16937: Burnham: World Bank report on business in haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: thor burnham <thorald_mb@hotmail.com>

I read this today in the Globe and Mail in Canada.

"...By Bruce Little
Monday, October 13, 2003 - Page B2
The comparisons are captivating.
It takes two days to register a business in Australia, but 203 days in
Haiti...."
Here is the globe article.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20031013/RFACTS13/TPColumnists/


It is an analysis of what it takes to set up a business in Haiti given the
problems of regulation and bureacracy. It's interesting. Apparently it takes
203 days to set up a small business in Haiti. That is, i guess, meaning that
you actually try to register it legally, which i think the report obviously
misses. Although my impression is that this isn't about small boutiques but
the possibility of establishing manufacturing.

I'd be interested to hear the comments of those of you on the list that
conduct business on  a daily basis and have been doing so for years. Is the
report close to being accurate and would easing red-tape and bureaucracy
allow more low-level and intermediate level manufacturing to begin? This, it
seems to me would be a desired outcome, since small businesses are so
important in so many other economies.

I guess my question is whether this report is an accurate reflection of the
impediments people have in starting a business in Haiti. I know from my own
experience that access to capital is not exactly easy and that the informal
system can be usurious. And where do the legion of micro-credit operations
fit in here?  My own experience is that just about everybody at the lower
end of the socio-economic scale is in debt to someone through the informal
system.

Is it a problem of bureacracy or capital, or both? Or neither?


here is the link to the world bank site
http://rru.worldbank.org/doingbusiness/

here's what i copied over for Haiti information.

Economy Characteristics
Variable
Region Latin America & Caribbean
Income category Low income
Legal origin French
GNI per capita (US$) 440
Informal economy (% GNI) ..
Population 8,132,000
See the methodology for description of variables. Variables classifications
and data are based on different years, as noted in the methodology.


Starting a Business (2003) - number of procedures to start a business
Indicator
Number of procedures 12
Duration (days) 203
Cost (% of GNI per capita) 198.9
Min. Capital (% of GNI per capita) 209.8
Click here for detailed data on Haiti.
See the methodology for description of indicators.

Hiring & Firing Workers (2003)
Indicator
Flexibility of Hiring Index 58
Conditions of Employment Index 85
Flexibility of Firing Index 35
Employment Laws Index 60
Click here for detailed data on Haiti.
See the methodology for description of indicators.
Notes: Index components are scored between 0 and 100, with 100 representing
the highest level of regulation. The Employment Laws Index is the average of
the first three indices, and varies from 0 to 100.


Enforcing Contracts (2003) - covers formality of procedures and time to
resolve a dispute
Indicator
Number of procedures ..
Duration (days) ..
Cost (% GNI per capita) ..
Procedural Complexity Index ..
Click here for detailed data on Haiti.
See the methodology for description of index components.
Notes: Sub-index components are scored between 0.0 and 1.0, with 1.0
representing the highest level of formality. The Procedural Complexity Index
is constructed by averaging the six sub-indices and multiplying the
resulting value by 100. It ranges from 0 to 100.

Getting Credit (2003)
Indicator
Public Credit Registry operates? Yes
Year Public Credit Registry established 1980
Public Credit Registry coverage
(borrowers per 1000 capita) 1
Public Credit Registry Index 58
Private Credit Bureau operates? No
Creditor Rights Index 2
Private Bureau coverage
(borrowers per 1000 capita) 0
Click here for detailed data on Haiti.
See the methodology for description of indicators.
Notes: The total Public Credit Registry Index ranges from 0 to 100. Higher
values indicate that the rules of the public credit registry on collection,
distribution, access and quality are better designed to support credit
transactions. The Creditor Rights Index is calculated by first assigning a
value of 1.0 for a "yes" response on each of the four types of creditor
rights and then summing the total score across all four variables. A minimum
score of 0 represents weak creditor rights, and the maximum score of 4
represents strong creditor rights.

Closing a Business (2003)
Indicator
Actual time (in years) no practice
Actual cost (% of estate) no practice
Goals of Insolvency Index 42
Court Powers Index 67
"No practice" means that there have been less than 60 completed insolvency
cases in the past 20 years. Click here for detailed data on Haiti.

See the methodology for description of indicators.

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