Strategic Overview
The Global Indicators Group (DECIG) provides quantified, comparable measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 189 economies. Published annually since 2003, it measures the efficiency and strength of laws, regulations and institutions relevant to domestic small and medium-size companies throughout their life cycle.
DECIG has three project teams in Kuala Lumpur representing the Doing Business, Enterprise Surveys and Enabling the Business of Agriculture projects.
These project team members conduct primary data collection benchmarking country performance across a series of indicators on the business environment. They also conduct research based on these data, investigating the characteristics of the business environment that are most conducive to private sector-led growth, both at an economy-wide level and in the agricultural sector.
The work completed in Malaysia is an integral part of these teams’ global effort, with a focus on data collection and analysis relevant to the South Asia, and East Asia and the Pacific regions.
Doing Business provides quantified, comparable measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 189 economies. Published annually since 2003, it measures the efficiency and strength of laws, regulations and institutions relevant to domestic small and medium-size companies throughout their life cycle.
The Doing Business team members in Malaysia collect data for the Doing Business indicators in 30 countries in East Asia and South Asia, and conduct research on the regulatory business environment of East Asia in comparison to global best practices. The following three policy papers of Doing Business team in Kuala Lumpur will be out in March 2017:
- Understanding the role of credit information and collateral laws for SME finance
- The benefits of well-defined property rights for firms
- Electricity tariffs, outages and firm performance: a comparative analysis
Enterprise Surveys provide the world's most comprehensive company-level data in emerging markets and developing economies. Data are available on 130,000+ firms in 139 countries. Data are used to create indicators that benchmark the quality of the business and investment climate across countries. Visit Enterprise Surveys on Facebook.
Multiple analytical pieces of Enterprise Surveys are underway. One paper on Indian retailing is near publication, forthcoming in the Journal of Asian Economics. In addition, two Enterprise Notes are close to completion: “Gender and Institutions” and “Informal firms in Myanmar”.
Other work addressing gender and informality has been completed, with seven papers at various levels of development.
Enabling the Business of Agriculture focuses on identifying and monitoring regulations and policies that affect agriculture and agribusiness markets. The project aims to inform and encourage policy decisions that support inclusive participation in agricultural value chains and foster an environment that is conducive to local and regional business in agriculture.
The team in Kuala Lumpur collects data for Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR for the 2017 report. The regulatory areas covered are: environmental sustainability, fertilizer, access to finance, ICT, agricultural machinery, access to markets, seeds, transport and water.
The team conducted data dissemination and stakeholder engagement missions to Lao PDR and Cambodia. There, the team held workshops with the governments, private stakeholders and civil society organizations to discuss the global results of the Enabling the Business of Agriculture 2016 report and findings particular to those countries. The team also participated in the Center for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization Regional Mechanization Conference in March 2016.