The documented dataset covers Enterprise Survey (ES) panel data collected in Ecuador in 2003, 2006, 2010 and 2017, as part of Latin America and the Caribbean Enterprise Surveys rollout, an initiative of the World Bank. The objective of the Enterprise Survey is to gain an understanding of what firms experience in the private sector as well as to help in building a panel of enterprise data that will make it possible to track changes in the business environment over time, thus allowing, for example, impact assessments of reforms. Enterprise Surveys target a sample consisting of longitudinal (panel) observations and new cross-sectional data. Panel firms are prioritized in the sample selection, comprising up to 50% of the sample. For all panel firms, regardless of the sample, current eligibility or operating status is determined and included in panel datasets. Ecuador ES 2010 was conducted in June 2010 October 2010, Ecuador ES 2017 was carried out in March October 2017. Stratified random sampling was used to select the surveyed businesses. Data was collected using face-to-face interviews. Data from 1,838 establishments was analyzed: 272 businesses were from 2003 only, 335 firms were from 2006 only, 152 from 2010 only, 275 from 2017 only, 74 firms were from 2010 and 2017, 204 from 2006 and 2010, 36 firms were from 2003, 2006, 2010 and 2017. The standard Enterprise Survey topics include firm characteristics, gender participation, access to finance, annual sales, costs of inputs and labor, workforce composition, bribery, licensing, infrastructure, trade, crime, competition, capacity utilization, land and permits, taxation, informality, business-government relations, innovation and technology, and performance measures. Over 90 percent of the questions objectively measure characteristics of a country’s business environment. The remaining questions assess the survey respondents’ opinions on what are the obstacles to firm growth and performance.
