Further, in practice the act of scoring and ranking countries
against each other can also distort and inhibit the important debate
surrounding how a country should regulate its economy and promote an enabling
environment that works for all.

 

Therefore we are calling on the World Bank to:

  • stop ranking countries against an
    inappropriate check-list of reforms;
  • work with other relevant
    institutions to examine which reforms work best in practice and to develop more
    balanced tools and advice in these areas;
  • stop promoting the rankings in
    the media and in countries, which creates pressure on governments and stymies
    debates;
  • and instead promote a broader
    dialogue on appropriate context-specific reforms at a national level.

Four reasons why we think a new approach to
investment climate reforms is needed:

 

1.      The rankings skew government
incentives away from the needs of the majority of poor, most of whom are women
engaged in informal, micro and rural enterprises.

2.     
The rankings discourage governments from doing what is needed to help
small

      firms

3.     
In some critical areas, rankings promote reforms that are harmful 

4.      The rankings do not consider the
balance of policy goals. The aim is minimal regulation, not optimal regulation.