Assessing the Provincial Competitiveness Index through the Informal Cost Index

The informal cost index measures the level of unofficial costs that businesses have to pay as well as the obstacles these costs cause to businesses' business activities. The existence of the unofficial cost index is a major barrier in administrative reform activities, as well as an obstacle in attracting investment and economic development, creating inequity in business activities. Through assessing the informal cost index of Thanh Hoa province in the period from 2015 - 2022, consider the reasons leading to this situation of Thanh Hoa province's always low costs compared to provinces in the Central Coastal Delta of Vietnam. For Thanh Hoa province, assessing the informal cost index is the basis for units to review the level of completion of their work, the limitations that need to be overcome, towards creating a favorable business investment environment for businesses.