Place Based Economic Development with Simon White

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Business Environment Reform

Simon White | Specialist in policies and programs for more enabling business environments.

Business in fragile and conflict

Private Sector Development in Fragile and Conflict Affected Situations

Some of the most difficult countries to work in are classified as fragile and conflict-affected. In this article, I focus on some of the challenges to supporting private sector development in these countries. This is based on a recent report I wrote on Business Environment Reforms in Fragile and

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

Agriculture markets

When market solutions are not enough

I recently spent a week in the northwest of Mozambique on an assignment for an international donor agency looking at how agriculture markets can drive economic development. Here are my reflections in Development Policy. There are many instances when market solutions are not enough to achieve private sector development. While

Small business policies

Policy preferences for small businesses

Many governments around the world assign policy preferences for small businesses. These policy preferences support business development and job creation. There are two rationales for this. First, micro and small enterprises deserve special attention because of their overall contribution to national development. As a total sector, micro and small enterprises

New video: business environment reform

New video: business environment reform

I am pleased to be able to share this video I worked on for the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED). I have been working with the DCED for a number of years and, in particular, providing support to its Business Environment Working Group. The DCED has some great resources

Better business regulations create jobs

Better business regulations create jobs

Business environment reform for job creation I this post, I explore how business environment reform nurtures job creation. The World Bank’s annual Doing Business assessment was released today with some important claims regarding the impact of regulatory reform on job creation. There has been much debate over the years

Small Business Development

SME Development Agencies

Over the last few months, I’ve provided advice to a number of government funded national SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) development agencies. Such agencies are very popular among governments, but less so among enterprise development specialist. While they can focus government efforts on supporting the small business sector,