ISLAMABAD: The PTI government claims that the data used by Transparency International (TI) for its 2020 global report on corruption is from the tenure of the PML-N government but even a cursory look at the report negates what the media czars of the regime are propagating.
According to the TI’s latest report, the following 13 data sources were used to construct the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2020:
1. African Development Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2018
2. Bertelsmann Stiftung Sustainable Governance Indicators 2020
3. Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index 2020
4. Economist Intelligence Unit Country Risk Service 2020
5. Freedom House Nations in Transit 2020
6. Global Insight Country Risk Ratings 2019
7. IMD World Competitiveness Center World Competitiveness Yearbook- Executive Opinion Survey 2020
8. Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Asian Intelligence 2020
9. The PRS Group International Country Risk Guide 2020
10. World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2019
11. World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey 2019
12. World Justice Project Rule of Law Index Expert Survey 2020
13. Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem v. 10) 2020
The TI report also gives details of these sources and when the data they cite was collected. The following are the details of the sources, the period covered and the questions asked in these surveys:
African Development Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2018, Year of publication- 2019. The 2019 Governance Ratings were compiled between September and November 2018 and published in April 2019. Experts were asked to assess transparency, accountability and corruption in the public sector.
Bertelsmann Stiftung Sustainable Governance Indicators 2020. Year of publication: 2020. First published in 2009, this is now an annual publication. The most recent Sustainable Governance Indicators assesses the period beginning November 2018 and ending November 2019.
Experts were asked to assess corruption prevention and to what extent public office-holders were prevented from abusing their position for private interests.
Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index 2020. Year of publication: 2020
The BTI was first published in 2003 and has been published every two years since then. Experts were asked to assess the extent to which public office-holders who abuse their positions are prosecuted or penalized and to what extent the government successfully contains corruption.
Economist Intelligence Unit Country Risk Service 2020. Year of publication: 2020
Country risk assessments have been produced by the EIU since the early 1980s. Updated summaries are provided monthly for 100 countries and quarterly for the rest. The CPI draws on risk rating data available as of October 2020.
Specific guiding questions asked include: Are there clear procedures and accountability governing the allocation and use of public funds? Are public funds misappropriated by ministers/public officials for private or party political purposes? Are there special funds for which there is no accountability? Are there general abuses of public resources? Is there a professional civil service or are large numbers of officials directly appointed by the government? Is there an independent body auditing the management of public finances? Is there an independent judiciary with the power to try ministers/public officials for abuses? Is there a tradition of a payment of bribes to secure contracts and gain favours?
Freedom House Nations in Transit 2020. Year of publication: 2020
The 2020 NIT data coverage is from January 1 through December 31 2019.
The Freedom House experts are asked to explore a range of indicative questions, including: Has the government implemented effective anti-corruption initiatives? Is the country’s economy free of excessive state involvement? Is the government free from excessive bureaucratic regulations, registration requirements, and other controls that increase opportunities for corruption? Are there significant limitations on the participation of government officials in economic life? Are there adequate laws requiring financial disclosure and disallowing conflict of interest? Does the government advertise jobs and contracts? Does the state enforce an effective legislative or administrative process—particularly one that is free of prejudice against one’s political opponents—to prevent, investigate, and prosecute the corruption of government officials and civil servants? Do whistleblowers, anti-corruption activists, investigators, and journalists enjoy legal protections that make them feel secure about reporting cases of bribery and corruption? Are allegations of corruption given wide and extensive airing in the media? Does the public display a high intolerance for official corruption?
Global Insights Business Conditions and Risk Indicators 2019. Year of publication: 2019
The Country Risk Rating System has been available since 1999 and is continuously maintained. The data for CPI 2019 from IHS Global Insight was accessed through the World Bank World Governance Indicators portal,
Experts are asked to assess: The risk that individuals/companies will face bribery or other corrupt practices to carry out business, from securing major contracts to being allowed to import/export a small product or obtain everyday paperwork. This threatens a company’s ability to operate in a country, or opens it up to legal or regulatory penalties and reputational damage.
IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2020. Year of publication: 2020
The IMD WCY has been published annually since 1989. The data was collected from February to April 2020.
The question asked is whether bribery and corruption exist or do not exist.
Political and Economic Risk Consultancy 2020. Year of publication: 2020
The question asked is: “How do you grade the problem of corruption in the country in which you are working?”
The data used for the CPI 2020 was gathered in a survey carried out between February and March 2020.
The PRS Group International Country Risk Guide 2020. Year of publication: 2020
The CPI 2020 data is an aggregate of quarterly assessments covering the period between September 2019 and August 2020.
This is an assessment of corruption within the political system. The most common form of corruption met directly by businesses is financial corruption in the form of demands for special payments and bribes connected with import and export licenses, exchange controls, tax assessments, police protection, or loans. The measure is most concerned with actual or potential corruption in the form of excessive patronage, nepotism, job reservations, exchange of favours, secret party funding and suspiciously close ties between politics and business.
World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2019. Year of publication: 2019
The scores disclosed in August 2019 cover the 2019 country performance.
Experts are asked to assess transparency, accountability and corruption in the public sector.
World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey 2019. Year of publication: 2019
The 2019 data was gathered in a survey conducted between January and April 2019.
Survey respondents were asked: “In your country, how common is it for firms to make undocumented extra payments or bribes connected with the following:
a) Imports and exports
b) Public utilities
c) Annual tax payments
d) Awarding of public contracts and licenses
e) Obtaining favourable judicial decisions”
World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2019. Year of publication: 2020
The data for computing this index was collected between May and October 2019 via a survey of more than 4,000 experts.
Individual questions are aggregated into four sub-indices: government officials in the executive branch do not use public office for private gain; government officials in the judicial branch do not use public office for private gain; government officials in the police and the military do not use public office for private gain; government officials in the legislature do not use public office for private gain.
Varieties of Democracy Project 2020. Year of publication: 2020
179 countries were scored for the year 2019 in the 2020 update of the index used for the CPI calculation.
The question asked is: how pervasive is political corruption?
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