Place Based Economic Development with Simon White

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Simon White

Simon White

Simon White is a specialist in place-based economic development, private sector and business development and business environment reform.

SME Test

The SME Test: Assessing the impact of new laws and regulations on SMEs

New laws and regulations quickly accumulate and cause administrative overload for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) because the costs of compliance are often disproportionately higher than for large enterprises. In many countries, the number of laws and regulations adopted each year to which SMEs must comply is increasing dramatically. While

Asia informal economy

Addressing informality through local business advocacy

While many business organisations represent formal businesses, it is important for local business advocacy to consider the issues faced in the informal economy. Earlier this year, I was commissioned by the International Labour Office (ILO) in the Asia Pacific Region to write a research report on the impact of government

Youth Entrepreneurship Blue Economy

Youth Entrepreneurship for the Blue and Green Economies

Simon White | This article explores the role of youth entrepreneurship in green and blue growth.

How market systems development projects connect with business environment reforms to improve the ways markets work for the po

Are market systems development projects too cool for rules?

This article looks at how market systems development projects can better connect with business environment reforms to improve the ways market work better for the poor. It has been written by Ines Bentchikou from the International Labour Organisation in Geneva and Simon White. Ines works with The Lab at the

Placemaking for local economic development

Placemaking for local economic development

Placemaking is an important strategy for local economic development Download the PDF Version of this article here. I have a long history of involvement in placemaking, most recently as the former deputy chairperson of Leederville Connect in Western Australia. Of course, and as others have noted, ‘the business and practice

COVID-19 Response

Lessons to guide a local economic COVID recovery

In this post I describe a number of lessons we can draw from our COVID-19 response to help guide a local economic recovery. I look at responses that appear have worked and make four suggestions for placed-based responses. We are not past this crisis by any measure. But there are

Using new technologies for a better business environment

Bringing the business environment online

How digitalisation can support business environment reform In this post, I look at how digitalisation can support business environment reform. This includes some useful guidance for policymakers and regulators. The digitalisation of legal and regulatory compliance requirements is a critical strategy for achieving meaningful business environment reforms. In the midst