Introduction
Since initiating a comparative study of potential investment destinations in Eurasia in the mid-1990s, ITIC also reviews comparative annual studies of economic performance conducted by the World Bank (the “Doing Business” Report), the EBRD (Transition Report), the World Economic Forum (Global Competitiveness Report), the Heritage Foundation (Index of Economic Freedom), the Fraser Institute (Economic Freedom of the World), IMD Lausanne (World Competitiveness Yearbook), and the Legatum Institute (Prosperity Index), among others.
As a background resource, below are the results of the various 2015 comparative studies. The comparisons below, instructive, may not precisely reflect the most current data, and some experts question the methodology for the “tax” parameter used in “benchmarking” reform. This issue will be further examined during 2016, and ITIC welcomes sponsor input on this and on the country rankings themselves.
Notwithstanding the varying purposes and methodologies of these studies, tax is a common parameter whether explicitly in the WB/DB Report and WEF/GCR or subsumed under another topic in other studies.
Consistent with ITIC’s near-term regional plans, we have examined the rankings of the following countries:
- Asia-Pacific – Thailand
- Africa – South Africa
- Eurasia – Kazakhstan
- Latin America – Brazil
- Middle East/North Africa – Jordan
Mr. Townsend's full report can be viewed here.