Source:
IFIs Latin American Monitor
Fri Aug 10 2007
In the last World Bank report, "Governance Matters, 2007: Worldwide Governance Indicators 1996-2006", the institution shows data on governance in 212 countries all over the world. Although the report fails to show data in terms of "the most corrupt countries", nor is it particularly focused in this sense, the alphabetical list allows to sort countries according to this indicator. The publication of this report brought reactions both within and outside the Bank, particularly from officials in Argentina, Mexico, China and Russia.
In the last World Bank report, "Governance Matters, 2007: Worldwide Governance Indicators 1996-2006"), the institution shows data on governance in 212 countries all over the world. Governance, understood as the art or way of governing, is analysed by the World Bank through six indicators: control of corruption; regulatory quality; freedom of expression; rule of law; political stability; and quality of public services.
Given the fact that the World Bank Research Department has been measuring these indicators for ten years, the series allows to compare different performances.
Although the report fails to show data in terms of "the most corrupt countries", nor is it particularly focused in this sense, the alphabetical list allows to sort countries according to this indicator.
The top-ranked Latin American countries in terms of corruption are Haiti, Venezuela and Paraguay. Other countries in the region that also show problems in this regard are Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Guatemala, Bolivia, Argentina, Peru, Mexico and Brazil.
In opposite positions, that is, the countries that have been more successful in controlling corruption than the world average are Costa Rica, Uruguay, the United States, Chile and Canada. According to this ranking, Finland is the least corrupt country in the world.
With regards to government quality, the world average has not improved much over the past decade, despite individual country improvements. Some of the most remarkable improvements took place in African and Asian countries, in areas such as "accountability", "political stability", "government effectiveness", "regulatory quality and rule of law". However, for the countries that have done well, there have been a similar number that have experienced deterioration, among them Zimbabwe, Cote D’Ivoire, Belarus and Venezuela.
Daniel Kaufmann, World Bank official who headed this study, explained that the database was built on surveys performed among thousands of citizens, executives and experts worldwide, being compiled by 33 organisations, including Latinobarómetro and Freedom House.
In spite of the information resulting from surveys, and of the officials and organisations working in the process, it is worth wondering about the moral authority of the World Bank institution to measure global corruption. Less than four months ago, the president of the Bank itself had to resign, owing to problems of nepotism, and the legitimacy of the institution has been weakened, either as a result of the way it is being managed or owing to the orientation of its policies.
Some repercussions
The publication of this report brought reactions both within and outside the Bank, particularly from officials in Argentina, Mexico, China and Russia.
The report of Argentina showed that government quality was better in 1998, at the end of Menem’s administration, than in 2006 under Néstor Kirchner. It also indicates a decrease in terms of "regulatory quality" and "government responsibility". In view of these data, the Argentine representative to the World Bank, Félix Alberto Camarasa, signed a letter of protest against the report’s conclusions, together with other nine Bank directors whose countries are indebted to the institution.
As stated by said representatives in the letter, the signatories are opposed to the publication of this type of reports by the Bank, since in spite of not being an official document it is produced by World Bank experts and has significant influence on international financial institutions and foreign investors involved in development.
The Argentine letter was submitted to the World Bank president on the eve of Felisa Miceli’s resignation to the Economy Ministry, being investigated over alleged irregularities.
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