Subnational Business Ready provides a quantitative assessment of the business environment at the local administrative level within an economy or region. It adapts the new global B-READY methodology to the country context and engages with national and local authorities to build greater understanding of the geospatial variation. The Subnational B-READY project opens the door for policy dialogue, knowledge sharing, and peer-to-peer learning within the country.
Subnational Business Ready aims to inspire policy reforms to address disparities in the business environment, promoting balanced and inclusive economic growth, job creation and sustainability at both country and regional levels. The project produces studies that highlight regulatory differences and gaps in the implementation of national law and generate knowledge on good regulatory practices. By showing how and by how much locations are lagging behind good practices, the aim is to open the door for knowledge sharing, peer learning, and regulatory reforms.
Subnational Business Ready builds on experience conducting subnational assessments and policy dialogue with national and local authorities from 619 locations in 86 economies since 2005.
As part of the World ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP’s overarching effort to promote private sector development, the Subnational B-READY provides assessments of the business environment in select cities within measured economies with the aim of delineating the geographic variation. The assessments adopt a holistic view of the private sector as they consider all the stakeholders in private sector development—including existing firms, potential entrants, and the citizens at large—by evaluating aspects such as transparency and environmental requirements. The assessments are based on original data collected by the Subnational B-READY team and are published through reports and online.
The Subnational B-READY uses the methodology of the Global B-READY report, adapting it to project-specific contexts based on client needs.
Subnational B-READY assessments are organized into five topics that follow the life cycle of the firm: Business Entry, Business Location, Utility Services, Dispute Resolution, and Business Insolvency. Across the five topics, assessments include crosscutting areas of digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender.
Each of the five Subnational B-READY topics rests on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The Regulatory Framework pillar comprises the rules and regulations that firms must follow as they open, operate, and close a business. Public Services refers to both the facilities that governments provide to support compliance with regulations and the institutions and infrastructure that enable business activities. In the project, Public Services are limited to the business environment areas related to the life cycle of the firm. Operational Efficiency refers to both the ease of compliance with the Regulatory Framework and the effective use of Public Services directly relevant to firms.
The Subnational B-READY methodology compiles a large set of indicators for each pillar within each topic following the Global B-READY categorizations. The selection of indicators is based on their relevance, value added, and complementarity. These indicators have five major characteristics: they are indicative of established good practices; they are quantifiable and actionable through policy reforms; they seek to balance de jure and de facto measures within topics; they are comparable across locations and representative within each economy; and they span the most relevant aspects of each topic.
