The larger emerging markets did not do very well: China ranked 90th, while Brazil ranked 120th and India at 142nd, below the troubled economies of Russia and Greece, which ranked 62nd and 61st respectively.  Eritrea, where it takes an average of 84 days to start up a new business, ranked last followed by Libya (188th), and the Central African Republic (187th).  However, the compilers of the rankings noted that their analysis uses a narrow spectrum of parameters and does not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors.  The quality of fiscal management and other aspects of macro-economic stability like the levels of skills in the labor force or the resilience of a country's financial system, are not considered.  Read MoreFamily business: Trust can be thinner than blood  East Asia and the Pacific saw a marked improvement in business conditions over the past year, according to Rita Ramalho, lead author of the report: "Consistent regulatory reforms have improved the ease of doing business in the region in the past decade, and contributed to more business opportunities for local entrepreneurs."  In Vietnam, ranked 78th, a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 22 percent from 25 percent this year gave start-ups a boost, while China enhanced its electronic filing and payment system and made business incorporation less expensive.  Read MoreChallenges China faces for its future: Kevin Rudd  In Mongolia - one of the world's fastest expanding economies - local businesses saw the average time for tax compliance fall to 148 hours from 192 hours over the course of 2013, a shorter time than Austria, for example. It ranked 72nd.
Singapore topped the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings for the ninth consecutive year, according to a report, released Wednesday.