Newswise — Tempe, Ariz. (October 18, 2021) - The Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University has released the third edition of its signature Doing Business North America report, which provides objective measures of business regulations across 134 cities in 92 states, provinces and districts in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Comprised of over 12,000 datapoints, it uses 111 variables to create 28 data indicators spread over six categories to score and rank cities in regard to how easy it is to set up, operate, and shut down a business.
The 2021 report expands on the second edition, with 4 new cities: Chandler, Arizona; Durham, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; and St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Doing Business North America report measures the regulations that apply to domestic small and medium-size companies throughout their lifecycle. The report compiles and analyses city-specific data, offering a comprehensive look at a particular jurisdiction’s business environment, including regulations having to do with starting a business, employing workers, acquiring electricity, paying taxes, registered property, and resolving insolvency.
By comparing business environments across North America, the report offers measurable benchmarks for reform that encourage states and provinces to pursue regulatory frameworks that ease the cost of doing business.
With the discontinuation of the World Bank’s Doing Business report, DBNA is the only study that directly measures regulation at the city, state and national levels across multiple countries.
The Doing Business North America research team was led by Stephen Slivinski, Senior Research Fellow and DBNA Project Director, with support from undergraduate students from the W. P. Carey School of Business and School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership.
“The newly released third edition of the Doing Business North America report shows once again that the ease of doing business is higher when the rules are clear and the steps involved are few,” said Dr. Ross Emmett, Center Director and Professor of Economic Thought at the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership. “Whether we are interested in how businesses fared during COVID or looking toward the prospects for recovery and future economic growth, the newly released third edition of the Doing Business North America report provides policymakers, analysts, and scholars with information and tools to make informed decisions.” Doing Business North America is predicated on the idea that a well-functioning economy requires good rules. “The ease of doing business in a location is higher when the rules are clear and the steps involved are few.” Dr. Emmett is pleased that the DBNA project was able to increase the number of cities again, continuing to expand the study’s usefulness for policy research in both the academic and the policy-maker communities.
The report findings include:
- Colorado Springs, Colorado accumulated the highest Ease of Doing Business Score.
- In the “Land and Space Use” category, which was expanded last year and includes measures of zoning restrictions on commercial property, Arlington, Virginia and San Francisco, California, take the top two spots respectively for the second year in row.
- For the third year in a row, Canadian cities lead the “Starting a Business” category, which measures the number of legal procedures required to start a business and the costs associated with those procedures.
“In this time of crisis, calls for dramatic changes to business regulation at all levels of government are on the table,” said Paul Carrese, school director, School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, Arizona State University. “The third edition of the Doing Business North America report draws attention once again to the importance of the often overlooked rules and regulations that cities, states and national governments create for businesses operating in their jurisdictions.”
The Doing Business North America report is available to the public at DoingBusinessNorthAmerica.org and dbna.asu.edu, and will be updated annually.
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About Arizona State University
Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American Research University, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it.
About Center for the Study of Economic Liberty
The Center for the Study of Economic Liberty, a joint endeavor of the W. P. Carey School of Business and the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, will become an international leader in research that effects liberty-enhancing public policy and increases public and academic awareness of the history and philosophy of economic liberty by leveraging our place, fusing academic research with policy engagement, and engaging globally to transform society.
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