Comprehensive evaluation and spatial-temporal differences analysis of China’s inter-provincial doing business environment based on Entropy-CoCoSo method

• Published in: Frontiers in environmental science 2023-01, Vol.10
• Main Authors: Zhu, Yanmin, Zeng, Shouzhen, Lin, Zhisen, Ullah, Kifayat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CoCoSo; doing business environment; entropy; evaluation index system; spatialtemporal differences analysis
• ISSN: 2296-665X; 2296-665X
• DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2022.1088064

Introduction: The Doing Business environment affects the operation of enterprises in the region and exerts an important impact on economic development, taxation, and employment. Methods: According to the characteristics of large differences in the level of economic development between provinces in China, this study builds a set of scientific and reasonable evaluation index systems of inter-provincial Doing Business environment, including five first-level indicators and 11 second-level indicators. Moreover, this study constructs a comprehensive evaluation model based on the Entropy-CoCoSo framework and explores its application in China’s inter-provincial Doing Business environment evaluation. Results: Based on China’s provincial panel data from 2007 to 2020, the research found that the Doing Business environment of each province has generally improved in recent years, but the inter-provincial differences are more prominent. The western provinces have obvious late-mover advantages. Discussion: Finally, we put forward several targeted suggestions, providing a powerful reference for optimizing China’s Doing Business environment and promoting high-quality economic development.