Stephen Butler is a Principal Research Scientist in the International Projects department of NORC at the University of Chicago. From 1992 to 2007, when he joined NORC, he was engaged in an independent consulting practice in international development, working with the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, Interamerican Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, and USAID. Before starting his international development work he was in private-sector legal practice. He has advised international donor agencies and ministries, central banks and regulatory commissions in 30 transitional and developing countries in five regions, assisting with policy review and development, legislative development, institution building, design and implementation of regulatory action programs, and evaluation of program initiatives. His work has focused on private-sector development, land reform and administration, housing development and finance, and administrative and regulatory barriers to business start-up and investment.
His recent projects have included a survey of 1,000 poor rural women to evaluate of alternative models of microfinance in Mongolia for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; an evaluation of the administrative procedures for land administration and land title registration in Bangladesh for the World Bank Group; a cost-time study of property registration and permit issuance procedures in Lagos, Nigeria, for the International Finance Corporation; and a feasibility study for the International Monetary Fund and Central Bank of Peru on creating a system of housing mortgage bonds in Peru.
Butler has extensive experience in the mapping and evaluation of administrative procedures for the delivery of government services affecting business start up, investment and financial markets, focusing on permits, licenses and registration services (property titles and secured transactions). Using the techniques of in-depth interviewing, focus groups, face-to-face surveys, site visits, application tracking, and extraction of data from administrative files, he has evaluated government delivery of services and benefits using indicators of customer satisfaction and experience, costs, and duration of procedures.