The MCA uses a three step process to select eligible countries:
- Identify candidate countries: The MCA defines a pool of candidate countries based primarily on their annual per capita income level. FY 2008 marks the third year that the MCA can select eligible countries from two distinct groups: a low-income country group (per capita income below $1,735) and a lower middle-income country group (per capita income between $1,736 and $3,595).
- Apply selection criteria: The MCA uses seventeen indicators in three categories – ruling justly, economic freedom, and investing in people – to measure the candidate countries against each other. Countries must be above the median score on half of the indicators in each category, as well as in control of corruption, to be eligible for the MCA. To pass the inflation indicator, a country’s inflation rate must be under 15%, rather than the median.
- Board discretion: The MCA board of directors reserves the right to exercise discretion in the selection process, considering gaps, lags or weaknesses in data; if a country performs substantially below the median on any indicator; and additional qualitative information.
Countries that do not qualify for the MCA but are judged by the MCC board to be making progress in the indicators they fail to pass, are included in the Threshold Program.
What's New on Country Selection:
The FY 2008 selection process incorporates changes to the indicators. It is the first round to incorporate the two new measurements adopted on November 12 by the Board of Directors - a Natural Resource Management index in the investing in people category and a Land Rights and Access index in the economic freedom category. Two previous indicators, Cost of Starting a Business and Days to Start a Business, were also combined into one Business Start-Up indicator for round five of the MCA.
CGD Work on MCA Country Selection
- Round Five of the MCA: Which Countries are Most Likely to be Selected for FY2008?, by Sheila Herrling and Steve Radelet (11/26/2007)
- Investing in People by Investing in Data: How Best to Incorporate the New MCA Eligibility Indicators, by Sarah Rose, Sheila Herrling and Steve Radelet (8/27/2007)
- Expand and Enhance: A Proposal to Strengthen the MCA Eligibility Process When Adding the Natural Resources Indicators, by Steve Radelet, Sheila Herrling and Sarah Rose (1/24/2007) Companion spreadsheet (xls)(403kb)
- Adding Natural Resource Indicators: An Opportunity to Strengthen the MCA Eligibility Process, by Steve Radelet, Sarah Rose, and Sheila Herrling, updated version (11/7/2006)
- Round Four of the MCA: Which Countries are Most Likely to be Selected for FY 2007?, by Sheila Herrling, Steve Radelet, and Sarah Rose (10/30/2006)
- Will Politics Encroach in the MCA FY2007 Selection Round? The Cases of Jordan and Indonesia, by Sheila Herrling, Steve Radelet, and Sarah Rose (10/30/2006)
- Round Three of the MCA: Which Countries Are Most Likely to Qualify in FY 2006? (PDF) Revised 10/27/05 Data* used in this paper (Excel file, 612 KB)
*The data is also available directly from the MCC’s website.
- The New Global Governance Indicators and the Possible Impact on MCA Qualification by Steve Radelet, Bilal Siddiqi, and Mvemba Dizolele (May 17, 2005)
- 2004 MCA Threshold Program: A Comment on Country Selection by Steve Radelet, Sarah Lucas and Rikhil Bhavnani (October 27, 2004)
- Round Two of the MCA: Which Countries are Most Likely to Qualify by Steve Radelet and Rikhil Bhavnani (October 12, 2004)
- Review the CGD's compilation of data for the 2005 selection process
- A note on the MCC selection process for 2005 by Steve Radelet (September 23, 2004)
- An MCA Scorecard: Who Qualified, Who Did Not, and the MCC Board's Use of Discretion by Sarah Lucas and Steve Radelet (May 28, 2004)
- Review the CGD's compilation of data for the 2004 selection process
- Qualifying for the MCA: An Update by Steve Radelet (April 22, 2004)
- A Comment on the Millennium Challenge Account Selection Process by Steve Radelet, Sarah Lucas, and Rikhil Bhavnani (March 9, 2004)
- The Millennium Challenge Account: Transforming US Foreign Assistance Policy? by Steve Radelet (2004)
- Bush and Foreign Aid by Steve Radelet (Reprinted by permission of FOREIGN AFFAIRS, © 2003 by the Council on Foreign Relations.)
- Challenging Foreign Aid: A Policymaker's Guide to the Millennium Challenge Account by Steven Radelet (May 2003)
- The Millennium Challenge Account: Soft Power or Collateral Damage? by Steven Radelet and Sheila Herrling ( April 1, 2003)
- Will the Millennium Challenge Account Be Different? by Steve Radelet (The Washington Quarterly, Spring 2003)
- Qualifying for the Millennium Challenge Account by Steve Radelet (December 13, 2002)
- Selecting For Success and Reaching the Poorest: MCA Eligibility Criteria Can Do Both by Nancy Birdsall (October 28, 2002)
- On Eligibility Criteria for the Millennium Challenge Account by Nancy Birdsall, Ruth Levine, Sarah Lucas and Sonal Shah (September 12, 2002)
Other Reources
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