Doing business: The importance of culture

In the next three to five years, a study of actual investment trends will probably be the most reliable proof of how influential the Ease of Doing Business reforms have been

The much-awaited annual DIPP World Bank Ease of Doing Business rankings largely followed predictable trends from the previous two years, with some shuffling of places among the states. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana retained the first two spots, Haryana and Jharkhand improved their rankings by three spots each, finishing third and fourth respectively, in the process pushing Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and MP down two places each to fifth, sixth and seventh from third, fourth and fifth last time around.

What is more material however, is the hair’s breadth that separates them, with the top seven states all scoring above 97 per cent, and