Improving the Business Environment in Latvia : The Impact of FIAS Assistance.
This book tracks the process through which the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) of the World Bank Group advised the government of Latvia from 1998 to 2004 on ways to improve the business environment, achieve higher rates of economic growth, and thereby alleviate poverty.
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Author / Creator: | |
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Other Authors / Creators: | Coolidge, Jacqueline. Grava, Lars. |
Format: | eBook Electronic |
Language: | English |
Edition: | 1st ed. |
Imprint: | Herndon : World Bank Publications, 2007. |
Subjects: | |
Local Note: | Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2022. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries. |
Online Access: | Click to View |
Table of Contents:
- Intro
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Acronyms
- Executive Summary
- IMPROVING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN LATVIA:THE IMPACT OF FIAS ASSISTANCE
- Rationale for the Case Study
- The Study
- FIAS Follow-Up Assistance to and Collaboration with the Government of Latvia
- Did the Business Environment Improve?
- From Improvements in the Business Environment to Greater Welfare
- Did FIAS Succeed in Measuring Economic Improvements?
- APPENDIX 1:OVERVIEW OF THE FIAS PROGRAM IN LATVIA 1998-2004
- Chronology of FIAS Work in Latvia since 1998
- APPENDIX 2:DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF FIAS' LATVIA PROGRAM
- Project Inputs and Activities
- Project Outputs and Outcomes
- Inspections
- Customs Administration, Border-Crossing, and Import/Export Procedures
- Tax Administration
- Expatriate Immigration
- Procedures for Land Acquisition and Construction Permits
- Structured Dialogue between the Government and the Business Community
- APPENDIX 3: INTERMEDIATE IMPACT ON THE INVESTMENT CLIMATE IN LATVIA
- Defining the Investment Climate
- Scope of FIAS'Administrative Barrier Work and the Investment Climate
- Customs, Border-Crossings, and Import/Export Procedures
- Regulatory Barriers to Business
- Corruption
- APPENDIX 4: FINAL IMPACT:INVESTMENT,GROWTH,AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION
- Private Sector Investment
- Trade Openness
- Economic Growth
- Formalization and Tax Revenues
- Employment and Living Standards
- Poverty and Human Development
- APPENDIX 5:METHODOLOGY NOTE ON COST-BENEFIT CALCULATIONS OF THE FIAS LATVIA ADMINISTRATIVE BARRIERS PROJECT
- Assumptions
- Qualification of Calculations
- REFERENCES
- Box 1.Inspections Reform: More Professional Inspections, More Accountability in the Inspection Process
- Figure 1. FIAS Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
- Figure 2. Cycle of Reforms.
- Figure 3. Areas of Regulation Considered by Businesses to Impede Their Operation and Growth, 2001, 2003, and 2005
- Figure 4. Business Registration in EU Accession Countries, 2004 and 2005
- Figure 1B.1. Average Duration of Inspections, 2001 and 2003
- Figure 1B.2. Changes in Quality of Inspection Work between 2001 and 2003
- Figure 5. Annual FDI in Latvia, 1996 through September 2005
- Figure 6. Rates of Unemployment and Job Seekers, 1999-2004
- Figure 7. Comparison of Average Wage and the Cost of Minimum Subsistence, 1997-2005
- Figure 8. GDP Per Capita, PPS, 1999 and 2005
- Figure 9. Change in GDP Per Capita, PPS, 1999-2005
- Figure 10. Poverty Trends in Latvia, 1998-2004
- Figure 2A.1. Average Duration of Inspections, 2001 and 2003
- Figure 2A.2. Changes in Quality of Inspection Work between 2001 and 2003
- Figure 2A.3. Business Opinions on Customs Services Obstacles to Operation and Growth, 2003
- Figure 2A.4. Customs Control Work, 1998-2003
- Figure 2A.5. Number of Customs Declarations (Import, Export,Transit), 1998-2003, and Amount of Calculated Tax, 2000-03
- Figure 2A.6. Time Required for Tax Preparation, 2001 and 2003
- Figure 2A.7. Building Permits Issued Nationally for Houses, Nonresidential Buildings, and Engineering Structures, 1999-2003
- Figure 2A.8. Building Permits Issued in Riga, 1998-2003
- Figure 2A.9. Length of Real Estate and Construction Procedures, 2001, 2003, and 2005
- Figure 3A.1. Business Registration in EU Accession Countries, 2004 and 2005
- Figure 3A.2. Property Registration
- Figure 4A.1. Gross Fixed Capital Formation as a Share of GDP, 1999-2005
- Figure 4A.2. Per Capita Net FDI Inflows in EU Accession Countries, 1994-2005
- Figure 4A.3. Growth in GDP Per Capita and Per Capita Real GDP
- Figure 4A.4. Minimum Wage in Eastern Europe, 2004
- Figure 4A.5. Wages and Subsistence.
- Figure 4A.6. Poverty Trends in Latvia, 1998-2004
- Table 1. Changes in Obstacles to Doing Business between 2002 and 2005
- Table 2. Summary of the Quantifiable Impact of Reform
- Table 3. Key Indicators of Economic Development, 1999-2005
- Table 4. Key Poverty and Inequality Statistics, 1998-2004
- Table 1A.1. Logical Framework for Removal of Administrative Barriers to Investment
- Table 2A.1. Inspections: Recommended Reforms and Their Outcomes
- Table 2A.2. Average Number of Annual Inspections per Company Inspected
- Table 2A.3. Changes in Selected Performance Indicators of the State Labor Inspectorate
- Table 2A.4. Selected Performance Indicators of the Fire and Rescue Service and the State Labor Inspectorate
- Table 2A.5. Government Information Available to Enterprises
- Table 2A.6. Evaluation of Inspectorate Web Sites,August 2004
- Table 2A.7. Customs Administration, Border-Crossing, and Import/Export Procedures: Reform Recommendations and Their Outcomes
- Table 2A.8. Tax Administration: Recommended Reforms and Their Outcomes
- Table 2A.9. Work Permits: Recommended Reforms and Their Outcomes
- Table 2A.10. Land and Construction Procedures: Recommended Reforms and Their Outcomes
- Table 2A.11. Structured Dialogue with the Business Community: Recommendations and Their Outcomes
- Table 3A.1. Trade Policy Rulings in Latvia, 1995-2006
- Table 3A.2. Changes in Customs Services between 2001 and 2003
- Table 3A.3. Business Regulation Ratings
- Table 3A.4. Corruption Ratings
- Table 4A.1. Trade Openness, 1995-2005
- Table 4A.2. Number of Taxpayers by Type of Employment, 1999 and 2005
- Table 4A.3. Tax Revenues, 1995-2004
- Table 4A.4. Employment, 1996 to September 2005
- Table 4A.5. Wages and Cost of Minimum Subsistence, 1997-2005
- Table 4A.6. Key Poverty and Inequality Statistics, 1998-2004.
- Table 4A.7. Human Development in EU Accession Countries, Selected Years, 1995-2003.