A region or nation’s business environment is highly correlated with prosperity. It is an important determinant of the quality of economic activity and an indicator of opportunity for foreign investors, local enterprises, and global talent.

Monitor has developed deep experience in helping regions and nations create and implement action-oriented campaigns to upgrade their business environment. We help economies define their economic agendas in a way that removes underlying obstacles to competitiveness.

Monitor often works with governments to help translate their goals and reform aspirations into measurable impact on international rankings. While improving rankings should not be the only or ultimate objective of an economy, improvements in a business environment are necessarily captured by rising positions in global rankings over time. Furthermore, rankings-oriented campaigns can serve as important drivers of action, motivators of collaboration, and calibrators for change in an economy. This is particularly important in competitiveness initiatives, where a broad range of institutional and individual stakeholders need to align around obstacles, actions, and estimation of progress.

Monitor also deploys business environment programs that are not linked to specific indexes—focusing on improvements in core areas such as the policy environment and infrastructure. Much of this work is focused on understanding important cross-cutting and cluster-specific policy levers that will impact the context for economic competitiveness. Throughout this process, Monitor helps clients evaluate trade-offs among—and make the case for—specific investments in physical and social infrastructure that will have real impact on the business environment.

While change can be championed at a national level, Monitor often works with governments and private sector institutions to structure, establish, and market special economic zones or new city developments. Such environments enable clients to pilot new polices and incubate a competitive business environment, establishing proof of concept and evidence of success that can support broader implementation.

With this offering, leaders are able to:

• Upgrade competitiveness at the national, regional, or cluster level
• Enact cross-cutting policy levers and specific investments to upgrade the overall business environment
• Align key stakeholders around initiatives for economic change
• Obtain measurable improvements on international competitiveness rankings over time