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The 2017 Investment Climate Assessment of Bhutan provides a detailed assessment of firm performance and constraints as they enter, operate, and exit domestic and international markets. The report provides policy recommendations that will support Bhutan to achieve an investment climate conducive to private sector growth, and the creation of productive and gainful employment.

Access to Finance --- Access to Markets --- Agribusiness --- Competitiveness and Competition Policy --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Hydropower --- Macroeconomic Management --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Private Sector Development --- Taxation & Subsidies

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In April 2014, the Government of Benin launched the entreprenant status, a simplified and free legal regime offered to small informal businesses to enter the formal economy. This paper presents the short-term results of a randomized impact evaluation testing three different versions of the entreprenant status on business registration decisions, each version including incremental incentives to registration: (i) information on the new legal status and its benefits, (ii) business training, counseling services, and support to open a bank account, (iii) tax mediation services. The study included 3,600 informal businesses operating with a fixed location in Cotonou, Benin, which were randomly allocated between three treatment groups and one control group. One year after the program launch, all versions of the program had significant impact on formalization rates. The impact was 9.1 percentage points in the first treatment group; 13 percentage points in the second group; and 15.8 percentage points in the last group. The program had a higher impact on male business owners, with more education, operating outside Dantokpa Market, in sectors other than trade, and that before being offered the incentives to formalization had characteristics similar to businesses that were already formal. Data from a second follow-up survey, which is expected to take place in March 2016, will explore the impacts on other outcomes, like business performances or access to banking.

Access to bank --- Account --- Accounting --- Administration --- Administrative process --- Advertising --- Artisans --- Bank account --- Bank financing --- Bank loan --- Banking system --- Beneficiaries --- Bookkeeping --- Budget --- Business --- Business activity --- Business entry --- Business environment --- Business facilitation --- Business in development --- Business management --- Business performance --- Business plan --- Business registration --- Business regulation --- Business services --- Business training --- Cash transfers --- Certificate --- Chamber of commerce --- Check --- Collateral --- Commerce --- Commercial bank --- Commercial law --- Communication --- Competitiveness --- Competitiveness and competition policy --- Contact information --- Contract --- Cost --- Customers --- Data --- Database --- Debit card --- Debt markets --- Deposit --- Developing countries --- Direct costs --- Dummy variable --- E-business --- Economic activity --- Electricity --- Enabling environment --- Enterprise development --- Exchange --- Finance --- Finance and financial sector development --- Financial products --- Financial statements --- Firm performance --- Future --- Good --- Human capital --- ID --- Impact evaluation --- Impacts --- Implementation --- Implementing agencies --- Information --- Information banks --- Information services --- Inspection --- Institution --- International bank --- International development --- International finance --- Legal environment --- Levy --- Liability --- License --- Limited liability --- Link --- Loan --- Market --- Medium enterprises --- Microenterprises --- Mobile phone --- Monitoring --- Network --- New markets --- One-stop shop --- Open access --- Option --- Ownership --- Performance --- Phone --- Phone number --- Private sector development --- Productivity --- Profit --- Protocol --- Quality --- Quality of services --- Registration process --- Registration system --- Result --- Returns --- Sales --- Selling --- Share --- Small business --- Tax --- Tax exemption --- Tax forms --- Tax obligations --- Tax rate --- Tax regime --- Tax system --- Technical assistance --- Trade sector --- Trading --- Transparency --- Turnover --- Unfair competition --- Uses --- Web

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Many countries have expressed an interest in the size, performance and motivation of the informal sector, especially where the informal sector provides the livelihood and employment for a critical segment of the population. This essay reviews recent literature, methodologies, and relevant Bank studies as a way to share information with country teams interested in expanding their knowledge of the informal sector and related policy debates. Research in a number of regions points to four main areas where development policy can be improved by taking the informal sector into account. First, improvements should be made along a continuum; the heterogeneity among informal firms points to different policy approaches for different types of firms. Second, there should be public-private collaboration on mutual reforms. Many efforts to improve firm performance focus on elements of the production function (labor skills, credit) while treating government mainly as a cost (taxes, cost of compliance with regulations). Yet research reveals that many characteristics of the public regime strongly influence the decisions of firms regarding informality. Third, research indicates a strong relation between basic skills and labor outcomes, particularly in the informal sector, despite the sector's lower average returns. Research also indicates the benefits of targeted training programs. Business services programs have a decidedly mixed record, yet ongoing research is refining results on what works best. Fourth, informal trade is pervasive in developing countries and the networks developed in informal trade-wholesalers, credit suppliers and money-changers, transporters-are a strong presence in the informal sector. Yet these kinds of complex and nontransparent trading systems can be discouraging to foreign investors and can otherwise undermine trade policy and the international competitiveness of developing countries. The paper concludes with recommendations.

Banks and Banking Reform --- Demographics --- E-Business --- Economic Theory & Research --- Employment --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Informal Enterprises --- Labor Markets --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Migration --- Private Sector Development --- Social Protections and Labor