For decades, business leaders have complained that California’s regulatory climate has overburdened companies across the state, blaming a morass of rules, permits and paperwork for pushing businesses and jobs out of state and holding back economic growth. To help measure the impact of the regulations, the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, sought to compare the number of business requirements in the state with those in other parts of the country. In a new report, researchers with the PPIC found that while California is not an outlier nationwide when it comes to state and local business regulations, it has by far the most specific constraints on businesses — defined as regulations containing the words  “shall,” “must,” “may not,” “required” and “prohibited.” Researchers found states with more of these types of strict regulations — ranging from environmental standards to consumer safety protections — tend to see fewer new businesses forming, though the report stopped short of establishing a definitive causal relationship.