The Impact of Business Regulatory Quality on Private Sector Investment in Botswana

Abstract

A market-friendly regulatory environment is key for private sector investment. In this paper, we examine the impact of business regulatory quality on private sector investment in Botswana. The paper finds that the business regulatory environment stimulates private sector investment in the long term and this phenomenon occurs when the quality of bureaucracy improves, among other factors. Other critical factors affecting private sector investment examined in this paper include; corporate credit, output and public infrastructure investment. Private sector investment responds positively to increases in corporate credit in the short term but not responsive in the long term. Economic activities support private sector investment positively but weak. On the other hand, public infrastructure investment crowds in(out) investment in the short and long term respectively. Policy wise, Botswana should further deepen its efforts towards creating a market-friendly regulatory environment and also consider how business regulatory quality interact with other policy variables for better investment and growth outcomes.