Overview

Over the past three years, the experience in Mexico has demonstrated the impact of the Doing Business in Mexico 2009 report (available in Spanish only) on state and municipal policy reforms. Along with Doing Business in Mexico 2007 and Doing Business in Mexico 2006, these reports help hold state governments accountable for what they do (or neglect to do) when it comes to policies facilitating business and wealth creation. Due to the importance and popularity these reports has gained in Mexico, policymakers’ incentives are now more aligned towards designing an environment conducive to business development. If states improve regulations from one benchmark to another, these report capture them and constituents, the private sector, and potential investors will be aware of progress over time.

Main Findings

• Illustrates the business registration reforms in Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, Morelos, Nuevo León and Puebla, as well as how the benchmarking fostered property registration innovation in Aguascalientes.
• Shows how the indicators affected the interaction between various government agencies and federal and local government by describing the emergence of inter-agency coordination in Puebla and cooperation between the state’s executive branch, legislators and technical agencies in Guanajuato.
• Describes how reforms were leveraged thanks to peer to peer learning and knowledge sharing at the bi-annual regulatory conferences organized by the Federal Regulatory Improvement Commission or through site visits to states with good practices.
• Relates how benchmarks shaped the dialogue with the private sector, as private-public partnerships in Guanajuato and Querétaro worked towards finding alternative solutions to improve the state’s business regulations.