Overview

By keeping records of a company’s formal existence and of land ownership rights, business and land registries play a critical role in any economy’s business environment. Registering a new company or a property right is best done when registry officers are well trained and knowledgeable. A combination of targeted training and effective communication to both civil servants and the public can improve the overall quality of the public goods and services provided by business and land registries.

Business and land registry officers play a key role in facilitating the delivery of high-quality services to new entrepreneurs. The systematic training of registry officers is, therefore, vital for a well-func­tioning registry system and the effective implementation of government policies to promote entrepreneurship.

Main Findings

• Training opportunities at business and land registries are only provided in a limited number of economies.
• Only 24% of the economies measured for this case study legally require professional training for business registry officers.
• Mandatory training for business registry officers is associated with higher business registry efficiency while annual training for land registry officers is also associated with higher land registry efficiency.
• Communication of changes at the business and land registries—through workshops for registry officers and dissemination campaigns for registry users—is associated with a lower transaction completion time.