The World Bank have contracted with the Small Business Research Centre (SBRC) to provide input into their thinking around the ‘social benefits’ of regulation, to ensure their metrics on, for example, the cost of doing business are more rigorously constructed. Professor Mark Hart forms part of this research team. The invitation was prompted by a recent paper by the team on the ‘Burden or Benefit: Regulation as a dynamic influence on small business’ published in the International Small Business Journal.