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BizCLIR - Doing Business Connection
From the outset of the Seldon Project, where the CLIR methodology began, the four pillars have been consistent (i.e. Legal Framework, Implementing Institutions, Supporting Institutions, and Social Dynamics); however, the legal and regulatory areas examined have increased over time. From its beginnings during the Seldon Project and through the current BizCLIR Project it has now grown to include 16 different indicators:

  • Company Law and Corporate Governance
  • Contracts
  • Secured Transactions
  • Real Property
  • Bankruptcy
  • Commercial Dispute Resolution (CDR)
  • Fiscal and Taxes
  • Competition
  • Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
  • Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
  • Financial Crimes
  • International Trade of Goods and Services
  • Agriculture
  • Banking and Finance
  • Labor
  • Infrastructure.

During this same period of time, interest in business enabling environment reform was increasing exponentially, largely due to the success of the World Bank’s Doing Business initiative. By creating a set of simple to understand quantitative benchmarks and providing evidence of the link to economic growth, this initiative raised the profile of business enabling environment reform. When the report added country ranks, heralding some and shaming others, the governments began to want to improve their scores so the imperative for reform in this area grew further.

With the increased attention on business environment reform, the BizCLIR project was receiving increased demand for its assessments; however, the dialogue with missions and government officials usually revolved around improving their Doing Business rankings. As a result, in 2007, USAID decided to reorganize the report around the Doing Business topics, in consultation with the team at the World Bank. (The indicators that were used were simply sorted into the existing Doing Business topics.) This change made it easier for missions and governments to recognize the links between the more detailed assessments and the country benchmarks.

The general mapping is shown below:
 
Starting a business:
  • Company Law and Corporate Governance
  • FDI
  • Competition
  • Fiscal

Dealing with Licenses:
  • Company Law and Corporate Governance
  • Labor
  • Secured Transactions
  • Real Property
  • Banking and Finance
  • Fiscal
  • FDI
  • Competition
  • CDR
Employing Workers:
  • NEW

Registering Property:
  • Real Property
  • Secured Transactions
  • IPR

Getting Credit:
  • Banking and Finance
  • Real Property
  • Secured Transactions
  • Bankruptcy
  • CDR

Protecting Investors:
  • Company Law and Corporate Governance
  • FDI
Paying Taxes:
  • NEW

Trading Across Borders:
  • Flow of Goods & Services
  • Flow of People
  • Flow of Money

Enforcing Contracts:
  • Contracts
  • CDR

Closing a Business:
  • Company Law and Corporate Governance
  • Bankruptcy







USAID: From the American People