The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business reports have been ranking countries since 2006. However, do improvements in rankings generate greater foreign direct investment inflows? This study is the first to test such a proposition empirically with Arellano-Bond dynamic panel estimators using the official rankings from 2006 to 2009. The paper shows this relationship is...

The purpose of this report is to provide an evidence-based context for understanding the importance of entrepreneurship to Australia’s economic prosperity, its link to innovation and how Australia compares with its competitors in fostering an entrepreneurial culture and mindset, particularly through immigration and education.

This review provides the opportunity to benchmark the performance of local government regulatory activities and how they impact on businesses. There are 560 local government areas in Australia. They play an important role in delivering policies of all governments at the grass roots and thus impact on the effectiveness of programs initiated by national and...

Business has a powerful opportunity to contribute to shaping and supporting school communities as they face the future, according to this report.

This policy brief details recent economic developments in four of Asia's largest economies - Japan, India, China and Indonesia - and assesses the implications of these changes for Australia. Jenny Corbett looks at how economic frustrations led to political change in Japan and argues that, despite this year’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, there is opportunity...