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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.

2009 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:

Multimedia Features

The CDI postcard (pdf) offers a handy overview.

The CDI brief (pdf) provides the 2009 scores and tours the seven CDI components.

The 2009 CDI press release (pdf) delivers the news on the 2009 scores.

The 2009 slide presentation (ppt)

The 2009 technical paper (pdf) by David Roodman details the design.

The 2009 spreadsheet (Excel, 5MB) contains most of the formulas and data, back-calculates the 2009 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 John Osterman.

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. A 2007 paper by David Roodman adds the BRICs to the environment component to see how these countries stack up.

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.