Doing business 2013

Abstract

Doing Business 2013 is the 10th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 185 economies—from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe—and over time. Regulations aff ecting 11 areas of the life of a business are covered: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. The employing workers data are not included in this year’s ranking on the ease of doing business. Data in Doing Business 2013 are current as of June 1, 2012. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms of business regulation have worked, where and why.