Published annually since 2003, the Commitment to Development Index reminds the world that reducing poverty in
developing countries is about far more than giving money. The CDI assigns points in seven policy areas: aid (both quantity as a share of income and quality), trade, investment, migration, environment, security, and technology. Within each component, a country receives points for
policies and actions that support poor nations in their efforts to build prosperity, good government, and security. The seven components are averaged for a final score. The scoring adjusts for size in order to discern
how much countries are living up to their potential to help.
2007 CDI Materials
Each year CGD crunches thousands of numbers to compute the CDI. We offer a suite of publications from accessible to technical to
explain the what, why, and how:
- For the basics, visit a country or component page using menus at left. At a country page, you can download a short CDI perrformance review in English or the country's major non-English language(s).
- The CDI postcard (pdf) offers a handy
overview.
- The CDI main report (pdf) provides an expanded view the 2007 scores in individual components and change in component scores over time.
- The 2007 CDI press release (pdf) delivers the news on the
2007 scores.
- El comunicado de prensa (pdf) del CDI 2007 entrega
las noticias de las cuentas del 2007.
- The 2007 CDI slide presentation (ppt)
- The CDI brief (pdf) by David Roodman tours the seven CDI components in seven pages.
- "How Do the BRICs Stack Up?" (pdf) shows what happens if Brazil, Russia, India, and China are added to the CDI's environment component.
- The 2007 technical paper (pdf) by David Roodman details the
design.
- The 2007 spreadsheet (Excel, 2.5MB) contains most
of the formulas and data, back-calculates the 2007 methodology through to 2003, and lets you instantly see the consequences of changing the weights of the
policy components.
- Building and Running an Effective Policy Index by David
Roodman distills lessons from the CDI project.
To request paper copies of these materials for conferences, seminars, or classroom use contact Sarah Jane Hise.
CDI for Africa
The new Commitment to Development Index for Africa adapts the established methodology for the global CDI to focus on in the quantity and quality of aid to Africa, trade barriers to African goods, support for peacekeeping in African countries, and more.
CDI for Africa brief (pdf) by David Roodman tours the seven CDI components in seven pages.
CDI for Africa spreadsheet (Excel, 2MB) contains most of the formulas and data used to calculate CDI for Africa.
CDI for Africa technical description (pdf) by David Roodman details the design.
Background Papers
- Aid component: David Roodman. This paper elaborates on the subcomponent on private charity. The aid component
was influenced by an earlier paper by William Easterly, Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Global Development.
- Trade component: David Roodman. The trade component is influenced by an earlier paper by William Cline, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development.
- Investment component: Theodore Moran, Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Global Development.
- Migration component: Kimberly Hamilton and
Elizabeth Grieco, Migration Policy Institute. A 2006 paper by B. Lindsay Lowell and Victoria Carro of Georgetown
University’s Institute for the Study of International Migration proposes additional migration indicators.
- Environment component: Amy Cassara and Daniel
Prager, World Resources Institute.
- Security component: Michael O'Hanlon and Adriana Lins de Albuquerque, Brookings Institution.
- Technology component: Keith E. Maskus, Professor of Economics, University of Colorado at Boulder. The technology
component was influenced by an earlier paper by Alicia Bannon and David Roodman.
Previous-year Technical Papers and Spreadsheets
