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Providing Incentives for Investment (January 2010)

Are tax incentives effective at attracting investment or a waste of resources? It depends on the policies used and the sector targeted for investments. This Investment Climate IN PRACTICE note consolidates the policy implications of recent research and offers best practices for incentive policy and administration.

Secured transactions Systems and Collateral Registries (January 2010)

The main objective of this publication is to provide technical advice and guidance to World Bank Group staff, donor institutions, government officials and other practitioners on the implementation of secured transactions law and institutional reforms in emerging market countries. The content of the Toolkit will guide the reader through the various stages of the project cycle (identification, diagnostic, solution design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation) involved in the introduction of secured transactions reforms. The recommendations presented in the Toolkit are based on IFC’s experience in the secured transactions area, the contributions of a number of experts in this field, existing literature, reform experience in a number of emerging market countries and the existing best practices in jurisdictions with advanced secured transactions systems.

Incentives and Investments: Evidence and Policy Implications (December 2009)

This paper analyzes how investment incentives can be used to foster private investment, particularly in developing countries. What makes such incentives effective? How much should they cost? And how are they linked to policy making and political economy? The assessment draws on existing literature as well as several case studies and surveys conducted for this paper.

Investment Promotion Essentials: What sets the World's Best Investment Facilitators apart from the Rest (September 2009)

This note discusses the 14 common practices of top-performing investment promotion agencies, based on a new survey by the Investment Climate Advisory Services of the World Bank Group. IPAs can inexpensively implement many of these practices to win a larger share of the trillion-dollar market for foreign investment.

A Rough Guide to Investment Climate Reform in Conflict-Affected Countries (July 2009)

This guide is designed to help project teams engaged in investment climate reform in conflict-affected countries more effectively design, plan, implement, and evaluate reform projects. In this guide investment climate refers to government laws, policies, regulations, and procedures that improve institutional governance, bureaucratic efficiency, and industry competitiveness.

How big is a rat’s nest? The challenge of M&E for Business Operations (June 2009)

The problem of licenses, permits, authorizations, certification requirements, and official approvals of all sorts has been a notorious rat's nest for reformers since Hernando De Soto first attempted it in Peru in the 1980s. Given the uncertain magnitude, size, shape, mass and density of the "rat's nest", we may need more than one way to measure it. One such measurement tool is a business survey dedicated specifically to this issue, which has been piloted in conjunction with BOp projects in three countries: Bosnia, Serbia and Madagascar.