To this end, it is instructive to note the burden of such bureaucracy: Hausman
et al. (2005) write that while a typical export transaction requires only a single
signature in Germany and only two in Australia, Austria, and Canada, a similar
transaction requires 42 approval signatures in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
40 in Azerbaijan, 39 in Nigeria, and 33 in Mali. It is no wonder that Germany leads
the world in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index. In addition to the
quality of its infrastructure and services, one of the important dimensions along
which countries are scored, is the efficiency of the clearance process by border
control agencies.