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This paper presents new data on electricity connections for businesses in 183 economies. The data cover information on procedures, time, and cost that a small or medium size business with a moderate electricity need has to invest to obtain a new electricity connection. The study finds significant variation in the time and cost to obtain such an electricity connection across countries. In low-income countries, for instance, it takes on average nearly twice as long as in high-income countries to connect a new customer to electricity, while the cost associated with a comparable connection is 70 times higher. The study finds that the poor performance of distribution utilities in low-income countries cannot only be explained by differences in income levels. The overall level of bureaucracy appears to be another important factor. The study also finds the data to be correlated with existing measures of the effectiveness of the electricity sector, suggesting that the hurdles related to obtaining an electricity connection mirror other problems in the sector, such as the quality of electricity supply and the incidence of bribe payments. Finally, the study finds that electricity connections affect firm performance. Simpler and less costly electricity connection processes are associated with better firm performance, in particular in industries with high electricity needs, such as manufacturing motor vehicles.

Business environment --- Climate change mitigation and green house gases --- E-business --- Electricity --- Energy --- Energy production and transportation --- Environment --- Environment and energy efficiency --- Firm performance --- Indicators --- Institutions --- Private sector development --- Regulation

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This paper presents new data on electricity connections for businesses in 183 economies. The data cover information on procedures, time, and cost that a small or medium size business with a moderate electricity need has to invest to obtain a new electricity connection. The study finds significant variation in the time and cost to obtain such an electricity connection across countries. In low-income countries, for instance, it takes on average nearly twice as long as in high-income countries to connect a new customer to electricity, while the cost associated with a comparable connection is 70 times higher. The study finds that the poor performance of distribution utilities in low-income countries cannot only be explained by differences in income levels. The overall level of bureaucracy appears to be another important factor. The study also finds the data to be correlated with existing measures of the effectiveness of the electricity sector, suggesting that the hurdles related to obtaining an electricity connection mirror other problems in the sector, such as the quality of electricity supply and the incidence of bribe payments. Finally, the study finds that electricity connections affect firm performance. Simpler and less costly electricity connection processes are associated with better firm performance, in particular in industries with high electricity needs, such as manufacturing motor vehicles.

Business environment --- Climate change mitigation and green house gases --- E-business --- Electricity --- Energy --- Energy production and transportation --- Environment --- Environment and energy efficiency --- Firm performance --- Indicators --- Institutions --- Private sector development --- Regulation

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Multilateral development banks are frequently accused of "defensive lending," the practice of extending new loans purely in order to ensure that existing loans are repaid. This paper empirically examine this hypothesis using data on lending by and repayments to the International Development Association (IDA), which is the largest provider of concessional development loans to low-income countries. The authors argue that key institutional features of IDA both (i) potentially create incentives for defensive lending, and (ii) enable particularly sharp tests of the defensive lending hypothesis. The authors find that there is a surprisingly robust partial correlation between disbursements on new IDA loans and repayments on existing loans. However, a closer look at the evidence suggests that defensive lending is unlikely to be a major explanation for this partial correlation.

Access to Finance --- Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress --- Banks and Banking Reform --- Creditors --- Debt --- Debt issues --- Debt Markets --- Debts --- Disbursements --- Economic Theory and Research --- External debt --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- International Bank --- International Development --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Non-performing loans --- Repayments

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Private Sector Job Creation in MENA: Prioritizing the Reform Agenda.

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In most countries in Africa, the informal sector is large and exhibits low levels of productivity compared to the formal economy: informal firms are typically small, inefficient, and run by entrepreneurs with low levels of education. This paper presents novel representative firm-level data collected on informal firms in the three largest cities of Mozambique, as well as data of microenterprises, formally registered businesses with less than 5 employees, the segment of the private sector that compares best to informal firms. Compared to formal microenterprises, informal firms sell about 14 times less, make 17 times lower profits and are 2-3 times less productive. Almost two-thirds (61 percent) of these performance gaps can be explained by differences in firm characteristics: informal firms are smaller and have limited skills, adapt fewer good business practices, use less capital and production inputs and are less likely to have access to finance. The rest of the productivity gap is explained by differential returns. Despite this "duality" between formality and informality, there is nevertheless a small but significant group of informal enterprises (7.6 percent of informal firms, representing 10.6 percent of employment in the informal sector) that in their characteristics and productivity levels are similar to formal microenterprises. Policies should take this heterogeneity into account.

Access To Finance --- Business Registration --- Enterprise Development and Reform --- Informal Sector --- Informality --- Legal Regulation and Business Environment --- Private Sector Development --- Private Sector Economics --- Small and Medium Size Enterprises --- Taxation