Enterprise Survey 2009-2017: Panel Data (Sierra Leone)

Abstract

The documented dataset covers Enterprise Survey (ES) panel data collected in Sierra Leone in 2009 and 2017, as part of the Enterprise Survey initiative of the World Bank. An Indicator Survey is similar to an Enterprise Survey; it is implemented for smaller economies where the sampling strategies inherent in an Enterprise Survey are often not applicable due to the limited universe of firms.

The objective of the 2009-2017 survey is to obtain feedback from enterprises in client countries on the state of the private sector as well as to build a panel of enterprise data that will make it possible to track changes in the business environment over time and allow, for example, impact assessments of reforms. Through interviews with firms in the manufacturing and services sectors, the Indicator Survey data provides information on the constraints to private sector growth and is used to create statistically significant business environment indicators that are comparable across countries.
As part of its strategic goal of building a climate for investment, job creation, and sustainable growth, the World Bank has promoted improving the business environment as a key strategy for development, which has led to a systematic effort in collecting enterprise data across countries. The Enterprise Surveys (ES) are an ongoing World Bank project in collecting both objective data based on firms' experiences and enterprises' perception of the environment in which they operate.

Questionnaire topics include firm characteristics, gender participation, access to finance, annual sales, costs of inputs/labor, workforce composition, bribery, licensing, infrastructure, trade, crime, competition, land and permits, taxation, business-government relations, performance measures, AIDS and sickness. The mode of data collection is face-to-face interviews.