JRC Statistical Audit of the WJP Rule of Law Index® 2014

The WJP team invited the JRC for the fourth consecutive year to delve into the statistical properties of the revised Rule of Law Index, so as to ensure the transparency and reliability of the results and to enable academics and policymakers to derive more accurate and meaningful conclusions. In fact, stringent criteria of transparency must be adopted when composite indicators are used as a basis for policy assessments. Failure to open up the black box of composite indicator development is likely to lead only to greater erosion of the credibility and legitimacy of these measures as tools for improved policymaking. The JRC analysis suggests that the conceptualized multi-level structure of the 2014 WJP Rule of Law Index — calculated through almost 500 survey questions and eight dimensions for 99 countries — is statistically sound, coherent, and balanced. The statistical tests confirm the suitability of using equal weights and arithmetic averaging at the various levels of aggregation of the Rule of Law Index – which should not be taken for granted. The Absence of Corruption dimension is especially coherent and robust, which is noteworthy given its inclusion in the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International.JRC.DDG.01-Econometrics and applied statistic