Overview

The business environment in the Philippines is costly and overregulated, with wide variations observed in the implementation of national regulations among local governments. This case study looks at the challenges of pursuing reform and research in such an environment.

The case study discusses (1) the process and challenges of obtaining buy-in from local governments, (2) implementation challenges in the reform process and the critical role of the private sector as advocates of reform, and (3) how relevant the results of Doing Business in the Philippines 2008 are in the next steps of the reform process at the national and local levels.

Note: Doing Business in the Philippines 2011 is now available.

Main Findings

• As early as the second quarter of 2008 after Doing Business in the Philippines 2008 results had been released, there were already reform initiatives from the cities involved in the study.
• Across the 21 cities in Doing Business in the Philippines 2008, on average, it took eight procedures, 32 days and 4.4% of the property value to enable a purchaser of property to use the new property as collateral in taking new loans for expanding its business.