Do Micro Enterprises Benefit from the ‘Doing Business’ Reforms? The Case of Street-Vending in Tanzania

Abstract

The World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ reforms were originally expected to help the growth and formalisation of SMEs and micro enterprises. The expectations that reforms would support the growth and development of SMEs were challenged by scholars, but the reforms’ impact on the micro enterprises of the poor has received little scholarly attention. Drawing on a desk study and on field studies of street-vendors carried out in Tanzania in 2007 and 2011, this paper argues that the growth and formalisation of micro-businesses are badly served by the ‘Doing Business’ reforms.

Keywords

‘Doing Business’ reforms micro enterprise street vending Tanzania

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Altenburg

von Drachenfels

(2006) The ‘new minimalist approach’ to private sector development: a critical assessment, Development Policy Review, 24(4), pp. 387–411.

Arruňada

(2007) Pitfall to avoid when measuring institutions: is doing business damaging business?, Journal of Comparative Economics, 35, pp. 729–747.

Beck

Demirgüc-Kunt

(2004) SMEs, growth, and poverty: public policy for the private-sector. Note No. 268, World Bank, Washington, DC.

Bendaňa

(2004) ‘Good governance’ and the MDGs: contradictory or complementary? Paper presented at the IGNIS Conference: Whose Governance? Obstacles to the MDGs, Oslo, September (http://www.rorg.no/Artikler/740.html).

Bolle

(2008) La Constitution de Sénegal (http://www.la-constitution-en-afrique.org/article-22561573.html).

von Braun

Keyzer

(2006) Global action for food security. Centre for World Food Studies, Amsterdam(www.sow.vu.nl/pdf/Brief%20food%20security.pdf).

CLEP (Commision for Legal Empowerment of the Poor) (2006) Report on Tanzania Country Consultation. Dar es Salaam, November.

Davis

Kruse

(2007) Taking the measure of the law: the case of the Doing Business project, Law and Social Inquiry, 32(4), pp. 1095–1119.

Durand-Lasserve

Selod

(2007) The formalization of urban land tenure in developing countries. Presented at the World Bank Urban Research Symposium , May, Washington DC.

10.

Finscope (2009) Financial Sector Deepening Trust: presentation of 2009 Finscope survey. Dar es Salaam, October.

11.

Giovannetti

Sanfilippo

(2009) Do Chinese exports crowd-out African goods? An econometric analysis by country and sector, European Journal of Development Research, 21(4), pp. 506–530.

12.

Gordon

D. F.

(1996) Sustaining economic reform under political liberalization in Africa: issues and implications, World Development, 24(9), pp. 1527–1537.

13.

IFC (International Finance Corporation) and World Bank (2012) About ‘Doing Business’ (www.doingbusiness.org/about-us; accessed June 2012).

14.

ILD (Institute of Liberty and Democracy) (2005a) Volume I: executive summary, the diagnosis (http://www.MKURABITA-DiagnosisReportExecutiveSummary-ILD.pdf).

15.

ILD (2005b) Volume II: the extra-legal economy: its archetypes and sizes (http://www.MKURABITA-DiagnosisReportVolumeII-ILD.pdf).

16.

ILD (2005c) Volume III: the legal economy, its institutions and costs (www.tanzania.go.tz/mkurabita/PDF/Index%20and%20Text%20Volume%20III.pdf).

17.

ILO (International Labour organisation) (2002) Roadmap study of the informal sector in mainland Tanzania. ILO/UNIDO/UNDP, Dar es Salaam, April.

18.

Kaplinsky

(2009) China in Africa: a relationship in transition, European Journal of Development Research, 21, pp. 479–484.

19.

Kyessi

(2007) Regularization and formalization of informal settlements in Tanzania: opportunities and challenges—the case of DSM. Strategic Integration of Surveying Services, FIG Working Week, Hong Kong, China, May.

20.

Lyons

Brown

(2009) Legal pluralism and development: street-trade and regulatory reform in Tanzania. Working Paper No. 2009:6, International Development, Emergencies and Refugees Studies, London South Bank University.

21.

Lyons

Brown

(2010) Has mercantilism reduced urban poverty in SSA? Boom and bust in the markets of Lomé and Bamako, World Development, 38(5), pp. 771–782.

22.

Lyons

Msoka

C. T.

(2008) Micro-trading in Tanzania: the way forward. Report to the Development Partner Group on Private Sector Development and PMO-RALG, DSM, December.

23.

Lyons

Msoka

C. T.

(2009) The World Bank and the African street: (how) have the Doing Business reforms affected Tanzania’s micro-vendors?, Urban Studies, 47(5), pp. 1079–1097.

24.

MKUKUTA (2006) Status report 2006: progress toward goals for growth, social well-being and governance in mainland Tanzania (www.tanzaniagateway.org/docs/MKUKUTAStatusReport06.asp).

25.

Msoka

C. T.

(2007) Street-vending in DSM, Tanzania: the dynamics behind continuing vulnerability. Paper presented at the Living on the Margins Conference, Stellenbosch, March.

26.

Mweta

(2006) Why MKURABITA should be removed from central government tasks, The Guardian, 4 April (www.ico.tz/ipp/guardian/2006/04/04/63524.html; accessed 25 December 2008).

27.

Nnkya

(2006) An enabling framework? Governance and street trading in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in: Brown

(Ed.) Contested Space: Street Trading, Public Space and Livelihoods in Developing Cities. Rugby: ITDG Publishing.

28.

Olayiwola

W. K.

Rutaihwa

J. L.

(2010) Trade liberalization and employment performance of textile and clothing industry in Tanzania, International Business Research, 3(3), pp. 47–55.

29.

Olenasha

(2004) Reforming land tenure in Tanzania: for whose benefit? (http://www.hakiardhi.org/HA-Docs/WILLIAM%20FINAL%20SUBMISSION.pdf; accessed January 2009).

30.

Otto

J. M.

(2009) Rule of law promotion, land tenure and poverty alleviation: questioning the assumptions of Hernando de Soto, Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 1(1), pp. 173–195.

31.

Payne

Durand-Laserve

Rakodi

(2009) The limits of land titling and homeownership, Environment and Urbanization, 21(2), pp. 443–462.

32.

Peerenboom

(2009) The future of rule of law: challenges and prospects for the field, Hague Journal of the Rule of Law, 1(1), pp. 5–14.

33.

Potts

(2007) The state and the informal in sub-Saharan African urban economies: revisiting debates on dualism. Working Paper No. 18, Crisis States Research Centre, King’s College London.

34.

Rodrick

(2008) Second-best institutions. Working Paper No. 14050, NBER, Cambridge, MA (www.nber.org/papers/w14050).

35.

RoS (Republic of Senegal) (2005) Sénegal poverty reduction strategy paper II and Joint IMF–IDA advisory note (www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187282&theSitePK=523679&entityID=000112742_20070615155946&searchMenuPK=64187282&theSitePK=523679).

36.

RoS (2008) Constitution de Sénegal (www.gouv.sn/spip.php?rubrique17).

37.

Sage

Menzies

Woolcock

(2010) Taking the rules of the game seriously: mainstreaming justice in development—the World Bank’s Justice for the Poor program. Legal Empowerment Working Paper No. 5, International Development Law Organisation (www.idlo.int/publications/LEWP/LEWP5.pdf).

38.

Schneider

(2007) Shadow economies and corruption all over the world: new estimates for 145 countries, Economy, July 2007-9 (http://www.economics-ejournal.org/economics/journalarticles).

39.

Schulpen

Gibbon

(2002) Private sector development: policies, practices and problems, World Development, 30(1), pp. 1–15.

40.

Shivji

(1998) Not yet democracy: reforming land tenure in Tanzania. International Institute for Environment and Development, London and HAKIARDHI Faculty of Law, University of Dar es Salaam.

41.

Skinner

. (2008) Street-trade in Africa: a review. Working Paper No. 51, School of Development Studies, University of KwaZulu, Natal.

42.

Subramanian

Matthuijs

(2007) Can sub-Saharan Africa leap into global network trade? Working Paper No. 4112, World Bank Policy Research and United Nations Commission for Africa.

43.

Tax-Bamwenda

Mlindi

(2005) Practice of reforming the business environment: the case of business environment strengthening for Tanzania programme (BEST). Better Regulation Unit, President’s Office, Dar es Salaam (www.businessenvironment.org/dyn/be/docs/83/Session5.2TaxDoc.pdf).

44.

Toit

A. du

(2008) Living on the margins: the social dynamics of economic marginalisation, Development Southern Africa, 25(2), pp. 135–150.

45.

Triodos-Facet (2007) Tanzania: country scan microfinance for HIVOS/MicroNed. Triodos-Facet, Amsterdam (http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.43748/Tanzania_Country_Scan_Microfinance.pdf).

46.

Tripp

A.-M.

(1997) Changing the Rules: The Political Economy of Liberalization and the Urban Informal Economy of Tanzania. London: University of California Press.

47.

UN (United Nations) (2011) UN statistics pocketbook. United Nations Statistics Division (http://data.un.org/CountryProfile.aspx?crName=SENEGAL#Economic).

48.

UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) (2008a) Making the law work for everyone, final report Vol. 1. Commission for Legal Empowerment of the Poor, UNDP, New York (www.unrol.org/files/Making_the_Law_Work_for_Everyone.pdf).

49.

UNDP (2008b) Making the Law Work for Everyone, final report Vol 2. Commission for Legal Empowerment of the Poor, UNDP, New York (www.beta.undp.org/content/dam/aplaws/publication/en/publications/democratic-governance/dg-publications-for-website/making-the-law-work-for-everyone—vol-ii-/making_the_law_work_II.pdf).

50.

URT (United Republic of Tanzania) (1977/1997) Constitution of the Republic of Tanzania (http://portal.mahkamahkonstitusi.go.id/eLaw/mg58ufsc89hrsg/konstanzania.pdf).

51.

URT (2000) National micro-finance policy. Government of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, May.

52.

URT (2002) Small and medium enterprise development policy. Ministry of Industry and Trade, Dar es Salaam, February.

53.

URT (2003) National trade policy: trade policy for a competitive economy and export-led growth. Ministry of Industry and Trade, Dar es Salaam, February.

54.

URT (2004) The United Republic of Tanzania: evaluation of the poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP) process and arrangements under the poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF). World Bank, Washington, DC.

55.

URT (2008a) Reform designs vol. 1: the executive summary. The property and business formalisation programme (www.tanzania.go.tz/mkurabita1/Vol%201/Executive%20Summary-Reforms%20June%20Finale.pdf).

56.

URT (2008b) Reform designs vol. 4: business formalization reforms outlines and packages for mainland Tanzania. The property and business formalisation programme (www.tanzania.go.tz/mkurabita1/VOL%204/Reform%20Proposals%20for%20Business%20Formalisation%20Tanzania%20Mainlan.pdf).

57.

URT (2008c) Reform designs vol. 2: property formalization reforms outlines and packages for mainland Tanzania. The property and business formalisation programme (www.tanzania.go.tz/mkurabita1/VOL%202/PropertyFormalisationReformPackageTanzaniaMainland16.pdf).

58.

URT (2008d) Reform designs vol. 7: work plan, monitoring and evaluation framework and cost–benefit analysis. The property and business formalisation programme (www.tanzania.go.tz/mkurabita1/Vol%207/Workplan%20and%20cost%20benefit%20analysis%20of%20%20the%20property%20and%20busi.pdf).

59.

Villoria

(2009) China’s growth and the agricultural exports of sub-Saharan southern Africa, European Journal of Development Research, 21, pp. 531–550.

60.

World Bank (2003) World Development Report 2004: Making Services Work for the Poor. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2004/Resources/complete_report.pdf).

61.

World Bank (2004) World Development Report 2005: A Better Investment Climate for Everyone. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2005/Resources/complete_report.pdf).

62.

World Bank (2005) World Development Report 2006: Equity and Development. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2006/Resources/complete_report.pdf).

63.

World Bank (2006) World Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2007/Resources/complete_report.pdf).

64.

World Bank (2007) World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2008/Resources/complete_report.pdf).

65.

World Bank (2008) World Development Report 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2009/Resources/complete_report.pdf).

66.

World Bank (2009) World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2010/Resources/complete_report.pdf).

67.

World Bank (2010) World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security and Development. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR20011/Resources/complete_report.pdf).

68.

World Bank (2011a) Methodology note (www.doingbusiness.org/methodology/methodology-note#EaseofDB).

69.

World Bank (2011b) Five years (www.doingbusiness.org/reforms/five-years).

70.

World Bank (2011c) Doing Business 2011 Sénegal: making a difference for entrepreneurs. Washington, DC (www.doingbusiness.org/~/media/FPDKM/Doing%20Business/Documents/Profiles/Country/DB11/SEN.pdf).

71.

World Bank (2011d) Doing Business 2011 Tanzania: making a difference for entrepreneurs.Washington, DC (www.doingbusiness.org/~/media/fpdkm/doing%20business/documents/profiles/country/db11/tza.pdf).

72.

Wuyts

(2006) Developing social protection in Tanzania with a context of generalised insecurity. Special Paper No. 06.19, Research on Poverty Alleviation, Dar es Salaam.