The authors survey the recent literature which examines the impact of the business climate on productivity and growth in developing countries using enterprise surveys. Comparable enterprise surveys today cover more than 100,000 firms in 123 countries. The literature that has analyzed this data provides evidence that a good business climate favors growth by encouraging investment and higher productivity. Various infrastructure, finance, security, competition, and regulation variables have been shown to have a significant impact on enterprise performance. The authors state their motivation for their review by explaining why a disaggregated, firm-level analysis of the relationship between enterprise performance and business climate-as opposed to a more macroaggregate analysis-is important to gaining insights into these issues. They review the main findings of the empirical microliterature based on enterprise surveys and consider the robustness of the results. To conclude they put forward some ideas to advance research on business climate and growth, and they suggest possible improvements in survey design. JEL codes: L51, O47, O12 In recent years, an unprecedented data collection effort has yielded a set of comparable enterprise surveys covering more than 100,000 firms from 123 countries. As a result, a number of studies have started to analyze the impact of the business climate variables contained in these surveys on different dimensions of firm performance. The general aim of this literature is to generate policy prescriptions based on the identification of the main constraints facing firms. Although many of these studies identify relevant constraints, contradictory or fragile results are also found, pointing to some weaknesses in the methodology The World Bank Research Observer
Abstract. Establishing and maintaining public water services in fragile states is a significant development challenge. In anticipation of water infrastructure investments, this study compares drinking water sources and quality between Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and Monrovia, Liberia, two cities recovering from political and economic instability. In both cities, access to piped water is low, and residents rely on a range of other private and public water sources. In Port Harcourt, geographic points for sampling were randomly selected and stratified by population density, whereas in Monrovia, locations for sampling were selected from a current inventory of public water sources. In Port Harcourt, the sampling frame demonstrated extensive reliance on private boreholes and a preference, in both planned and unplanned settlements, for drinking bottled and sachet water. In Monrovia, sample collection focused on public sources (predominantly shallow dug wells). In Port Harcourt, fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) were detected in 25% of sources (N = 566), though concentrations were low. In Monrovia, 57% of sources contained FIB and 22% of sources had nitrate levels that exceeded standards (N = 204). In Monrovia, the convenience of piped water may promote acceptance of the associated water tariffs. However, in Port Harcourt, the high prevalence of self-supply and bottled and sachet drinking water suggests that the consumer's willingness to pay for ongoing municipal water supply improvements may be determined by service reliability and perceptions of water quality.
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