Full Survey Data
The Enterprise Surveys use standard survey instruments to collect firm-level data on the business environment from business owners and top managers. The surveys cover a broad range of topics including access to finance, corruption, infrastructure, crime, competition, labor, obstacles to growth, and performance measures.
The full, firm-level data are available to researchers and include answers from all the survey questions- both global questions as well as economy-specific questions. Note that the survey data results presented on the website are primarily in the form of indicators, i.e. firm-level data has been aggregated to the economy level.
Survey data available for download include standard Enterprise Surveys as well as older surveys conducted by other World Bank units. Other available datasets include microenterprise, informal, sector-specific, and other surveys collected by the Enterprise Analysis Unit. Panel (longitudinal) datasets are also available for many economies.
Please cite our data as follows: Enterprise Surveys (http://www.enterprisesurveys.org), The World Bank.
To access the complete datasets, you must register with the Enterprise Analysis Unit (DECEA) by completing the Enterprise Surveys Data Access Protocol. Users of this data are required to protect its confidentiality in accordance with World Bank rules governing “strictly confidential” information. These are discussed on the registration form. Adherence to these rules will ensure the World Bank Group can continue to conduct these surveys.
Once you have submitted the confidentiality agreement, you will receive an email confirmation within two business days with access information. The Enterprise Survey data for the ECA and MENA regions can also be accessed from the EBRD website.
About the Data
The data are in Stata format and may be converted into other formats such as Excel, SPSS, SAS or Access using a translation program (e.g., Stat/transfer or Dbms).
Because the Enterprise Surveys instrument (questionnaire) has evolved over time in terms of the questions asked and the way in which the questions are asked, and because differing economy characteristics have dictated economy specific questions, data are offered in 2 formats:
- Standardized: economy data are matched to a standard set of questions. This format allows cross-economy comparisons and analysis but sacrifices those economy-specific survey questions which cannot be matched.
- economy survey: offers the complete survey information for a particular economy's survey. In this format, the question coding is inconsistent across economy surveys, even where the questions are identical, and is useful only for single economy or limited cross-economy analysis.