Friday, July 01, 2005
Investment Climate Reforms: Roles, Political Economy and Implementation
By: The Enterprise Research Institute
Paper commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank for the Public-Private Summit on Investment Climate, December 4th, 2003
Dissatisfaction with the recent economic record of many countries in the Latin America region has led to a reassessment of the role of the private sector in promoting the growth necessary to reduce the still all to prevalent poverty. While the significant reforms of the previous decade are being questioned, there is an increasing recognition that unless those reforms are maintained and supplemented, large and small companies in the region will be unable to expand and thrive, and prosperity will remain elusive. In the chapters of this paper, some issues that appear central to promoting private sector development are discussed from the perspective of how to improve the investment climate in order to support private sector growth. The themes are presented not to define solutions, but rather to promote debate and discussion regarding the appropriate role of policies towards the private sector, how to achieve reform of the investment climate, how to sequence reforms, and how to ensure that investors view reform programs credibly. The first chapter discusses the importance of the private sector for Economic Growth. The second chapter examines the appropriate role of the private sector, governments and donors in efforts to improve the investment climate. The third chapter looks at the issues of implementation when attempting to improve the investment climate and the fourth chapter examines the political economy of reform of the investment climate.
Paper commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank for the Public-Private Summit on Investment Climate, December 4th, 2003
Dissatisfaction with the recent economic record of many countries in the Latin America region has led to a reassessment of the role of the private sector in promoting the growth necessary to reduce the still all to prevalent poverty. While the significant reforms of the previous decade are being questioned, there is an increasing recognition that unless those reforms are maintained and supplemented, large and small companies in the region will be unable to expand and thrive, and prosperity will remain elusive. In the chapters of this paper, some issues that appear central to promoting private sector development are discussed from the perspective of how to improve the investment climate in order to support private sector growth. The themes are presented not to define solutions, but rather to promote debate and discussion regarding the appropriate role of policies towards the private sector, how to achieve reform of the investment climate, how to sequence reforms, and how to ensure that investors view reform programs credibly. The first chapter discusses the importance of the private sector for Economic Growth. The second chapter examines the appropriate role of the private sector, governments and donors in efforts to improve the investment climate. The third chapter looks at the issues of implementation when attempting to improve the investment climate and the fourth chapter examines the political economy of reform of the investment climate.