Over 2008-2012 Singapore was ranked by the World Bank as the country with the most business-friendly regulations, followed closely by Hong Kong and New Zealand. These same three countries occupy the top three places on the ‘Economic Freedom of the World’ indicator produced by the Canadian based Fraser Institute. The country with the most business-unfriendly regulations is the Central African Republic, followed closely by Chad and the Congo (Rep).
Economic freedom has been shown by the Fraser Institute to have high correlation with high average income per person, higher income of the poorest 10%, higher life expectancy, higher literacy, lower infant mortality, higher access to water sources and less corruption. Higher economic freedom, as measured by both the Fraser Institute, also correlates strongly with higher self-reported happiness and to be significant in preventing wars.
The quality of regulations plays an important part in regulatory friendliness. Best practice regulatory impact measurement and management is an important requirement for creating both a business-friendly regulatory environment and an effective response to regulations.
What can we do to build quality of regulatory management?
1. Help prepare a Regulatory Impact Framework with best practice principles and process to ensure regulations facilitate achievement of an internationally competitive regulatory environment and respondents have best practice management in place.
2. Review and prepare regulatory impact assessments that examine the policy problem or opportunity, objectives, options for dealing with the problem or opportunity and the impact.
3. Help create a quality, transparency and commitment culture for regulatory management to facilitate improved business-friendly ranking for regulatory management.
4. Help align business and corporate objectives with risk management and requirements of regulatory compliance.
5. Improve capacity to cope with and management regulations.
Our approach to Regulations
Regulations are intended to constrain, limit, modify or create rights, duties and responsibilities to produce outcomes that may not otherwise take place; or prevent certain undesirable outcomes that may otherwise take place. From an economic perspective, about which we are mainly concerned at this website, regulations are designed to overcome market inefficiencies including: externalities, presence of public good, monopoly structures and behaviour and information asymmetries. Market failure does not, by itself justify a regulation. It’s also essential to measure costs and benefits of the regulation. Sometimes the costs of an intervention exceed the benefits and the case for an intervention is weakened. It’s therefore essential to measure the benefits and costs of regulations, including compliance costs.
Regulation quality management examples
● More than 20 years of research and consulting with government, industry and private companies on regulatory management .
● International Competitiveness Advisor World Bank – project to improve competitiveness through improving capacity of the Ministry of Finance’s Directorate of Economic Affairs to improve management of regulations to stimulate private sector development.
● Creation of best practice regulatory guideline to facilitate business-friendly regulatory framework.
Interesting links for regulatory quality and best practice regulatory management
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.BUS.EASE.XQ
http://www.finance.gov.au/obpr/proposal/handbook/Content/00-foreword.html