World Bank needs to restore the credibility of 'ease of doing biz' rankings

Two researchers from the Centre for Global Development (CGDev) have shown how changes in the methodology may have negatively portrayed Chile when it was ruled by the socialist president, Michelle Bach

The World Bank’s chief economist, Paul Romer, kicked up a storm a couple of weeks ago when, in an interview to The Wall Street Journal, he claimed that the bank’s flagship ranking, mapping the ease of doing business across the world, was unfairly manipulated. Since the time they were launched in 2003, the Doing Business rankings were typically treated with great respect, with several national governments making it one of their top priorities to move up the ladder. The rankings map the state of business regulation in a country on a host of parameters such as the ease of starting