The Impact of Business Environment Reforms on （商业环境改革的影响）.pdf

The Impact of Business Environment Reforms on New Firm Registration Leora Klapper and Inessa Love December, 2010 Abstract: We use panel data on the number of new firm registrations in 92 countries to study how the magnitude of reforms affects its impact on new firm registrations. We find that small reforms, in general less than 40% reduction in costs, days or procedures required for business registration, do not have a significant effect on new firm creation. This suggests that small reforms do not have the intended effect on private sector development. We also find important synergies in multiple reforms of two or more business environment indicators. Finally, we show that countries with relatively weaker business environments require relatively larger reforms in order to impact new firm growth. These results can be helpful to motivate policymakers to make larger, broader, reforms. JEL Classification : G18, G38, L51, M13 Key Words : Entrepreneurship, Economic Development, Business Environment, Reforms * Klapper and Love are Senior Economists at the World Bank. We thank the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the World Bank Group for financial support. This paper was prepared with outstanding assistance from Douglas Randall. Thanks to Mary Hallward-Driemer, David McKenzie, and Andrei Mikhneiv for helpful comments. This paper‟s findings, interpretations, and conclusions are entirely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank, their Executive Directors, or the countries they represent. Corresponding author: Inessa Love, E-mail: ilove@ Address: 1818 H St. NW, Washington, DC, 20035, Phone: 1-202-458- 0590, Fax: 1-202-522-1155. 1. Int