In 2005, the first sub-national study on the ease of doing business in Latin America compared 12 Mexican states and Mexico City. The study created fierce competition to build the best business environment.

      Regulatory reform has been brisk. The states have simplified business regulations, strengthened property rights and improved access to credit. Aguascalientes was the top performer last year and earned the top rank again this year in the World Bank’s Doing Business In Mexico report. Querétaro, the lowest ranked overall performer last year, created a public-private task force dedicated to improving its benchmarks and systematically studied bottlenecks, proposed reforms and measured progress. The reforms helped Querétaro climb nine ranks over last year. Now the state holds rank number 7 out of 31 states and Mexico City on the ease of doing business in Mexico.

      Like in the rest of the world, the most popular reform in Mexico in 2005-2006 was easing the regulations on starting a business. But reforms also took place in property registration and enforcing contracts.

      Three of the top six performers this year are new states: Sonora, which ranks fourth, Campeche in fifth place and Zacatecas in sixth. Sonora and Campeche are especially efficient when it comes to property registration, ranking first and second in that indicator. Zacatecas stands out both in the ease of registering collateral to access credit, as well as in the ease of enforcing contracts, where it is the top performer.

      Procedures to start a business in Mexico are similar across states. It takes on average nine procedures, 36 days and 20.4 percent of GDP per capita. It is easiest in Aguascalientes and Nuevo León and most difficult in Veracruz.

            Opening a business takes 12 days in Aguascalientes and Guanajuato compared to 69 days in Quintana Roo. Aguascalientes and Guanajuato are faster than the OECD average — 16 days — and would rank...

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