Trends in Private Investments in Developing Countries and Perceived Obstacles to Doing Business

Abstract

The first part of the discussion paper documents trends in private and public fixed investment. On average for the 47 countries covered (including, for the first time in this series, China), 1997 was a record year for private investment, which rose from a low of 11.2 percent of GDP in 1985 to 14.3 percent in 1997, the last year for which data exist. Public investment declined to 7.2 percent of GDP, its lowest level since 1975. The largest 1997 increases in private investment were in two transition countries where levels remain low (Bulgaria and Romania) followed by Panama, Cote d'Ivoire, Bolivia, Argentina and China. Ratios of private investment to GDP were highest in Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia, before the full effects of the Asian crisis were felt. The second part presents country-specific results of a 1996/97 worldwide survey of business executives. The discussion focuses on obstacles to doing business in each of the 74 countries covered (including industrial economies) and their relationship to levels of private investment. A few factors emerge as being of particular importance to private investment decisions: the real exchange rate, the rule of law, predictability of judiciary systems, and the extent to which financing is available to enterprises.