The Ease of Doing Digital Business Report – 9-6-2019

Who’s leading the race in today’s digital economy? This is a question on the minds of many diplomats, policy-makers and business people across the globe, yet it’s answer has remained elusive. While the World Bank’s annual Doing Business survey, which ranks countries on how easy it is to conduct business within them, is enormously influential in enacting global change and policy responsiveness, it falls short in many regards. The Doing Business survey says very little about the ease or difficulty of doing digital business. Fortunately, IBGC’s Ease of Doing Digital Business report answers the pressing question aforementioned and helps close the gaps in global business research.

Using 236 variables from over 60 data sources, Bhaskar Chakravorti, Ravi Chaturvedi, Caroline Troein and the rest of IBGC’s team of researchers ranked 42 countries based on how easy it is for digital platforms to enter, operate, thrive & exit their markets. This report is significant in many ways, principally in its ability to provide decision-makers a basis to compare countries not only in terms of “traditional” business-friendliness, but also in terms of factors affecting setting up digital businesses.

The IBGC research team’s ranking of the 42 countries is shown below:

IBGC’s researchers chose these particular countries because they constitute the most significant markets for digital businesses worldwide and offer a consistent set of data across a wide range of indicators. The team has found that digital business environments require distinctive policy focuses and investments. The report’s evaluation is intended as a complement to that of the World Bank.

For a full write-up on the research report, read the overview on Harvard Business Review.