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Full article · 402 words · Business Studies Knowledge Base
The Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Index was a ranking system created by the World Bank Group that assessed the regulatory environment for business operations in different countries. It was designed to measure how easy or difficult it was to start and run a business in each country, based on various factors such as starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, obtaining credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.
The EODB Index was discontinued by the World Bank in 2021 following a series of data irregularities and ethical concerns that surfaced regarding the manipulation of the rankings. Since then, the World Bank has been working on developing a new assessment framework to replace the EODB Index, with a focus on improving transparency, objectivity, and inclusivity.
The Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Index ranked countries based on the ease with which business operations could be conducted, and the top-ranked countries were considered to have the most business-friendly regulations. As of the last available rankings before the index was discontinued in 2021, the top countries were:
These rankings were based on various criteria related to business regulations, and countries that consistently ranked high were recognized for their business-friendly environments. Keep in mind that this list reflects the situation as of the last EODB report in 2020, and the rankings are no longer updated following the discontinuation of the index.
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Discuss on the Forum →v207.1 cross-Crucible synthesis · Business Studies
Business studies as a discipline tries to teach decision-making in abstract — frameworks for incorporation, expansion, M&A, exit, succession, capital-structure. The framework is necessary but insufficient: real business decisions land in a multi-Crucible context where the abstract framework collides with jurisdiction-specific tax codes, FTA-network-specific market access, visa-specific mobility constraints, currency-specific volatility regimes, and macro-cycle-specific opportunity timings. The host page above teaches the framework; the cross-Crucible synthesis below maps every framework decision-node to the canonical Crucible where the actual decision-data lives. A business-studies education + the 22 Crucibles together convert abstract reasoning into specific actionable choices.
Sources: World Bank B-READY (successor to Doing Business) 2024 · OECD Investment Policy Reviews 2024-25 · Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom 2025 · Cato/Fraser Economic Freedom Index 2025 · Global Innovation Index 2025 (WIPO) · World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness 2024-25 · Harvard Business School Working Knowledge 2024-25 · Wharton + INSEAD + LBS thought-leadership reports 2024-25 · IIM Ahmedabad / Bangalore / Calcutta India-business-context publications · Coface country risk Q1 2026
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