Research

Explore research that uses the World Bank Enterprise Surveys to understand how the business environment affects firm performance across economies.

Featured

Firm Credit Constraints and Electronic Payments: A Global Analysis

Do Informal Businesses with More-Educated Owners Adopt Better Business Practices ? Evidence from the Central African Republic

The Role of Technology in Reducing the Gender Gap in Productivity

The Resilience of SMEs and Large Firms in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Decomposition Analysis

Research
Blogs

The research of the Enterprise Analysis Unit focuses on furthering the understanding of the business environment and how to improve outcomes across borders. Data from the Enterprise Surveys serves as the primary input for the research, complemented with similar firm-level surveys and other relevant data sources.

Two types of research products are featured below:

Enterprise Notes & Briefs are research briefings with concise empirical findings and policy implications.
Research Papers are journal articles or academic working papers.

Some further information:

To see how people are using the data, see the inventory of research with WBES data here.
If you authored a published or working paper that uses WBES data, please let us know here.
See how to cite the data here.
Learn about the DECIG Seminar Series.

Date	Author (s)	Title
16-April-2026	Mariana Vijil, Mauricio Pinzón-Latorre, Yew Chong Soh, Siyun He	The final stretch: Lessons from Malaysia’s road to high-income status
10-April-2026	Hibret Maemir, Jorge Rodríguez Meza	Africa’s firms are not growing—new data reveal a jobs challenge
17-March-2026	Hibret Maemir, Rafay Khan, & Davide S. Mare	Inside Afghanistan’s private sector: Insights from new Enterprise Survey data
26-February-2026	Nona Karalashvili, Eugenia Rodríguez, Natália Mazoni Silva Martins, & Alexis Koumjian Cheney	Slopes, skates, and equal rights: What the Winter Olympics and the World Bank Women, Business and the Law flagship report have in common
24-February-2026	Davide S. Mare & Subika Farazi	When digital payments unlock access to credit: New evidence from firms in 101 economies
04-March-2025	Siyun He, Yew Chong Soh & Liang Wang	World Bank enterprise surveys in Botswana: 13 years later
25-Nov-2024	Ana Paula Cusolito, Roberto N. Fattal Jaef, Davide S. Mare, & Akshat Singh	The importance of financial misallocation for aggregate productivity
23-Oct-2024	Christopher Hoy, Filip Jolevski, & Anthony Obeyesekere	Revealing tax evasion by firms
10-Oct-2024	Christopher Hoy, Filip Jolevski, & Anthony Obeyesekere	Revealing the depth and breadth of tax evasion in Indonesia
13-Jun-2024	Nona Karalashvili & Jorge Luis Rodriguez Meza	Unveiling what businesses experience in 50 economies: results from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys
28-Mar-2024	Serena Cocciolo, Alex Habershon, Hunt La Cascia, & Domenico Viganola	Power of global data and analytics in strengthening the accountability and performance of public procurement
31-JAN-2024	Mamadou Yaya Diallo, Asif Islam & Mohammad Amin	When does exporting increase women’s employment in the developing world?
25-JAN-2024	Serena Cocciolo, Domenico Viganola & Ruggero Doino	Firm-level surveys can inform reform efforts to promote more SME participation in public procurement
06-DEC-2023	Eugenia Rodríguez,Asif Islam & Mohammad Amin	Understanding gender gaps in the informal sector
16-NOV-2023	Filip Jolevski & Yew Chong Soh	Uncovering shades of the grey economy you never knew existed
25-JUL-2023	Maria Xafa & Mohammad Amin	Which firms suffer due to ethnic fractionalization?
22-Jun-2023	Rafan Khan & Domenico Viganola	Pakistan’s private sector: Going into the nuts and bolts
24-Feb-2023	Filip Jolevski, Gemechu Ayana Aga, David Francis, Jorge Luis Rodriguez Meza & Joshua Wimpey	Gathering data on populations that are hard to reach: surveying informal businesses
17-Jan-2023	Adam Aberra, Gemechu Ayana, Aga, Filip Jolevski & Nona Karalashvili	Understanding informality through new data
12-Jan-2023	Kaleb Abreha, Xavier Cirera, Elwyn Davies, Roberto N. Fattal Jaef & Hibret Maemir	A Missing Middle or too much Informality?
24-Aug-2022	Yew Chong Soh & Dalal Moosa	Critical lessons from surveying informal businesses in Iraq
05-May-2022	Asta Bareisaite, Gemechu Ayana Aga & Taneem Ahad	Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives from Somalia’s Businesses
28-Apr-2022	Markus Goldstein, Paula Gonzalez Martinez, Sreelakshmi Papineni & Joshua Wimpey	Childcare, COVID-19 and female firm exit
10-Mar-2022	Giacomo Ruscelloni & Mohammad Amin	Does corruption make it harder for SMEs to obtain credit?
13-Jul-21	Yew Chong Soh & Mohammad Amin	Does corruption hurt employment growth of financially constrained firms more than firms that are not financially constrained?
02-Jul-21	Domenico Viganol & Mohammad Amin	Does a firm’s financial condition matter in the fight against the ongoing pandemic?
29-Jun-21	Asta Bareisait, Gemechu Ayana Aga & Taneem Ahad	Light at the end of the tunnel? Update on the impact of COVID-19 on the private sector in Somalia
18-Jun-21	Filip Jolevski, Silvia Muzi, Kohei Ueda & Domenico Viganola	Surviving the pandemic: A business perspective
14-Apr-21	Ana Fernandes, Alejandro Forero, Hibret Maemir & Aaditya Mattoo	The longer-term impact of the African Growth and Opportunity Act
09-Apr-21	Andrei Mikhnev & Nona Karalashvili	A silver lining in the COVID-19 crisis in Mongolia
01-Mar-21	Anna Akhalkatsi, Filip Jolevski & Natasha Rovo	Amidst the pandemic, Moldovan businesses face growing anxiety
13-Jan-21	Asta Bareisaite, Gemechu Ayana Aga & Taneem Ahad	Coronavirus and fragility: The impact of COVID-19 on Somalia’s private sector
04-Jan-21	Fernando Blanco, Levent Karadayi, Nona Karalashvili & Laureta Qorlazja	COVID-19 impact on Albania's private sector: taking stock, looking ahead
13-Jul-20	Anna Akhalkatsi, Filip Jolevski & Natasha Rovo	The growing impact of COVID-19 on Moldova’s private sector
14-May-20	Gemechu Ayana Aga, Filip Jolevski & Silvia Muzi	Insights from enterprise surveys: Including the informal economy in policy responses to COVID-19 (coronavirus)
10-Apr-20	Filip Jolevski & Jorge Luis Rodriguez Meza	Collecting data amid civil unrest: First enterprise survey in Haiti
08-Apr-20	Filip Jolevski & Silvia Muzi	Supporting vulnerable temporary workers and businesses coping with coronavirus challenges
30-Mar-20	Yew Chong Soh & Mohammad Amin	Does Being A Large Country Lead to Higher Corruption?
25-Mar-20	Erica Bosio, Simeon Djankov & Filip Jolevski	Making access to new credit easier
17-Mar-20	Yew Chong Soh & Mohammad Amin	Do more rules lead to more corruption? Evidence using firm-level survey data for developing countries
07-Jun-19	Filip Jolevski & Asif Islam	Five ways in which formal and informal firms differ in the two largest cities in Lao PDR