France is good for business

FRANCE came third behind Singapore and Canada as the most-competitive place to run a business according to research from KPMG.

The accountancy firm measured 27 different costs, including labour, benefits, business facilities, taxes and utilities in 128 cities around the world.

Singapore was the cheapest, where costs were 22 per cent lower than in the United States, followed by Canada and then France, whose costs were 4 per cent lower than the US.

Following France were the Netherlands, Italy, and Great Britain, whilst in seventh place came the US.

Comments

[Geoff]

Are KPMG completely mad? How on earth do they come to the conclusion that France is an ideal counrty to set-up a business. All I can assume by this illogical reasoning is that all of the staff of KPMG are on an LSD trip! It's the only explanation for such craziness. Before anybody says anything about my comments, I live and work here and have set up my own business. I know what I'm talking about.

Geoff

[Ted]

First, try reading before sounding off; the KPMG report didn't say that France was "an ideal country to set up a business." Its report was not about anything so vague, it was about costs for businesses in a range of counries, i.e. something that can be measured easily, and your personal experience of business in France is of little relevance.

"KPMG's 2006 Competitive Alternatives study measured 27 cost components – including labour, taxes, real estate, and utilities – as applied to business operations in nine countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. The research included an analysis of these costs in 128 cities worldwide. The study's basis for comparison was the after-tax cost of startup and operation for 17 types of business, over a 10-year planning horizon."

It's unlikely that a major accounting firm would have got these figures wrong, even if they come as a surprise to you:

"France and Netherlands ranks third and fourth respectively, with overall business costs lower than in all other European countries, and a cost advantage of approximately 4.4 percent over the US.
Italy and the United Kingdom rank fifth and sixth respectively, with business costs approximately 2 percent below the seventh ranked United States."

http://www.kpmg.ca/en/news/pr20060321.html

Maybe you should read the report before condemning it. If you have any actual evidence contradicting their findngs - about the specific things they studied - let us know.