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Argentina scores zero in microenterprise ease-of-doing-business index
🇦🇷 Argentina /Economy & Trade

Argentina scores zero in microenterprise ease-of-doing-business index

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Argentina received zero points in a regional index measuring the ease of creating and managing microenterprises.
  • The study, which evaluated 20 Latin American countries, found that digitalization alone does not simplify bureaucratic processes for small businesses.
  • High complexity in formal systems can drive entrepreneurs toward informality, hindering job creation despite microenterprises being key economic drivers.

Argentina scored a dismal zero in the "Simple Microenterprise Index 2026," a new regional study evaluating the conditions for starting, operating, and closing small businesses in Latin America. The study, designed by Gerónimo Frigerio, director general of Consulting Group, assessed 20 countries based on 10 indicators across the entire business lifecycle for companies with up to five employees.

Across the 200 possible responses, only five were affirmative, revealing a regional compliance rate of just 2.5%. Argentina, along with 17 other nations, failed to score any points. Brazil managed three points, while Chile and Mexico each secured one.

Frigerio, a former consultant for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, argued that Latin America has focused on digitalization without true simplification. "When you digitize bureaucracy, you don't necessarily solve the problem. You need to simplify first, then digitize," he told LA NACION.

When you digitize bureaucracy, you don't necessarily solve the problem. You need to simplify first, then digitize.

— Gerónimo FrigerioGerónimo Frigerio, director general of Consulting Group, explained the study's findings on digitalization versus simplification for businesses.

The index highlights informality as a symptom of overly complex systems. Frigerio posits that entrepreneurs often operate informally not by choice, but as a rational response to bureaucratic hurdles. "Informality is a teacher telling you the path to reform. If informality is simpler than formality, it will always win," he stated.

Microenterprises are crucial for job creation in Argentina and Latin America, yet they face regulatory structures often designed for larger corporations. The time and money required for each form, registration, or requirement disproportionately burden small businesses lacking dedicated legal or administrative departments. When the cost of compliance outweighs the perceived benefits of formality, informality becomes an attractive alternative.

Informality is a teacher telling you the path to reform. If informality is simpler than formality, it will always win.

— Gerónimo FrigerioFrigerio discussed how complex formal systems can drive entrepreneurs toward informal operations.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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