Document: A Participatory Multi-Level Approach of Using Business Climate Surveys in Regulatory and Administrative Reform Processes

Business Climate Surveys (BCS) have become an important instrument in regulatory and administrative reform processes which are targeted towards improving the Business Enabling Environment of small and medium enterprises. BCS can be an effective tool to stimulate and sustain regulatory and administrative reforms at local, national and international level. By directly capturing the voices and perceptions of business people as well as objective facts, BCS are an important complement to policy reviews, such as the UNCTAD Investment Policy Reviews, and regulatory impact assessments. BCS are able to identify and “reveal” in an easy-to-understand way the regulatory and administrative bottlenecks to private-sector development. To create the momentum for reforms, their results can be used as a key input to a structured and well-informed public-private dialogue. Due to the anonymity of the responses even politically sensitive issues such as corruption can be put on the table.