This case study analyzes the design, delivery, and sustainability of INSOTEC?s technology access services, which are offered to small and microenterprises working in the textiles sector in Ecuador. Three key elements to offering sustainable business development services are highlighted: taking a...

Investor activists have waged a campaign to increase corporate political spending disclosure and board oversight since 2004, through shareholder resolutions filed for consideration at corporate annual meetings. In 2010, average support for these resolutions reached 30 percent - an unusually high...

Corporate accountability and disclosure of political expenditures appears to be increasing, with the boards of 31 percent of S&P 500 companies now explicitly overseeing such spending, compared to 23 percent in 2010. However, this increased oversight and transparency does not appear to correlate...

This project looks at how corporations oversee and govern money spent on corporate lobbying at the state level. It establishes a baseline for that spending by a representative sampling of the biggest U.S. publicly-listed corporations. Alongside intense public and investor attention about...

Summary Although the vast majority of small firms in developing countries never expand beyond a few employees, some experience rapid and substantial growth. This study explores factors associated with small firm growth. We discuss key findings for four types of factors: (1) individual...

A functional weakness of the training market is the extreme difficulty with which potential purchasers of "training" can gauge the quality of training programs in advance of payment. However, no training provider would allow a customer to delay payment of course fees until the course has been...

The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of current practices in the provision of business development services (BDS) to small and microentrepreneurs in developing countries. The document is meant to serve as a resource for Bank staff and other development practitioners who play a...