Subnational B-READY FAQ

The Subnational Business Ready (Subnational B-READY) project produces regulatory assessments that provide data on and detailed analysis of local business regulations and practices across regions and/or within countries, highlighting specific challenges, opportunities, and best practices unique to each locality. The aim is to guide local policy reforms to address inequalities in the business environment, thus promoting balanced and inclusive economic growth within regions and economies. By showing how and by how much a location trails others in good practices, the Subnational B-READY assessments open the door for knowledge sharing, peer learning, and regulatory reforms.

Subnational B-READY uses the methodology of the World Bank’s new B-READY corporate flagship report, adapting it to project-specific contexts based on client needs.

For more details on the methodology and assessment process, please consult our Subnational B-READY Methodology Page and the Subnational B-READY Manual and Guide.

The assessments deliver tailored, cutting-edge, actionable micro-level data, enabling comparisons across geographic locations within the same country and globally. Subnational B-READY offers in-depth analyses of administrative constraints at both the national and the local level for each jurisdiction, while spotlighting local best practices that can be easily replicated without the need for new national legislation.

For more details on the methodology and assessment process, please consult our Subnational B-READY Methodology Page and the Subnational B-READY Manual and Guide.

Subnational B-READY assesses regulations relevant at each stage of the life cycle of a firm and its participation in the market; the Subnational studies also incorporate the cross-cutting themes of digital adoption, gender equality, and environmental sustainability across the assessment topics. Of the ten topics covered, Subnational B-READY focuses on those most likely to yield subnational variation, after taking into consideration local priorities and the subnational context.

The Subnational B-READY team recognizes that certain regions or economies may benefit from more tailored, bespoke evaluations of business regulations applicable to specific industries or prominent economic sectors. In this case, and upon the clients’ request, the Subnational B-READY unit can conduct assessments beyond the scope of the global B-READY project, covering areas including, among others, government procurement, special industries, and natural resources.  

For more details on the methodology and assessment process, please consult our Subnational B-READY Methodology Page and the Subnational B-READY Manual and Guide.

Following extensive research and extended consultations with topic experts, academics, civil society representatives, and colleagues within the World Bank Group, the Global B-READY team designed its questionnaires to be administered to expert consultants. These questionnaires were constructed based on agreed international standards and good practices, as endorsed by academia and international organizations. 

Since 2005, subnational B-READY has been leveraging the experience of the Global team in collecting country data for questionnaires. Subnational B-READY starts with the Global B-READY questionnaires and tailors them to subnational projects. By engaging with local experts, the Subnational team refines questions to better capture the nuances of local business environments and to more accurately reflect regional disparities in business operations. In addition, Subnational B-READY has deployed a methodology that focuses on de facto implementation of laws and regulations by conducting detailed process mapping in each of the topics under study. This allows for a micro-level examination of each step of the regulatory process applicable in each region, identifying regulatory bottlenecks and highlighting the good practices available.

For more details on the methodology and assessment process, please consult the Subnational B-READY Manual and Guide.

Data collection for Subnational B-READY primarily involves administering questionnaires to local experts and firms in each city or region evaluated. Once received, questionnaire responses are carefully analyzed by the teams who complement the findings with in-depth reviews of the relevant laws and regulations and follow-up calls, written correspondence, in-person meetings, and country visits. The questionnaire responses are further supplemented with data collected by the firm-level World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES). The data gathered are then aggregated by topic, analyzed, and incorporated into a draft report that is then shared within the World Bank Group for technical peer review and endorsement.

Experts contributing to Subnational B-READY studies come from both the private and the public sector and are selected based on their expertise, professional insight into the topic areas, and knowledge of local regulations. The location-based professionals contributing to the assessments usually include, among others, lawyers, judges, accountants, notaries, conveyancers, and engineers.

For information regarding data collection, please consult the Subnational B-READY Manual and Guide.

Several steps are taken to ensure the validity of the data collected. Data collection processes involve rigorous quality checks and auditing to confirm the accuracy of the information, and data is supplemented by secondary desk research of legal and regulatory frameworks. This multisource data, including information from both private sector experts and local authorities, are cross-verified with economic data collected by B-READY, and inconsistencies are detected using statistical methods. This multilayered approach helps to ensure that the data used in the Subnational B-READY reports are reliable and representative of the benchmarked regions or subnational locations.

For more details on the methodology and assessment process, please consult the Subnational B-READY Manual and Guide.

The methodology for evaluating regulations and collecting data balances both de jure (legal) and de facto (practical) aspects, evaluating the qualitative elements of regulatory frameworks and then assessing their implementation and efficiency. Subnational B-READY assessments highlight the de facto implementation of laws and regulations through detailed process mapping. This helps to (i) identify differences in local government requirements and practices that drive variation across locations in administrative procedures, time, and cost; (ii) pinpoint regulatory bottlenecks and their causes; and (iii) highlight good practices at the local level to motivate replication of successful business environment reforms among locations within a country.

Further detail on the Subnational B-READY methodology can be found at our Subnational B-READY Methodology Page and the Subnational B-READY Manual and Guide.

Using an approach similar to the Global B-READY methodology, Subnational B-READY produces a numeric score for each topic in each region or city. All Business Ready topics are consistently structured under three pillars—Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency—that cover both de jure and de facto data.  Scores for each pillar consist of points awarded at the indicator level, from the perspectives of both entrepreneurs (firm flexibility) and stakeholders of broader public interests (social benefits). Considering both private and social interests is central to the B-READY process because the project must address not only individual firms’ ease of doing business but also the inclusivity and sustainability of private sector development.

For further information on the scoring approach please refer to the Global B-READY Frequently Asked Questions and the B-READY Methodology Handbook.

Subnational B-READY studies cover a diverse selection of locations across an economy. Locations are carefully chosen, usually along with implementing counterparts, to represent the full spectrum of economic, geographic, and demographic characteristics of the region or country. Subnational locations are selected based on several criteria, including their economic activity, population size, availability of reliable data, existence of institutional and commercial infrastructure, interest among public stakeholders, and harmonization with WBG initiatives. By including a wide range of geographic areas, Subnational B-READY assessments provide a balanced view of the country’s regulatory and administrative landscape, capturing the unique challenges and opportunities present in different locations.

For more details on the methodology and assessment process, please consult the Subnational B-READY Manual and Guide.

Subnational B-READY carries on the legacy, initiated in 2005, of subnational assessments conducted using the Doing Business methodology. Subnational studies span the world’s regions, covering more than 600 locations in 86 economies. Earlier subnational assessments were conducted in Brazil, Colombia, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Spain, and South Africa. Previous Subnational studies can be found here.

The first study under the new Subnational Business Ready methodology published in 2024 covers an in-depth set of assessments of six EU economies: Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, and the Slovak Republic.

The Subnational B-READY reports provide more holistic assessments of business environments at the regional and city level than did previous reports under the subnational Doing Business project. The new Subnational B-READY methodology balances the de jure (legal structure) and de facto (actual practices and on-the-ground reality) aspects of the regulatory frameworks studied, providing a more rounded evaluation of each region or city’s business environment. The B-READY methodology adopts not only individual firms’ perspectives on the ease of doing business in a location, but also the standpoint of the private sector overall.

The Subnational B-READY goes a step further by using extended process mapping to examine the degree to which laws and regulations are implemented efficiently. Subnational B-READY is more nuanced than subnational Doing Business, ensuring that the specific economic and social dynamics of different regions are captured accurately and thereby achieving a more comprehensive assessment.

For more details on the methodology and assessment process, please consult our Subnational B-READY Methodology Page and the Subnational B-READY Manual and Guide.

Local and national governments and policy makers can use the data and analyses provided by Subnational B-READY assessments as diagnostic tools to identify regulatory strengths and weaknesses in their business environments and to benchmark their performance against other locations and world economies. Subnational B-READY provides national governments with evidence-based insights that inform policy reforms and can guide the design of more efficient, business-friendly regulations. Local officials will gain understanding of how their regions or cities compare to others in the country, allowing them to more effectively prioritize regulatory reforms that enhance their particular business climate, attract private sector investment, and promote economic growth. Additionally, the data can help local governments learn from best practices in other regions, adopting successful regulatory innovations that have proven effective elsewhere.

The reports serve two other important constituencies. Businesses can use reports as strategic resources for assessing the regulatory landscape across different regions, helping them to make informed decisions about their investments. At the same time, region-specific data will serve as a rich resource for academic research and analysis, providing researchers with expanded opportunities to develop case studies, extend their knowledge-base, and develop insights that can contribute to local governance and administrative efficiency. 

Over the years, subnational studies have catalyzed regional reforms, positively impacting the private sector by identifying and addressing regulatory barriers that had hindered business operations. Through comprehensive assessments and actionable recommendations, these earlier reports provided national and local governments with tools that helped to improve many aspects of the study subjects’ business environments. The positive influence of subnational assessments extends across several critical areas such as competitiveness, firm productivity and jobs.

Previous Subnational studies can be found here

Subnational B-READY projects are requested and externally funded by national governments and/or development partners.  Donor funding has supported previous subnational business environment assessments in many countries and world regions, including Afghanistan (USAID); Central America (USAID and CIDA); the European Union (the European Commission); Kenya and Nigeria (through UKAid); and Peru, Mozambique, and South Africa (SECO).

Subnational assessments are conducted in collaboration with national and local governments of the client economies, particularly through relevant ministries or other central government bodies, as well as with local technical and competitiveness councils or institutes or large law firms, who act as local counterparts and actively support activities on the ground.

For more details on the methodology and assessment process, please consult our Subnational B-READY Methodology Page and the Subnational B-READY Manual and Guide.

While the assessments offer valuable insights into the business environment at the subnational level, it is important to recognize their limitations when interpreting the findings.

First, Subnational B-READY primarily focuses on formal regulations, which may not fully capture the informal practices and regional nuances that significantly impact business operations. While informality may be indirectly assessed by evaluating the barriers preventing entrepreneurs from formalizing, it is not feasible to fully assess an economy’s informal sector.

Second, while Subnational B-READY targets specific regulatory areas relevant to business operations, it does not encompass all factors that influence the business environment. Areas not addressed include security, macroeconomic stability, corruption, workforce skills, or infrastructure quality.

Finally, regulatory environments are dynamic: new laws and regulations are frequently introduced, and existing ones are often amended. The Subnational B-READY reports provide snapshots of the regulatory environment at a specific point in time and may not fully capture ongoing changes or reforms.