The Doing Business ranking and the GDP. A qualitative study

The topics of economic development and the importance of the business environment are repeatedly being studied by academia. Funding issues focus the debate, in particular on SME financing and the importance of the financial sector (especially the banking sector). Some institutions have developed specific indicators that seek to synthesize the greater or lesser ease of doing business and/or the resulting competitiveness. This research specifically focuses on one of them, namely, the ease of Doing Business index. The survey compares the bulk of African countries over two years, 2008 and 2017. This research uses fsQCA methodology to conclude that the factors affecting the capacity for doing business change over time. In 2008, only one set of Doing Business indicators was related to high wealth, but by 2017 there were four. We also conclude that credit is not only the determining factor for the ease of doing business and paperwork, as difficulties in dealing with the authorities are also highly significant.