United States Entrepreneurship Stats
Definitions
- Closing a Business > Index ranking: Doing Business studies the time and cost of bankruptcy proceedings involving domestic entities. The data are derived from survey responses by local law firms. Answers are provided by a senior partner at each firm in cooperation with 1 or 2 junior associates. NOTE: This is a ranking derived from several indicators, 1 being the best (ranked first). The higher the number on this graph, the lower their overall ranking. Invert this graph by clicking on 'Amount' at the top. Consult source for details on methodology.
- Cost of business start-up procedures > % of GNI per capita: Cost to register a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.
- Dealing with Licenses > Index ranking: Doing Business records all procedures required for a business in the construction industry to build a standardized warehouse. These include obtaining all necessary licenses and permits, completing all required notifications and inspections and submitting the relevant documents (for example, building plans and site maps) to the authorities. Doing Business also records procedures for obtaining utility connections, such as electricity, telephone, water and sewerage. The survey divides the process of building a warehouse into distinct procedures and calculates the time and cost of completing each procedure under normal circumstances. Information is collected from construction lawyers, construction firms and public officials who deal with building regulations. To make the data comparable across countries, several assumptions about the business and the procedures are used. NOTE: This is a ranking derived from several indicators, 1 being the best (ranked first). The higher the number on this graph, the lower their overall ranking. Invert this graph by clicking on 'Amount' at the top. Consult source for details on methodology.
- Ease of Doing Business > Index ranking: Ranking for ease of doing business. NOTE: This is a ranking derived from several indicators, 1 being the best (ranked first). The higher the number on this graph, the lower their overall ranking. Invert this graph by clicking on 'Amount' at the top. Consult source for details on methodology.
- Enforcing Contracts > Index ranking: Indicators on enforcing contracts measure the efficiency of the judicial (or administrative) system in the collection of overdue debt. The data are built by following the step-by-step evolution of a payment dispute either before local courts or through an administrative process, if such a process is available and preferred by creditors. The data are collected through study of the codes of civil procedures and other court regulations as well as surveys of local litigation lawyers. At least 2 lawyers participate in each country, and in a quarter of the countries judges also complete the survey. To ensure comparability, survey respondents are provided with significant detail, including the amount of the claim, the location and main characteristics of the litigants, the presence of city regulations, the nature of the remedy requested by the plaintiff, the merit of the plaintiff ’s and the defendant’s claims and the social implications of the judicial outcomes. NOTE: This is a ranking derived from several indicators, 1 being the best (ranked first). The higher the number on this graph, the lower their overall ranking. Invert this graph by clicking on 'Amount' at the top. Consult source for details on methodology.
- Getting Credit > Index ranking: Doing Business constructs measures on the legal rights of lenders and credit information sharing. The first set of indicators describes how well collateral and bankruptcy laws facilitate lending. The second set measures the coverage, scope, quality and accessibility of credit information available through public and private credit registries. The data on credit information sharing are built in 2 stages. First, banking supervision authorities and public information sources are surveyed to confirm the presence of public credit registries and private credit information bureaus. Second, when applicable, a detailed survey on the public or private credit registry’s structure, law and associated rules collects data in 5 areas: * Coverage of the market. * Scope of distributed information. * Access to data. * Quality of data. * Laws on information sharing and quality of data. Survey responses are verified through several rounds of follow-up communication with respondents as well as by contacting third parties and consulting public sources. NOTE: This is a ranking derived from several indicators, 1 being the best (ranked first). The higher the number on this graph, the lower their overall ranking. Invert this graph by clicking on 'Amount' at the top. Consult source for details on methodology.
- Hiring and Firing > Index ranking: Every economy has established a complex system of laws and institutions intended to protect the interests of workers and to guarantee a minimum standard of living for its population. The OECD Job Study and the International Encyclopedia for Labour Law and Industrial Relations identify 4 areas subject to statutory regulation in all countries: employment, social security, industrial relations and occupational health and safety. Doing Business focuses on the regulation of employment, specifically the hiring and firing of workers and the rigidity of working hours. This year data on social security payments by the employer and pension benefits, including the mandatory retirement age, have been added. The data on hiring and firing workers are based on a detailed survey of employment and social security regulations. The survey is completed by local law firms. The employment laws of most countries are available online in the NATLEX database, published by the International Labour Organization. In all cases both actual laws and secondary sources are used to ensure accuracy. Conflicting answers are further checked against 2 additional sources, including a local legal treatise on employment regulation. NOTE: This is a ranking derived from several indicators, 1 being the best (ranked first). The higher the number on this graph, the lower their overall ranking. Invert this graph by clicking on 'Amount' at the top. Consult source for details on methodology.
- Paying Taxes > Index ranking: Doing Business records the tax that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as measures of the administrative burden in paying taxes. Taxes are measured at all levels of government and include the corporate income tax, the personal income tax withheld by the company, the value added tax or sales tax, property taxes, property transfer taxes, the dividend tax, the capital gains tax, the financial transactions tax, waste collection taxes and vehicle and road taxes. To measure the tax paid by a standardized business and the complexity of a country’s tax law, a case study is prepared with a set of financial statements and assumptions about transactions made over the year. Experts in each country compute the taxes owed for their jurisdiction based on the standardized case facts. Information on the frequency of filing, audits and other costs of compliance is also compiled. The project is developed and implemented in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers. NOTE: This is a ranking derived from several indicators, 1 being the best (ranked first). The higher the number on this graph, the lower their overall ranking. Invert this graph by clicking on 'Amount' at the top. Consult source for details on methodology.
- Protecting Investors > Index ranking: Doing Business measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against directors’ misuse of corporate assets for personal gain. The indicators distinguish 3 dimensions of investor protection: transparency of transactions (extent of disclosure index), liability for self-dealing (extent of director liability index) and shareholders’ ability to sue officers and directors for misconduct (ease of shareholder suits index). The data come from a survey of corporate lawyers and are based on company laws, codes of civil procedure and securities regulations. To make the data comparable across countries, several assumptions about the business and the transaction are used. NOTE: This is a ranking derived from several indicators, 1 being the best (ranked first). The higher the number on this graph, the lower their overall ranking. Invert this graph by clicking on 'Amount' at the top. Consult source for details on methodology.
- Registering Property > Index ranking: Doing Business records the full sequence of procedures necessary when a business purchases land and a building to transfer the property title from the seller to the buyer, so that the buyer can use it for expanding his business, as collateral in taking new loans, or, if necessary, to sell it to another business. Every required procedure is included, whether it is the responsibility of the seller or the buyer or required to be completed by a third party on their behalf. Local property lawyers and property registries provide information on required procedures as well as the time and cost to complete each of them. NOTE: This is a ranking derived from several indicators, 1 being the best (ranked first). The higher the number on this graph, the lower their overall ranking. Invert this graph by clicking on 'Amount' at the top. Consult source for details on methodology.
- Starting a Business > Index ranking: Doing Business records all generic procedures that are officially required for an entrepreneur to start up and operate an industrial or commercial business. These include obtaining all necessary licenses and permits and completing any required notifications, verifications or inscriptions with relevant authorities. After a study of laws, regulations and publicly available information on business entry, a detailed list of procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital requirements is developed. Subsequently, local incorporation lawyers and government officials complete and verify the data on applicable procedures, the time and cost of complying with each procedure under normal circumstances and the paid-in minimum capital. On average 4 law firms participate in each country. Information is also collected on the sequence in which procedures are to be completed and whether procedures may be carried out simultaneously. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that all government and nongovernment agencies involved in the start-up process function efficiently and without corruption. If answers by local experts differ, inquiries continue until the data are reconciled. NOTE: This is a ranking derived from several indicators, 1 being the best (ranked first). The higher the number on this graph, the lower their overall ranking. Invert this graph by clicking on 'Amount' at the top. Consult source for details on methodology.
- Trading Across Borders > Index ranking: Home > Methodology > Trading Across Borders Print this page Print Trading Across Borders Doing Business compiles procedural requirements for exporting and importing a standardized cargo of goods. Every official procedure for importing and exporting the goods is recorded -- from the contractual agreement between the two parties to the delivery of goods -- along with the time necessary for completion. All documents and signatures required for clearance of the goods across the border are also recorded. For importing goods, procedures range from the vessel’s arrival at the port of entry to the cargo’s delivery at the factory warehouse. For exporting goods, procedures range from the packing of the goods at the factory to their departure from the port of exit. Local freight forwarders, shipping lines, customs brokers and port officials provide information on required documents and signatures as well as the time to complete each procedure. NOTE: This is a ranking derived from several indicators, 1 being the best (ranked first). The higher the number on this graph, the lower their overall ranking. Invert this graph by clicking on 'Amount' at the top. Consult source for details on methodology.
SOURCES: Doing Business, Economy Rankings, 2005.; World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/).
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Did you know
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