UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA – FACULTY OF ECONOMICS
GRADUATE PROGRAMME
COURSE: CORRUPTION AND DEVELOPMENT
MENTORS: SANDRA DAMIJAN M.SC., JOŽE DAMIJAN PH.D.
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2013/2014
Corruption and development
Seminar paper
Good governance and reducing uncertainty of
doing business
AUTHORS:
ALJAŽ BEŠTER CERAR
ANDREJA LONČAR
ALENKA ČOK
LJUBLJANA, 28.5. 2014
Summary
This paper examines the theoretical background of the good governance concept, its
applications towards improving the business environment along with some practical examples
from Singapore, Denmark and Botswana.
The first part of the paper explores the past and the present definitions of good
governance and the difficulties associated with this process. During this part we frequently
mention the “figure of speech” nature of the concept due to its numerous definitions and
inconsistencies regarding its purpose.
We examined and presented most of the known good governance components and their
intended causality relationship with foreign direct investment (FDI), which in our case
represents the proxy for the uncertainty/certainty of doing business. In addition to the
components, we present indicators that serve as a measurement tool for the effectiveness of
good governance. We complete our “cause-and-effect” cycle with the linkage of indicators to
FDI. As always the causality effect remains hidden, especially if we postulate that international
aid does not count as an element of FDI. We finish the theoretical part with the thought that
the proponents of good governance do not necessarily subscribe to its principles themselves.
The second part of the study deals with practical examples of good governance
programmes that lead to the improvement of the business environment. The first case presented
is Singapore that against all odds became a trading giant. Due to its paternalistic political
system and the absence of a private sector, the state had the ability to enjoy an...