The newly launched Business Ready (B-READY) 2024 report offers a comprehensive analysis of the global business environment, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses across 50 economies. With nearly 1,200 indicators per economy, B-READY is a powerful tool that policymakers can use to pinpoint areas for improvement and guide reforms to create a stronger private sector.
In this blog, we offer guidance on how to effectively navigate and leverage B-READY data to enhance business environments.
B-READY’s Analytical Framework
B-READY’s analytical framework is based on three pillars: (1) Regulatory Framework, (2) Public Services, and (3) Operational Efficiency. These pillars encompass ten topics corresponding to various stages of a firm’s lifecycle and its market participation, from opening to operating and closing a business. The topics covered include Business Entry, Business Location, Utility Services, Labor, Financial Services, International Trade, Taxation, Dispute Resolution, Market Competition, and Business Insolvency.
The topics are based on established good practices, encompassing quantifiable measures that highlight actionable areas subject to change through policy reform. Some examples of good practices covered under B-READY include: reduction of business entry restrictions, secure and reliable land registration systems, provision of safe utility connections, equality and non-discrimination of labor, consumer protection for electronic payments, establishment of trade facilitation measures, digitization of tax administration and efficient tax audits, reliability of courts and alternate dispute resolution mechanisms, prohibition of anti-competitive agreements, and mechanism for the selection and appointment of an insolvency administrator.
Additionally, three cross-cutting themes are considered: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. For more information, please refer to the B-READY Methodology Handbook.
Leveraging B-READY for Policy Reforms: A Powerful Tool for Policymakers
B-READY 2024 shows that most economies, particularly developing ones, are not business ready. The world represented by 50 economies covered in B-READY 2024 is only about two-thirds business ready in terms of the quality of business regulations, and only half business ready when it comes to the provision of public services for the private sector.