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Measuring the impact of business on development

Article - ODI Opinions 101, April 2008

Measuring the impact of business on development
  • Authors: Caroline Ashley
  • International businesses are exploring how they can boost their impact on local economies in developing countries. While the business benefits of such efforts are relatively well-documented, it is harder to capture the benefits for development. More work is needed to find ways to measure the development impact of businesses, even though many of these benefits may be dynamic and unquantifiable. The best examples of business impact on development use corporate investment as a springboard for local enterprise.