**_<u>________________________________________________________</u>_**

indicators, regulatory and administrative delays (including average days to clear customs). The logistics module for firm surveys is an optional module and is being implemented in selected countries where the logistics module supplements the Core ICS. (Please see <u>Annex B</u> for the logistics module).

# _IMD:_ _<u>World Competitiveness Yearbook</u>_

The International Institute for Management Development, based in Switzerland produces an annual publication that ranks nations’ environments and analyzes their ability to provide an environment in which enterprises can compete. It is an annual report that measures the competitiveness of 59 countries and regional nations, by 321 different criteria grouped under four competitiveness factors (economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure). Through collaboration with 52 institutes worldwide, the yearbook also draws data from international and regional organizations. It differentiates between economies with populations larger and smaller than 20 million since size does determine competitiveness.

Related measures include: Bribing and corruption does not exist in the economy; Bureaucracy does not exist in the economy; Transparency of government policy is satisfactory; Customs authorities facilitate the efficient transit of goods.

# _<u>IMD World Competitiveness Online</u>_

Using 314 factors, this online version of the IMD's World Competitiveness Yearbook analyzes and ranks the ability of 60 national and regional economies to create and maintain an environment that sustains the competitiveness of enterprises. It allows customized selection of data and countries/regions, and data can be displayed and saved in PDF or Excel format.

# _European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Transition Report_

The Transition Report provides information on developments in central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The 2002 edition also analyses the second round of the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey, covering close to 6,000 enterprises in 26 countries of the region. The survey provides useful insight into the quality of the business environment in the region and how it varies between countries and different types of firm. The first round of the survey which was analyzed in the 1999 Transition Report, examined how reforms influence the performance of firms, by considering differences in reforms both at the country level, in terms of the pervasiveness of soft budget constraints and assessments of the investment climate, and at the level of enterprises themselves, in particular the degree of competition faced by firms and their origin and ownership.

# _<u>World Business Environment Survey (WBES)</u>_

The World Business Environment Survey (WBES) is a survey of over 10,000 firms in 80 countries and one territory conducted in 1999-2000 that examines a wide range of interactions between firms and the state. Based on face-to-face interviews with firm managers and owners, 7 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________