Doing Business Methodology
First, the current Doing Business components should remain in place. These components offer a useful lens into the state of the regulatory environment in each country. While Doing Business likely can never capture the full breadth of formal sector regulatory costs firms face, the data reported provides a basis for reform in lower-performing countries. The detailed accounting of the processes involved in each component of Doing Business can help guide reform efforts that reduce the time, cost, and difficulty of doing business in the formal sector in countries dominated by informal activity. Second, Doing Business should continue to collect “Employing Workers” data, even if this information is not included in the ranking methodology. All data made available by Doing Business can be of use to policymakers and to researchers and should remain available. Third, Doing Business should expand the “Getting Electricity” component. To do so, Doing Business should attempt to measure the cost of and regulatory obstacles regarding offgrid or other alternative power sources. Doing so would offer a clearer picture of the true burden firms face when blackouts are frequent.
