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Global Development Matters
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Inside the Index

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.

2008 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. At a country page, you can download a short CDI performance 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 of the 2008 scores on individual components and change in component scores over time.
  • The 2008 CDI press release (pdf) delivers the news on the 2008 scores.
  • The 2008 CDI slide presentation (ppt)
  • The CDI brief (pdf) by David Roodman tours the seven CDI components in seven pages.
  • The 2008 technical paper (pdf) by David Roodman details the design.
  • The 2008 spreadsheet (Excel, 5MB) contains most of the formulas and data, back-calculates the 2008 methodology through to 2003, and lets you instantly see the consequences of changing the weights of the policy components.
  • The 2008 regional results summary (Excel, 1MB) gives summary data on 6 regional CDIs which show results with respect to the different developing world regions.
  • 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 Staats.

Background Papers

Previous-year Technical Papers and Spreadsheets