This year’s updated version of the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) compiled by World Bank researchers shows many developing country governments making important gains in control of corruption, and some of them matching rich country performance in overall governance measures.
“Some countries are making rapid progress in governance, including in Africa, showing that a measure of ‘Afro-optimism’ is called for”, says Daniel Kaufmann, co-author of the report and director of governance at the World Bank Institute, while acknowledging that the data also shows large variation in performance across countries, and even among neighbors within each continent. “Progress reflects reforms in those countries where political leaders, policymakers, civil society and the private sector view good governance and corruption control as crucial for sustained and shared growth.”
Good governance can be found at all income levels, with some emerging economies matching the performance of rich countries on key dimensions of governance. Over a dozen emerging countries, including Slovenia, Chile, Botswana, Estonia, Uruguay, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Mauritius, and Costa Rica score higher on key dimensions of governance than industrialized countries such as Greece or Italy. And in many cases these differences are statistically significant.