexico 9 58 15.6 5 74 12 222 51 37 421 6 1.8
Moldova 10 30 17.1 6 48 20 122 68 37 340 7 2.8
Mongolia 8 20 6.2 5 11 18 96 34 26 314 .. 4.0
Morocco 5 11 12.0 3 82 21 217 60 17 240 6 1.8
Mozambique 14 153 95.0 8 42 14 212 61 38 580 .. 5.0
Myanmar .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Namibia 10 95 18.8 9 28 11 169 27 31 270 8 1.0
Nepal 7 21 69.9 2 2 12 147 44 28 350 4 5.0
Netherlands 7 11 13.0 2 2 18 184 49 22 48 4 1.7
New Zealand 2 12 0.2 2 2 7 65 7 19 50 10 2.0
Nicaragua 8 42 139.1 7 65 12 192 47 20 155 4 2.2
Niger 13 35 465.4 5 49 27 165 90 33 330 6 5.0
Nigeria 9 43 73.8 21 274 16 465 38 23 730 6 1.5
Norway 4 13 2.7 1 1 13 97 38 14 87 7 0.9
Oman 9 34 4.8 4 16 16 271 35 41 455 8 7.0
Pakistan 11 24 18.6 5 49 12 218 46 46 395 6 2.8
Panama 7 19 24.8 7 44 22 128 63 45 355 3 2.0
Papua New Guinea 8 56 30.2 4 72 20 218 21 22 440 5 2.8
Paraguay 17 74 147.8 7 48 15 273 59 46 285 6 3.9
Peru 10 102 38.0 5 33 19 201 48 35 381 7 3.1
Philippines 11 48 20.3 8 33 23 197 45 25 360 1 5.7
Poland 10 31 22.2 6 197 25 322 37 41 980 7 1.4
Portugal 11 54 13.4 5 83 20 327 58 24 320 7 2.0
Puerto Rico 7 7 1.0 8 15 20 137 35 43 270 .. 3.8
Romania 5 11 5.3 8 170 15 291 59 43 335 8 4.6
Russian Federation 8 33 5.0 6 52 22 528 30 29 330 7 3.8
Rwanda 9 21 280.2 5 371 17 252 59 27 310 .. ..
Saudi Arabia 13 64 68.5 4 4 18 131 13 44 360 8 2.8
Senegal 9 57 108.7 6 114 18 185 64 33 485 7 3.0
Serbia and Montenegro 10 15 6.0 6 111 21 212 28 33 635 7 2.7
Sierra Leone 9 26 835.4 8 58 48 236 80 58 305 3 2.6
Singapore 6 6 1.1 3 9 11 129 0 23 69 10 0.8
Slovak Republic 9 25 5.1 3 17 13 272 39 27 565 2 4.8
Slovenia 9 60 10.1 6 391 14 207 64 25 913 3 3.6
Somalia .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
South Africa 9 38 8.6 6 23 18 176 52 26 277 8 2.0
Spain 10 47 16.5 3 25 12 277 66 23 169 4 1.0
Sri Lanka 8 50 10.4 8 63 18 167 40 17 440 4 2.2
Sudan 10 38 68.1 .. .. .. .. 43 67 915 .. ..
Swaziland .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Sweden 3 16 0.7 1 2 8 116 43 23 208 2 2.0
Switzerland 6 20 8.7 4 16 15 152 17 22 170 1 3.0
Syrian Arab Republic 12 47 34.5 4 34 20 134 40 47 672 5 4.1
Tajikistan .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Tanzania 13 35 161.3 12 61 26 313 69 21 242 3 3.0
Thailand 8 33 6.1 2 2 9 147 18 26 390 10 2.7
Togo 13 53 218.3 6 212 14 273 79 37 535 4 3.0
Trinidad and Tobago .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Tunisia 9 14 10.0 5 57 21 154 54 14 27 0 1.3
Turkey 8 9 27.7 8 9 32 232 55 22 330 8 5.9
Turkmenistan .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Uganda 17 36 117.8 8 48 19 155 13 15 209 7 2.2
Ukraine 15 34 10.6 10 93 18 265 61 28 269 1 2.9
United Arab Emirates 12 54 44.3 3 9 21 125 33 53 614 4 5.1
United Kingdom 6 18 0.7 2 21 19 115 14 14 288 10 1.0
United States 5 5 0.5 4 12 19 70 3 17 250 7 2.0
Uruguay 11 45 43.9 8 66 17 146 31 39 620 3 2.1
Uzbekistan 9 35 15.5 12 97 .. .. 34 35 368 4 4.0
Venezuela, RB 13 116 15.7 7 33 13 276 38 41 445 3 4.0
Vietnam 11 50 50.6 5 67 14 143 51 37 343 4 5.0
West Bank and Gaza 11 106 275.4 7 58 18 144 38 26 465 .. ..
Yemen, Rep. 12 63 240.2 6 21 13 131 37 37 360 6 3.0
Zambia 6 35 18.1 6 70 16 165 10 16 274 10 3.1
Zimbabwe 10 96 1,442.5 4 30 21 481 24 33 350 8 2.2
World 10 u 48 u 77.3 u 6 u 86 u 18 u 209 u 41 u 32 u 394 u 5 u 3.2 u
Low income 10 60 167.6 7 114 19 231 50 36 421 5 3.7
Middle income 10 49 42.3 6 82 19 216 38 32 424 5 3.5
Lower middle income 10 52 54.2 6 74 18 216 39 32 433 4 3.6
Upper middle income 9 42 18.4 6 99 20 216 38 30 405 5 3.5
Low & middle income 10 53 94.8 6 95 19 222 43 34 423 5 3.6
East Asia & Pacific 9 56 47.2 5 64 17 147 28 31 426 5 3.7
Europe & Central Asia 10 36 13.6 6 117 22 254 44 30 372 5 3.5
Latin America & Carib. 12 66 58.8 7 79 16 210 41 35 470 4 3.5
Middle East & N. Africa 10 45 75.6 7 50 19 236 45 38 414 5 3.8
South Asia 8 35 39.7 7 124 16 195 39 30 386 5 5.1
Sub-Saharan Africa 11 64 215.3 7 118 20 251 53 36 439 5 3.3
High income 7 24 9.4 5 47 16 157 34 24 282 6 1.9
Europe EMU 8 27 10.2 6 55 15 201 51 22 296 6 1.3
          

 
 About the data
 
The table presents key indicators on the environment for doing business. The indicators identify regulations that enhance or constrain business investment, productivity, and growth. The data are from the World Bank’s Doing Business database.
 
A vibrant private sector is central to promoting growth and expanding opportunities for poor people. But encouraging firms to invest, improve productivity, and create jobs requires a legal and regulatory environment that fosters access to credit, protects property rights, and supports efficient judicial, taxation, and customs systems. The indicators in the table point to the administrative and regulatory reforms and institutions needed to create a favorable environment for doing business.
 
When entrepreneurs start a business, the first obstacles they face are the administrative and legal procedures required to register the new firm. Countries differ widely in how they regulate the entry of new businesses. In some countries the process is straightforward and affordable. But in others the procedures are so burdensome that entrepreneurs may opt to run their business informally. The data on starting a business cover the number of start-up procedures and the time required and cost to complete them.
 
Property registries were first developed to help raise tax revenue, but they have benefited entrepreneurs as well. Securing rights to land and buildings, a major source of wealth in most countries, strengthens incentives to invest and facilitates trade. More complex procedures to register property are associated with less perceived security of property rights, more informality, and more corruption. The data cover the number procedures required and time required to secure rights to property.
 
Lack of access to credit is one of the biggest barriers entrepreneurs face in starting and operating a business. Indicators covering financial access and financial information are presented in table 5.5.
 
There are many types of business licenses required, and striking the right balance between the ease of doing business and consumer safety requires continuous reform. Since construction is a large sector in most economies, the procedures required for a business in the construction industry to build a standardized warehouse are recorded. These include obtaining all necessary licenses and permits, completing all required notifications and inspections, and submitting the relevant documents to the authorities. The data cover the number of procedures and time needed by the construction firm to complete all procedures.
 
Every economy has a complex system of laws and institutions to protect the interests of workers and guarantee a minimum standard of living for its population. The rigidity of employment index focuses on the regulation of employment, specifically the hiring and firing of workers and the rigidity of working hours. This index is the average of three subindexes: a difficulty of hiring index, a rigidity of hours index, and a difficulty of firing index. All subindexes have several components and take values between 0 and 100, with higher values indicating more rigid regulation. 
 
Contract enforcement is critical to enable businesses to engage with new borrowers or customers. Without good contract enforcement trade and credit will be restricted to a small community of people who have developed relationships through repeated dealings or the security of assets. The institution that enforces contracts between debtors and creditors, and suppliers and customers, is the court. The efficiency of contract enforcement is reflected in two indicators: number of judicial procedures to resolve a dispute and time to enforce a commercial contract.
 
What companies disclose to the public has a large impact on investor protection. Both investors and entrepreneurs benefit greatly from such legal protection. The disclosure index is based on measures that cover ownership disclosure, measures that reduce expropriation, and disclosures to help investors.
 
Unviable businesses prevent assets and human capital from being allocated to more productive uses in new companies or in viable companies that are financially distressed. The time to close a business (resolve an insolvency) captures the average time to complete a procedure, as estimated by insolvency lawyers. Information is collected on the sequence of bankruptcy procedures and on whether any procedures can be carried out simultaneously. Delays due to legal derailment tactics that parties to the insolvency may use, in particular extension of response periods or appeals, are taken into account.
 
To ensure cross-country comparability, several standard characteristics of a company are defined in all surveys, such as size, ownership, location, legal status, and type of activities. The data were collected through a study of laws and regulations in each country, surveys of regulators or private sector professionals on each topic, and cooperative arrangements with private consulting firms and business and law associations. These standard characteristics include limited liability company; operates in the country’s most populous city; 100 percent domestically owned and has five owners, none of whom is a legal entity; start-up capital of 10 times income per capita at the end of 2004, paid in cash; performs general industrial or commercial activities, such as production or sale of products or services to the public; does not perform foreign trade activities or handle products subject to a special tax regime; does not use heavily polluting production processes; leases the commercial plant and offices and is not a proprietor of real estate; does not qualify for investment incentives or any special benefits; up to 50 employees within one month of commencement of operations, all of them nationals; turnover at least 100 times income per capita; and company deed 10 pages long.
   

 
 Definitions
 
• Number of procedures for starting a business is the number of procedures required to start a business, including interactions required to obtain necessary permits and licenses and to complete all inscriptions, verifications, and notifications to start operations. Data are for businesses with specific characteristics of ownership, size, and type of production. • Time required for starting a business is the number of calendar days needed to complete the required procedures for legally operating a business. If a procedure can be speeded up at additional cost, the fastest procedure, independent of cost, is chosen. • Cost for starting a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita. • Number of procedures to register property is the number of procedures required for a business to secure rights to property. • Time required for registering property is the number of calendar days needed for a business to secure rights to property. • Number of procedures to build a warehouse is the number of interactions of a company’s employees or managers with external parties, including government agency staff, public inspectors, notaries, land registry and cadastre staff, and technical experts apart from architects and engineers. • Time required to build a warehouse is the number of calendar days needed to complete the required procedures for building a warehouse. If a procedure can be speeded up at additional cost, the fastest procedure, independent of cost, is chosen. • Rigidity of employment index measures the regulation of employment, specifically the hiring and firing of workers and the rigidity of working hours. This index is the average of three subindexes: a difficulty of hiring index, a rigidity of hours index, and a difficulty of firing index. The index ranges from 0 to 100, with higher values indicating more rigid regulations. • Number of procedures for enforcing contracts is the number of independent actions, mandated by law or court regulation, that demand interaction between the parties to a contract or between them and the judge or court officer. • Time required for enforcing contracts is the number of calendar days from the filing of the lawsuit in court to the final determination and, in appropriate cases, payment. • Disclosure index measures the degree to which investors are protected through disclosure of ownership and financial information. The index ranges from 0 to 7, with higher values indicating more disclosure. • Time to resolve insolvency is the number of years from the time of filing for insolvency in court until resolution of distressed assets.
   

 
 Data sources
Data on the business environment are from the World Bank’s Doing Business project (http://rru.worldbank.org/DoingBusiness/).