Doing Business 2010: A record in business regulation reform

Since 2004 Doing Business has been tracking regulatory reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business. Despite the challenges presented by the financial crisis, the number of reforms hit a record level this year. Between June 2008 and May 2009, 287 reforms were recorded in 131 economies, 20% more than the year before. Reformers focused on making it easier to start and operate a business, strengthening property rights and improving the efficiency of commercial dispute resolution and bankruptcy procedures.


Download the Doing Business 2010 overview
http://www.doingbusiness.org/features/Highlights2010.aspx

Are international financial institutions (IFIs) crowding out private investment in microfinance?

This highlight is drawn from a recent paper published by MicroRate which analyzes the funding patterns and roles of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in microfinance industry development, mentioned in class by the Professor.

Enjoy

http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m/template.rc/1.26.9136/

The mServices Landscape in Emerging Markets

For students interested in the development of mobile services (following the discussion during the “IC4D” lecture about “now what?”: moving from infrastructure development to application and content development), the below free virtual seminar may be of interest. Vital Wave is an interesting consulting company that spun out of HP’s emerging markets product development group.

Prof. Bugg-Levine

Introduction to Microfinance: A Speaker Series

Oct 26 – Dec 7, 2009; Mondays, 7 – 9 pm; Uris 332

UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business invites you to be part of an innovative learning experience this Fall. This Speaker Series class explores why and how microfinance operations have grown to provide financial services to poor and low-income communities on a sustainable basis. Professor Sean Foote provides an excellent introduction to the field of Microfinance and brings together advice and best practices from a variety of successful practitioners around the world, creating a forum to learn about current challenges, debates, and innovations.

Featured Speakers:
-Kurt Koenigsfest – CEO, BancoSol
-Maya Chorengal – Managing Director, Elevar Equity
-Kendall Mau – CFO & COO, Prisma Microfinance
-Premal Shah – President, KIVA
-Tracey Pettingill Turner – Founder, Silicon Valley Microfinance Network and Microplace

Sanitation

Ashoka Honors the Work of Leading Social Entrepreneurs Addressing Water Issues Worldwide (http://www.ashoka.org/worldwater)
Restructuring the Field of Sanitation Worldwide (http://www.ashoka.org/fellow/4333)
World Toilet Organization (WTO) (http://www.worldtoilet.org/)

Enjoy!

Gates Foundation Competition

As anticipated in class, the Gates Foundation approached SEC with a competition focused on providing financial instruments for emerging markets. Thehe timeline is very short: the applications are due November 15th.

Guidelines and more information are available on the website.
www.fininnov.org

Helpful web sites to prepare the midterm

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (http://www.gemconsortium.org/)

The Microfinance Association (http://www.microfinanceassociation.org/page.aspx)

The List of Books

We will keep track of the books and web resources that Professor Bugg-Levine mentions in class. For those that are curious to learn more, you can find the list under “Links”