Promoting
a Robust, Inclusive &
Resilient Enterprise
Sector
IRIS implements research, policy reform, and
direct assistance programs to better understand
the potential contribution of micro-, small and
medium enterprises to economic growth and poverty
alleviation, and designs policies and programs
that provide for a more robust, inclusive, and
resilient enterprise sector. Current areas of focus
include:
-
Developing an
enabling business environment — IRIS
helps develop an institutional environment
that maximizes the efficient use of resources
and minimizes distortion of incentives.
-
Improving access to finance —
IRIS works with public and private sector partners throughout the world to develop
legal and regulatory frameworks that facilitate small and microenterprises’ access to business finance.
- Business
development services —
IRIS provides direct assistance to enterprises, supporting groups and entrepreneurs
that create functional links and organizations.
Enabling Business Environment
IRIS research
examines this environment, and our findings
inform our project design and implementation. Economic growth
flows from sustainable entrepreneurship, which
in turn depends on an institutional environment
that allows for efficient use of resources and
minimizes distortion of incentives.
IRIS research
in this area investigates
-
Characteristics -
The specific characteristics of the enabling
environment that can either support or constrain
entrepreneurship
-
Design and sustainability
- How changes in the business environment can
be organized and sustained
-
Policy impact
- The impact of various policy and programmatic
reforms on entrepreneurship
Working with local
reform leaders, IRIS designs and implements policy
reform initiatives aimed at key
legal and regulatory issues, including
More
on developing an Enabling Business Environment.
Access
to Finance
Government policies and practices in
many countries present obstacles to the
development of financial services for
the poor.
IRIS works with policymakers, regulators,
finance providers, and researchers in
many countries, striving to improve legislation,
regulation, and supervision of financial
transactions that benefit micro- and
medium-scale enterprises. IRIS’s
legal
and regulatory efforts are targeted
both at collateral-free transactions
directed at microenterprises by non-governmental
organizations (“microfinance”)
and at collateralized transactions between
commercial banks and small and medium
enterprises.
More
on Access to Finance.
Business Development Services
IRIS provides direct assistance to
enterprises, supporting groups and
entrepreneurs that
IRIS research and technical assistance
are closely intertwined. While providing
assistance, IRIS tests innovative
approaches to working with microenterprises, generating
knowledge about what works and ways
that this understanding can be applied
in other contexts. For example, IRIS
projects have piloted several public-private
partnerships arrangements, which
have served as models for similar groups
in other countries.
More
on Business Development Services.
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