How firms cope with crime and violence : experiences from around the world / Michael Goldberg, Kwang Wook Kim, and Maria Ariano [electronic resource]

SIP1405

The World Bank’s World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security, and Development identified a significant knowledge gap concerning the impact of crime and violence on the private sector. Although researchers have examined crime and violence thoroughly resulting from some perspectives—such as youth and crime issues or the rule of law—little work has been done on
how private businesses cope. Crime and violence inflict high costs on the private sector—costs that are rising globally, according to the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys, discussions
with chambers and associations, and the Bank’s Country Partnership Strategies, which reference the losses in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). In Latin America and the Caribbean, for example, losses crime and violence have been
estimated at 9 percent of GDP in Honduras, 7.7 percent in El Salvador, and 3.6 percent in Costa Rica. In sectors such as clothing assembly, international purchasers can shift know-how and capital quickly to less violent destinations, while other sectors such as extractive industries are more likely to stay despite rising violence. Behind the statistics are human costs: lost jobs; shifting of businesses’ working capital from productive uses to security firms; and an increase in contraband, fraud and corruption, and “rule of law” issues. In this book, original case studies from Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, Nepal, and Rwanda illustrate the specific challenges to businesses and the coping mechanisms that firms and groups of firms have used successfully against crime and violence. The book’s findings have implications for the private sector, governments, and the World Bank’s efforts to support both under difficult circumstances.

Ahead of title: Directions in Development. Private sector development

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