
Scorecard publications like the “Doing Business” report are highly influential. In a recent study, my co-author, Beth Simmons, and I documented nearly 160 economic and social performance indicators on issues such as foreign aid and human trafficking. These global indicators can define norms as to what is appropriate for countries to do. And there are often many competing indicators, produced by organizations looking to influence countries on topics such as economic prosperity, regulation of business vs. labor rights, the environment, and sustainability.