Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-f97m6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-15T01:58:32.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Race to the Top? The Aid Transparency Index and the Social Power of Global Performance Indicators

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 July 2019

Dan Honig  and
Catherine Weaver
Get access

Abstract

Recent studies on global performance indicators (GPIs) reveal the distinct power that nonstate actors can accrue and exercise in world politics. How and when does this happen? Using a mixed-methods approach, we examine the impact of the Aid Transparency Index (ATI), an annual rating and rankings index produced by the small UK-based NGO Publish What You Fund. The ATI seeks to shape development aid donors' behavior with respect to their transparency—the quality and kind of information they publicly disclose. To investigate the ATI's effect, we construct an original panel data set of donor transparency performance before and after ATI inclusion (2006–2013) to test whether (and which) donors alter their behavior in response to inclusion in the ATI. To further probe the causal mechanisms that explain variations in donor behavior we use qualitative research, including over 150 key informant interviews conducted between 2010 and 2017. Our analysis uncovers the conditions under which the ATI influences powerful aid donors. Our mixed-methods evidence reveals how this happens. Consistent with Kelley and Simmons's central argument that GPIs exercise influence via social pressure, we find that the ATI shapes donor behavior primarily via direct effects on elites: the diffusion of professional norms, organizational learning, and peer pressure.

Keywords

Global performance indicatorsaid transparencynorm diffusion

Information

Type
Symposium
Information
International Organization , Volume 73 , Issue 3 , Summer 2019 , pp. 579 - 610
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Andreas, Peter, and Greenhill, Kelly M.. 2011. Sex, Drugs, and Body Counts: The Politics of Numbers in Global Crime and Conflict. Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Bent, Rodney. 2015. A Sad State of Affairs: Is Transparency a Solution? Publish What You Fund (blog), 23 September. Available at <http://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/updates/by-country/us/state-transparency-solution/>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Bisbee, James H., Hollyer, James R., Peter Rosendorff, B., and Vreeland, James Raymond. 2019. The Millennium Development Goals and Education: Accountability and Substitution in Global Assessment. International Organization 73 (3). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818319000109>>Google Scholar
Bhushan, Aniket, and Bond, Rebekka. 2013. Open Data, Transparency and International Development. Summary Report for the North-South Institute, November. Available at <http://www.nsi-ins.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2013-Open-Data-Summary-Report.pdf>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Broome, André, and Quirk, Joel. 2015. Governing the World at a Distance: The Practice of Global Benchmarking. Review of International Studies 41 (5):819–41.Google Scholar
Buntaine, Mark T. 2016. Giving Aid Effectively. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Carothers, Thomas, and Brechenmacher, Saskia. 2014. Accountability, Transparency, Participation and Inclusion: A New Development Consensus? Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Available at <http://carnegieendowment.org/files/new_development_consensus.pdf>. Accessed 1 September 2015..+Accessed+1+September+2015.>Google Scholar
Carter, Becky. 2014. Transparency and Accountability. GPSA Knowledge Platform, 28 January. Available at <http://gpsaknowledge.org/knowledge-repository/transparency-and-accountability/#.V0tHy5MrJBI>. Accessed 28 May 2016..+Accessed+28+May+2016.>Google Scholar
Clare, Ali, Verhulst, Stefaan, and Young, Andrew. 2016. OpenAid in Sweden: Enhanced Transparency and Accountability in Development Cooperation. Report for the GovLab, in collaboration with the Omidyar Network. Available at <http://odimpact.org/case-openaid-in-sweden.html>. Accessed 9 February 2016..+Accessed+9+February+2016.>Google Scholar
Collin, Matt, Asma, Zubairi, Daniel, Nielson and Owen, Barder. 2009. The Costs and Benefits of Aid Transparency: A Draft Analytical Framework. Available at <https://iatistandard.org/documents/482/1140-100407-Framework-for-Costs-and-Benefits-of-transparency-with-Annexes.pdf>..>Google Scholar
Cooley, Alex, and Snyder, Jack, eds. 2015. Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Council of the European Union. 2011. EU Common Position for the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. Available at <https://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/126060.pdf>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Darby, Sefton. 2010. Natural Resource Governance: New Frontiers in Transparency and Accountability. Transparency and Accountability Initiative, Open Society Foundation. Available at <http://www.transparency-initiative.org/uncategorized/613/natural-resource-governance-new-frontiers-in-transparency-and-accountability/>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
David, Kevin E., Fisher, Angelina, Kingsbury, Benedict, and Merry, Sally Engle, eds. 2012. Governance by Indicators: Global Power Through Classification and Rankings. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Davies, Tim. 2014. Open Data in Developing Countries: Emerging Insights from Phase I. World Wide Web Foundation. Available at <http://www.opendataresearch.org/content/2014/704/open-data-developing-countries-emerging-insights-phase-i>..>Google Scholar
Davies, Timothy, Fernando, Perini, and Alonso, Jose. 2013. Researching the Emerging Impacts of Open Data. World Wide Web Foundation. Available at <http://www.opendataresearch.org/sites/default/files/posts/Researching%20the%20emerging%20impacts%20of%20open%20data.pdf>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Doshi, Rush, Kelley, Judith G., and Simmons, Beth A.. 2019. The Power of Ranking: The Ease of Doing Business Indicator as a Form of Social Pressure. International Organization 73 (3). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818319000158>>Google Scholar
Engel, Susan. 2014. The Not-So-Great Aid Debate. Third World Quarterly 35 (8):1374–89.Google Scholar
Espeland, Wendy Nelson, and Sauder, Michael. 2007. Rankings and Reactivity: How Public Measures Recreate Social Worlds. American Journal of Sociology 113 (1):1–40.Google Scholar
Florini, Ann. 2007. The Right to Know: Transparency for an Open World. Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Friends of Publish What You Fund. 2016. How Can Data Revolutionize Development? Putting Data at the Center of US Global Development—An Assessment of US Foreign Aid Transparency. Available at <http://media.wix.com/ugd/9a0ffd_2ce18150803b48989905acabf9bb91d6.pdf>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Gaventa, John, and McGee, Rosemary. 2013. The Impact of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives. Development Policy Review 31 (S1):S3–28.Google Scholar
George, Hannah. 2012. Raising the Bar on Transparency, Accountability and Openness. World Bank's Inside the Web (blog). 16 February. Available at <http://blogs.worldbank.org/insidetheweb/raising-the-bar-on-transparency-accountability-and-openness>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Gilardi, Fabrizio. 2002. Policy Credibility and Delegation to Independent Regulatory Agencies: A Comparative Empirical Analysis. Journal of European Public Policy 9 (6):873–93.Google Scholar
Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation. 2014. 2014 Progress Report: Making Development Cooperation More Effective. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations Development Program.Google Scholar
Gulrajani, Nilima. 2011. Transcending the Great Foreign Aid Debate: Managerialism, Radicalism and the Search for Aid Effectiveness. Third World Quarterly 32 (2):199–216.Google Scholar
Gutman, Jeffrey, and Horton, Claire. 2015. Accessibility and Effectiveness of Donor Disclosure Policies: When Disclosure Clouds Transparency. Global Economy and Development Working Paper 85. Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Hamilton, Joni. 2015. USAID's Strategic Approach to Improving IATI Compliance. 13 August. Available at <http://www.aidtransparency.net/news/usaids-strategic-approach-to-improving-iati-compliance>. Accessed 9 February 2016..+Accessed+9+February+2016.>Google Scholar
Hainmueller, Jens, Mummolo, Jonathan, and Xu, Yiqing. 2019. How Much Should We Trust Estimates from Multiplicative Interaction Models? Simple Tools to Improve Empirical Practice. Political Analysis 27 (2):163–92.Google Scholar
Hanlon, Joseph, Barrientos, Armando, and Hulme, David. 2010. Just Give Money to the Poor: The Development Revolution from the Global South. Kumarian Press.Google Scholar
Hansen, Heather, and Marschner, Catherine. 2015. Millennium Challenge Corporation: Principles into Practice. Washington, DC: Millennium Challenge Corporation. Available at <https://assets.mcc.gov/content/uploads/2017/05/paper-2015001163301-principles-transparency.pdf>. Accessed 27 February 2019..+Accessed+27+February+2019.>Google Scholar
Hawkins, Darren, Lake, David A., Nielson, Daniel L., and Tierney, Michael J., eds. 2006. Delegation Under Anarchy: States, International Organizations and Principal-Agent Theory. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Herrling, Sheila. 2015. The Business Proposition of Open Aid Data: Why Every US Agency Should Default to Transparency. Publish What You Fund (blog), 30 June. Available at <http://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/updates/by-country/us/business-proposition-open-aid-data-why-every-u-s-agency-should-default-transparency/>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Hollyer, James R., Rosendorff, B. Peter, and Vreeland, James Raymond. 2011. Democracy and Transparency. Journal of Politics 73 (4):1191–205.Google Scholar
Hollyer, James R., Rosendorff, B. Peter, and Vreeland, James Raymond. 2014. Measuring Transparency. Political Analysis 22 (4):413–34.Google Scholar
Hollyer, James R., Rosendorff, B. Peter, and Vreeland, James Raymond. 2015. Transparency, Protest, and Autocratic Instability. American Political Science Review 109 (4):764–84.Google Scholar
Hollyer, James R., Rosendorff, B. Peter, and Vreeland, James Raymond. 2018a. Information, Democracy, and Autocracy: Economic Transparency and Political (In)Stability. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hollyer, James R., Rosendorff, B. Peter, and Vreeland, James Raymond. 2018b. Transparency, Protest and Democratic Stability. British Journal of Political Science. Published online 2 February, <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123417000308>..>Google Scholar
Honig, Dan. 2018. Navigation by Judgment: Why and When Top-Down Control of Foreign Aid Doesn't Work. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Honig, Dan. 2019. When Reporting Undermines Performance: The Costs of Politically Constrained Autonomy in Foreign Aid Implementation. International Organization 73 (1):171–201.Google Scholar
Hudson, Alan. 2014. Opening Government: What Does the Data Say? Global Integrity (blog), 9 May. Available at <https://www.globalintegrity.org/2014/05/09/opening-government-what-does-the-data-say/>. Accessed 27 February 2019..+Accessed+27+February+2019.>Google Scholar
Ingram, George. 2015. Making Aid Transparency a Reality. Available at <https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2015/02/11/making-aid-transparency-a-reality/>. Accessed 27 February 2019..+Accessed+27+February+2019.>Google Scholar
International Aid Transparency Initiative. 2015. IATI Annual Report 2015. Available at <http://iatistandard.org/documents/19/IATI_Annual_Report_2015-EN.pdf>. Accessed 27 February 2019..+Accessed+27+February+2019.>Google Scholar
Jorgens, Helge. 2004. Governance by Diffusion—Implementing Global Norms Through Cross-National Imitation and Learning. In Governance for Sustainable Development: The Challenge of Adapting Form to Function, edited by Lafferty, William M., 246–83. Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Kalafut, Jen. 2006. Assessing World Bank Openness: A Transparency Scorecard. Global Transparency Initiative and Bank Information Center. Available at <http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN028712.pdf>. Accessed 27 February 2019..+Accessed+27+February+2019.>Google Scholar
Kelley, Judith G. 2017. Scorecard Diplomacy: Grading States to Influence Their Reputation and Behavior. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kelley, Judith G., and Simmons, Beth A.. 2014. Politics by Number: Indicators as Social Pressure in International Relations. American Journal of Political Science 59 (1):55–70.Google Scholar
Kelley, Judith G., and Simmons, Beth A.. 2019. Introduction: The Power of Global Performance Indicators. International Organization 73 (3). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818319000146>>Google Scholar
Koeberle, Stefan. 2016. The World Bank Is Again in the Top Ten of the Aid Transparency Index. The World Bank Data Blog, 3 March. Available at <https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/world-bank-again-top0-aid-transparency-index>..>Google Scholar
Lee, Sung. 2016. The Data Revolution That's Reshaping American Foreign Assistance. US Global Leadership Coalition (blog), 11 May. Available at <http://www.usglc.org/blog/the-data-revolution-thats-reshaping-american-foreign-assistance/>..>Google Scholar
Lucas, Sarah. 2014. A Race to the Top: The 2014 Aid Transparency Index and Why It Matters. Hewlett Foundation Blog, Nextgov, 16 October. Available at <https://www.hewlett.org/a-race-to-the-top-the-2014-aid-transparency-index-and-why-it-matters/>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Marks, Joseph. 2012. USAID Plans to Map All Its Spending Data in Some Countries. 19 January. Available at <http://www.nextgov.com/technology-news/2012/01/usaid-plans-to-map-all-its-spending-data-in-some-countries/50481/>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Merry, Sally, Davis, Kevin, and Kingsbury, Benedict. 2015. The Quiet Power of Indicators: Measuring Governance, Corruption, and Rule of Law. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Morse, Julia. 2019. Blacklists, Market Enforcement, and the Global Regime to Combat Terrorist Financing. International Organization 73 (3). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S002081831900016X>>Google Scholar
Mulley, Sarah. 2010. Donor Aid: New Frontiers in Transparency and Accountability. Transparency and Accountability Initiative. Available at <http://www.transparency-initiative.org/archive/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/donor_aid_final1.pdf>. Accessed 27 February 2019..+Accessed+27+February+2019.>Google Scholar
Nelson, Paul J. 2001. Transparency Mechanisms at the Multilateral Development Banks. World Development 29 (11):1835–47.Google Scholar
Obama, Barack. 2009. Transparency and Open Government. Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, 24 February. Available at <https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/memoranda/2009/m09-12.pdf>. Accessed 27 February 2019..+Accessed+27+February+2019.>Google Scholar
Orszag, Peter. 2009. Open Government Directive. Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, 8 December. Available at <https://www.treasury.gov/open/Documents/m10-06.pdf>. Accessed 27 February 2019..+Accessed+27+February+2019.>Google Scholar
Paxton, Sally. 2014. What We Want to See in the US Ranking vs. What We Expect to See. Publish What You Fund Blog, 26 September. Available at <http://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/updates/by-country/us/what-we-want-see-u-s-ranking-vs-what-we-expect-see/>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Publish What You Fund. 2009. Briefing Paper 1: Why Aid Transparency Matters, and the Global Movement for Aid Transparency.Google Scholar
Publish What You Fund. (2011–2016). Aid Transparency Indices: 2011–2016. Available at <http://ati.publishwhatyoufund.org/>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Publish What You Fund. 2015a. 2015 EU Aid Transparency Review. Available at <http://ati.publishwhatyoufund.org/>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Publish What You Fund. 2015b. 2015 US Aid Transparency Review. Available at <http://ati.publishwhatyoufund.org/>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Publish What You Fund. Annual Reports of the Aid Transparency Index, 2011–2017. Publish What You Fund. Available at <http://ati.publishwhatyoufund.org/>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Publish What You Fund Annual Report 2017. Publish What You Fund Annual Report 2017. Available at <https://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/about-us/annual-reports/>. Accessed 27 February 2019..+Accessed+27+February+2019.>Google Scholar
Rank, Rachel, and Steele, Liz. 2014. Progress Since Busan: Transparency and Accountability. Report for the Global Partnership for Effective Development and Cooperation. Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (blog), 9 April. Available at <https://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/files/2014/04/Transparency-and-accountability-discussion-paper_FINAL.pdf>. Accessed 27 February 2019..+Accessed+27+February+2019.>Google Scholar
Saunder, Michael, and Espeland, Wendy Nelson. 2009. The Discipline of Rankings: Tight Coupling and Organizational Change. American Sociological Review 74 (1):63–82.Google Scholar
Schueth, Sam. 2015. Winning the Rankings Game: The Republic of Georgia, USAID, and the Doing Business Project. In Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance, edited by Cooley, Alex and Snyder, Jack, 151–76. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 2013. Full Committee Hearing: Nomination. 19 November. Available at <https://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/2013/11/19/nomination>. Accessed 15 February 2018..+Accessed+15+February+2018.>Google Scholar
Thier, Alex, and Crumbly, Angelique. 2015. It's Clear: Transparency Works. USAID Blogs, 2 July. Available at <https://blog.usaid.gov/2015/07/its-clear-transparency-works/>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Tvedt, Terje. 2006. The International Aid System and the Non-Governmental Organizations: A New Research Agenda. Journal of International Development 18 (5):677–90.Google Scholar
United Kingdom Department for International Development. 2015. Key Topics in Transparency. Memo of the International Development Sector Transparency Panel, 5 March. Available at <https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441699/Key_topics_in_transparency_-_Paper_5_March_2015.pdf>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
United States Agency for International Development. 2015a. International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Cost Management Plan. Washington, DC: USAID. Available at <https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1870/IATI%20Cost%20Management%20Plan_u_14July2015.pdf>. Accessed 9 February 2016..+Accessed+9+February+2016.>Google Scholar
United States Agency for International Development. 2015b. Aid Transparency Country Pilot Assessment. Washington, DC: USAID.Google Scholar
United States General Accountability Office. 2016. Foreign Assistance: Actions Needed to Improve Transparency and Quality of Data on ForeignAssistance.gov. Report to the Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, US Senate, August. Available at <http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-768>. Accessed 13 January 2018..+Accessed+13+January+2018.>Google Scholar
Weaver, Catherine, and Peratsakis, Christian. 2014. Engineering Policy Norm Implementation: The World Bank's Transparency Transformation. In Implementation and World Politics: How International Norms Change Practice, edited by Betts, Alexander and Orchard, Phil, eds., 179–94. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Honig and Weaver supplementary material

Honig and Weaver supplementary material 3
Download Honig and Weaver supplementary material(File)
File 10.2 KB
Supplementary material: File

Honig and Weaver supplementary material

Honig and Weaver supplementary material 1
Download Honig and Weaver supplementary material(File)
File 914.5 KB
Supplementary material: File

Honig and Weaver supplementary material

Honig and Weaver supplementary material 2
Download Honig and Weaver supplementary material(File)
File 124.3 KB