The Heterogeneous Growth Effects of the Business Environment : Firm-Level Evidence for a Global Sample of Cities
Using firm-level data covering 709 cities in 128 countries, this paper examines the role of a comprehensive list of business environment variables at the subnational level in explaining firm employment and productivity growth. The analysis finds ba...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/405301498483410102/The-heterogeneous-growth-effects-of-the-business-environment-firm-level-evidence-for-a-global-sample-of-cities http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27612 |
| Summary: | Using firm-level data covering 709
cities in 128 countries, this paper examines the role of a
comprehensive list of business environment variables at the
subnational level in explaining firm employment and
productivity growth. The analysis finds basic protection,
access to finance and infrastructure, and the existence of a
strong agglomeration environment to be critically important.
By contrast, human capital and a list of refined business
environment variables related to labor regulations, tax, and
land access are found to be relatively unimportant. The
analysis also finds that the effects of the business
environment vary according to firm size, age, sector
affiliation, and the host country's level of
development. The research suggests that it pays to be
comprehensive about the business environment and that
attention to heterogeneity is important. |
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