Measurement Frontiers
« Previous EntriesDesastres Naturales y Deberes Nacionales: El Terremoto de Chile en una Perspectiva Internacional
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 Un enfoque amplio de gobernabilidad comparativa conlleva a nuestra conclusión de que Chile ha respondido relativamente bien al mega-terremoto, a pesar de errores serios en la etapa inicial. Identificamos logros, errores, y desafíos en la reacción frente al terremoto, los cuales constituyen una oportunidad de reforma para el país.
Traducción del artículo “Natural Disasters, National Diligence: The Chilean Earthquake in Perspective”, por D. Kaufmann y [...]
Natural Disasters, National Diligence: The Chilean Earthquake in Perspective
Saturday, March 6th, 2010 The Chilean earthquake that hit during the early morning hours of February 27 has brought searing images of devastation; and international news coverage has shown scenes of looting and arson incidents occurring in its immediate aftermath. In Chile, criticism of the government’s response is widespread.
Many are wondering whether numerous deaths and severe destruction could [...]
National Disasters Today Provide Governance Lessons
Monday, March 1st, 2010 Let us consider three countries:
Country 1: Its approach to industrialization has relied heavily on a very large public sector that accounts for well over 40 percent of GDP, and on aid financing from richer countries. The country has no fiscal discipline, running a deficit exceeding 13 percent of GDP. Rather, leaders have focused more [...]
Misrule of Law Matters: Time to Reboot?
Thursday, January 21st, 2010A full fledged reboot of the Rule of Law and the Law and Development fields may be salutary, and it may also improve aid effectiveness. I am not a legal scholar, but alongside many legal experts was invited to join a Symposium on the Future of Law and Development. Valuable contributions ensued, now [...]
Haiti: Rescue, Recovery, and Effective Development Aid
Monday, January 18th, 2010We are pained about the death toll and human suffering in Haiti and we share their sorrow. With the exception of the tsunami in Asia, this tragedy is unprecedented in recent memory in a country not at war. Current technology makes the devastation and death instantly clear around the globe. Such technology also enables [...]
Will Profiling Make our Skies Safer?: A Governance Perspective on New TSA Guidelines
Thursday, January 7th, 2010Since profiling impinges on civil liberties, it bears a negative connotation particularly when narrowly based on nationality, race or religion. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has just instituted a nationality-based criterion, under which travelers from a list of 14 countries are subject to special airport screening procedures. Controversy has naturally ensued.
According to a TSA [...]
Power shifting back from Washington to New York: Recapture of the State in the offing?
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009Imagine you hold a very high position in the US Government, in Washington, DC. And you believe it is important to talk to the top Wall Street bankers, to nudge them to be more modest about their bonuses, and more generous about their lending. You call a meeting with these top bankers in Washington. [...]
International Anti-Corruption Day 2009: An Hour of Silence to Reflect and Reboot
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 As Wednesday, December 9th dawns, there is a dim reminder that one is supposed to ‘celebrate’ International Anti-Corruption. ‘Dim reminder’ to ‘celebrate’ in quotation marks indeed, because unfortunately anti-corruption continues to be largely in the back-burner for most world powers, for most international institutions, and for many of their leaders.
Or worse…
Corruption Index today, Development Aid Reform tomorrow?
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009Transparency International (TI), the international anti-corruption NGO, just released its annual corruption perceptions index (CPI). No big surprises. This is no surprise. Corruption does not tend to change dramatically from one year to the next. Yet it is certainly worth reviewing the new data…
Corrupción en el mundo de hoy según Transparencia Internacional
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Según el índice de corrupción anual de TI, o Transparencia Internacional, publicado hoy, Nueva Zelandia, Dinamarca, Singapur, Suecia, Suiza y Finlandia encabezan la lista de los países menos corruptos.
El índice de TI incluye a 180 países y se basa en datos provistos por 10 organizaciones. Como siempre, algunos países en [...]
G-20 Global Governance: better than their National Governance?
Sunday, October 11th, 2009 Thanks for bearing with me during my recent blogging absence. I am now back, and posted this entry after the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit in the newly unveiled blog at Brookings, where I work.
The G-20 had just finished their third meeting, and there was a lot of buzz surrounding the demise of the G8 [...]
Arab Human Development Report 2009: Will improvement in Voice and Rights come from within?
Friday, July 31st, 2009A few weeks ago Obama went to Ghana and delivered a major speech to Africa. He spoke candidly about the dire governance challenges faced by many countries in the continent. I also noted that Obama was not explicit about the implications of his message for rethinking donor aid strategies to the continent. Hopefully such [...]
Fighting Corruption when the World is Flat: from Namibia to China
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009Namibia is one of the countries in Africa that has been serious about governance. We see this in the latest Governance Indicators. Such commitment to good governance includes anti-corruption efforts.
Yet often it is hard to figure out where fighting corruption may lead to, in today’s globalized world. A large bribery case is being investigated in [...]
Obama on Governance and Corruption in Africa: A message to aid donors as well?
Saturday, July 11th, 2009An editorial and an article in the New York Times (NYT) a month ago raised eyebrows amond aid donors because of the criticism about corruption in some African countries, and the donor responsibility about it. Official aid agencies may be used to get such criticism from conservative media, such as Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, but not [...]
Indicadores Mundiales de Gobernabilidad 2009
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009Acabamos de salir a la luz con los Indicadores Mundiales de Gobernabilidad 2009, y con el nuevo reporte ‘Governance Matters’. El resumen en español, el reporte, y los datos estan aqui.
In French, here.
In Arabic, here.
In Japanese, here.
In Chinese (last year), here.
In Russian (last year), here.
In Português (last year), here.
For access to the most current Worldwide Governance [...]