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
- 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
- 2007 Technical Paper by David Roodman
- 2006 Technical Paper by David Roodman
- 2005 Technical Paper by David Roodman
- 2004 Technical Paper by David Roodman
- 2003 Technical Paper by Nancy Birdsall and David Roodman
- 2007 spreadsheet (original 2007 methodology, Excel,
2.5Mb)
- 2006 spreadsheet (original 2006 methodology, Excel,
2Mb)
- 2005 spreadsheet (original 2005
methodology, Excel, 1Mb)
- 2004 spreadsheet (original 2004
methodology, Excel, 574Kb)
- 2003 spreadsheet (original 2003
methodology, Excel, 3Mb)
