Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T09:07:01.222Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Introduction: The Power of Global Performance Indicators

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2019

Judith G. Kelley  and
Beth A. Simmons
Get access

Abstract

In recent decades, IGOs, NGOs, private firms and even states have begun to regularly package and distribute information on the relative performance of states. From the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index to the Financial Action Task Force blacklist, global performance indicators (GPIs) are increasingly deployed to influence governance globally. We argue that GPIs derive influence from their ability to frame issues, extend the authority of the creator, and — most importantly — to invoke recurrent comparison that stimulates governments' concerns for their own and their country's reputation. Their public and ongoing ratings and rankings of states are particularly adept at capturing attention not only at elite policy levels but also among other domestic and transnational actors. GPIs thus raise new questions for research on politics and governance globally. What are the social and political effects of this form of information on discourse, policies and behavior? What types of actors can effectively wield GPIs and on what types of issues? In this symposium introduction, we define GPIs, describe their rise, and theorize and discuss these questions in light of the findings of the symposium contributions.

Keywords

Ratings and rankingsinformation politicsindicatorsindexesmonitoringperformance assessmentglobal governancepowersoft powerreflexivitysocial pressure
Type
Symposium
Information
International Organization , Volume 73 , Issue 3 , Summer 2019 , pp. 491 - 510
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.)

References

Aaron, Joshua R., McMillan, Amy, and Cline, Brandon N.. 2012. Investor Reaction to Firm Environmental Management Reputation. Corporate Reputation Review 15 (4):304–18.Google Scholar
Adair, John G. 1984. The Hawthorne Effect: A Reconsideration of the Methodological Artifact. Journal of Applied Psychology 69 (2):334–45.Google Scholar
Apaza, Carmen R. 2009. Measuring Governance and Corruption Through the Worldwide Governance Indicators: Critiques, Responses, and Ongoing Scholarly Discussion. PS: Political Science and Politics 42 (1):139–43.Google Scholar
Arndt, Christiane. 2008. The Politics of Governance Ratings. International Public Management Journal 11 (3):275–97.Google Scholar
Arndt, Christiane, and Oman, Charles. 2006. Uses and Abuses of Governance Indicators. Development Centre of the OECD.Google Scholar
Ashmore, Richard D., Deaux, Kay, and McLaughlin-Volpe, Tracy. 2004. An Organizing Framework for Collective Identity: Articulation and Significance of Multidimensionality. Psychological Bulletin 130 (1):80–114.Google Scholar
Avant, Deborah D., Finnemore, Martha, and Sell, Susan K., eds. 2010. Who Governs the Globe? Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bäckstrand, Karin. 2006. Multi-stakeholder Partnerships for Sustainable Development: Rethinking Legitimacy, Accountability and Effectiveness. European Environment 16 (5):290–306.Google Scholar
Baldwin, David A. 2016. Power and International Relations: A Conceptual Approach. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Barnett, Michael, and Duvall, Raymond. 2005. Power in International Politics. International Organization 59 (1):39–75.Google Scholar
Bisbee, James, 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
Blader, Steven L., and Chen, Ya-Ru. 2012. Differentiating the Effects of Status and Power: A Justice Perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 102 (5):994–1014.Google Scholar
Borgatti, Stephen P., and Cross, Rob. 2003. A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks. Management Science 49 (4):432–45.Google Scholar
Börzel, Tanja, and Risse, Thomas. 2005. Public-Private Partnerships: Effective and Legitimate Tools of International Governance. In Complex Sovereignty, edited by Pauly, Louis and Grande, Edgar, 195–216. University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1989. Social Space and Symbolic Power. Sociological Theory 7 (1):14–25.Google Scholar
Broome, Andre, and Quirk, Joel. 2015. Governing the World at a Distance: The Practice of Global Benchmarking. Review of International Studies 41 (Special Issue 5):819–41.Google Scholar
Buchanan, Allen, and Keohane, Robert O.. 2006. The Legitimacy of Global Governance Institutions. Ethics and International Affairs 20 (4):405–37.Google Scholar
Büthe, Tim. 2012. Beyond Supply and Demand: A Political-Economic Conceptual Model. Governance by Indicators: Global Power Through Classification and Rankings. In Governance by Indicators: Global Power Through Classification and Rankings, edited by Davis, Kevin, Fisher, Angelina, Kingsbury, Benedict, and Merry, Sally Engle, 29–51. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Carpenter, R. Charli. 2007. Setting the Advocacy Agenda: Theorizing Issue Emergence and Nonemergence in Transnational Advocacy Networks. International Studies Quarterly 51 (1):99–120.Google Scholar
Carpenter, R. Charli. 2011. Vetting the Advocacy Agenda: Network Centrality and the Paradox of Weapons Norms. International Organization 65 (1):69–102.Google Scholar
Checkel, Jeffrey T. 2001. Why Comply? Social Learning and European Identity Change. International Organization 55 (3):553–88.Google Scholar
Chwieroth, Jeffrey M. 2013. “The Silent Revolution:” How the Staff Exercise Informal Governance Over IMF Lending. The Review of International Organizations 8 (2):265–90.Google Scholar
Dafoe, Allan, Renshon, Jonathan, and Huth, Paul. 2014. Reputation and Status as Motives for War. Annual Review of Political Science 17 (1):371–93.Google Scholar
Dai, Xinyuan. 2007. International Institutions and National Policies. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Davenport, Thomas H., Eccles, Robert G., and Prusak, Laurence. 1998. Information Politics. The Strategic Management of Intellectual Capital. In The Strategic Management of Intellectual Capital, edited by Klein, David A, 101–20. Butterworth-Heinemann.Google Scholar
Davis, 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
Davis, Kevin E., Kingsbury, Benedict, and Merry, Sally Engle. 2012. Indicators as a Technology of Global Governance. Law and Society Review 46 (1):71–104.Google Scholar
Davis, Kevin E., Merry, Sally Engle, and Kingsbury, Benedict. 2015. The Quiet Power of Indicators: Measuring Governance, Corruption, and the Rule of Law. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
De Búrca, Gráinne, Keohane, Robert O., and Sabel, Charles. 2014. Global Experimentalist Governance. British Journal of Political Science 44 (3):477–86.Google Scholar
Doshi, Rush, Kelley, Judith G., and Simmons, Beth A.. 2019. The Power of Ranking: The Ease of Doing Business Indicator and Global Regulatory Behavior. International Organization 73 (3). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818319000158>>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
Espeland, Wendy Nelson, and Stevens, Mitchell L.. 1998. Commensuration as a Social Process. Annual Review of Sociology 24 (1):313–43.Google Scholar
Filmer, Deon, Hasan, Amer, and Pritchett, Lant. 2006. A Millennium Learning Goal: Measuring Real Progress in Education. Center for Global Development Working Paper no. 97. Available at <https://papers.ssrn.com/soL3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=982968>..>Google Scholar
Fioramonti, Lorenzo. 2013. Gross Domestic Problem: The Politics Behind the World's Most Powerful Number. Zed Books.Google Scholar
Ginsburg, Alan, Cooke, Geneise, Leinwand, Steve, Noell, Jay, and Pollock, Elizabeth. 2005. Reassessing US International Mathematics Performance: New Findings from the 2003 TIMSS and PISA. American Institutes for Research. Available at < http://www.cimm.ucr.ac.cr/ojs/index.php/eudoxus/article/viewFile/446/445> .+.>Google Scholar
Hale, Thomas, and Held, David. 2011. Handbook of Transnational Governance. Polity.Google Scholar
Hale, Thomas, and Roger, Charles. 2014. Orchestration and Transnational Climate Governance. The Review of International Organizations 9 (1):59–82.Google Scholar
Hall, Rodney Bruce, and Biersteker, Thomas J.. 2002. The Emergence of Private Authority in Global Governance. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hansen, Hans Krause. 2012. The Power of Performance Indices in the Global Politics of Anti-Corruption. Journal of International Relations and Development 15 (4):506–31.Google Scholar
Harsanyi, John C. 1966. A Bargaining Model for Social Status in Informal Groups and Formal Organizations. Behavioral Science 11 (5):357–69.Google Scholar
Heiss, Andrew, and Kelley, Judith G.. 2017. From the Trenches: A Global Survey of Anti-TIP NGOs and Their Views of US Efforts. Journal of Human Trafficking 3 (3):231–54.Google Scholar
Hendrix, Cullen S., and Wong, Wendy H.. 2013. When Is the Pen Truly Mighty? Regime Type and the Efficacy of Naming and Shaming in Curbing Human Rights Abuses. British Journal of Political Science 43 (3):651–72.Google Scholar
Honig, Dan, and Weaver, Catherine. 2019. A Race to the Top? The Aid Transparency Index and the Social Power of Global Performance Indicators. International Organization 73 (3). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818319000122>>Google Scholar
Høyland, Bjørn, Moene, Karl, and Willumsen, Fredrik. 2012. The Tyranny of International Index Rankings. Journal of Development Economics 97 (1):1–14.Google Scholar
Joachim, Jutta M., Reinalda, Bob, and Verbeek, Bertjan, eds. 2008. International Organizations and Implementation: Enforcers, Managers, Authorities? Routledge/ECPR.Google Scholar
Johnson, Matthew. 2018. Regulation by Shaming: Deterrence Effects of Publicizing Violations of Workplace Safety and Health Laws. Unpublished manuscript, Duke University. Available at <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HcKpGXZuFWNNLa1YTl0A4Hte1BiJabT-/ view>..>Google Scholar
Johnston, Alastair Iain. 2001. Treating International Institutions as Social Environments. International Studies Quarterly 45 (4):487–516.Google Scholar
Karpik, Lucien. 2010. Valuing the Unique: The Economics of Singularities. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, Daniel, Kraay, Aart, and Zoido, Pablo. 1999. Governance Matters. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper no. 2196: Available at SSRN <https://ssrn.com/abstract=188568>..>Google Scholar
Keck, Margaret E., and Sikkink, Kathryn. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Cornell University Press.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.. 2015. Politics by Number: Indicators as Social Pressure in International Relations. American Journal of Political Science 59 (1):1146–61.Google Scholar
Koppell, Jonathan GS. 2005. Pathologies of Accountability: ICANN and the Challenge of “Multiple Accountabilities Disorder.” Public Administration Review 65 (1):94–108.Google Scholar
Larson, James R., and Callahan, Christine. 1990. Performance Monitoring: How It Affects Work Productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology 75 (5):530–38.Google Scholar
Latané, Bibb 1981. The Psychology of Social Impact. American Psychologist 36 (4):343–56.Google Scholar
Lebovic, James H., and Voeten, Erik. 2006. The Politics of Shame: The Condemnation of Country Human Rights Practices in the UNCHR. International Studies Quarterly 50 (4):861–88.Google Scholar
Levy, Marc A. 1993. European Acid Rain: The Power of Tote-Board Diplomacy. In Institutions for the Earth: Sources of Effective International Environmental Protection, edited by Haas, Peter M., Keohane, Robert O., and Levy, Marc A., 75–132. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Löwenheim, Oded. 2008. Examining the State: A Foucauldian Perspective on International “Governance Indicators.” Third World Quarterly 29 (2):255–74.Google Scholar
Luca, Michael, and Smith, Jonathan. 2013. Salience in Quality Disclosure: Evidence from the US News College Rankings. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 22 (1):58–77.Google Scholar
Malito, Debora Valentina, Umbach, Gaby, and Bhuta, Nehal, eds. 2018. The Palgrave Handbook of Indicators in Global Governance. Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Manners, Ian. 2002. Normative Power Europe: A Contradiction in Terms? JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 40 (2):235–58.Google Scholar
McCombs, Maxwell E., and Shaw, Donald L.. 1972. The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media. Public Opinion Quarterly 36 (2):176–87.Google Scholar
Meredith, Marc. 2004. Why Do Universities Compete in the Ratings Game? An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of the US News and World Report College Rankings. Research in Higher Education 45 (5):443–61.Google Scholar
Merry, Sally Engle, and Conley, John M.. 2011. Measuring the World: Indicators, Human Rights, and Global Governance. Current Anthropology 52 (S3):S83–S95.Google Scholar
Miller, Clark A. 2005. New Civic Epistemologies of Quantification: Making Sense of Indicators of Local and Global Sustainability. Science, Technology and Human Values 30 (3):403–32.Google Scholar
Monks, James, and Ehrenberg, Ronald G.. 1999. US News and World Report's College Rankings: Why They Do Matter. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 31 (6):42–51.Google Scholar
Morse, Julia C. 2019. Blacklists, Market Enforcement, and the Global Regime to Combat Terrorist Financing. International Organization 73 (3). <https://doi.org/10.1017/S002081831900016X>>Google Scholar
Murdie, Amanda M., and Davis, David R.. 2012. Shaming and Blaming: Using Events Data to Assess the Impact of Human Rights INGOs. International Studies Quarterly 56 (1):1–16.Google Scholar
Murguia, Juan M., and Lence, Sergio H.. 2015. Investors’ Reaction to Environmental Performance: A Global Perspective of the Newsweek's “Green Rankings.” Environmental and Resource Economics 60 (4):583–605.Google Scholar
Nelson, Stephen Craig. 2017. The Currency of Confidence: How Economic Beliefs Shape the IMF's Relationship with Its Borrowers. Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
O'Rourke, Dara. 2006. Multi-Stakeholder Regulation: Privatizing or Socializing Global Labor Standards? World Development 34 (5):899–918.Google Scholar
Osborne, Stephen. 2002. Public-private Partnerships: Theory and Practice in International Perspective. Routledge.Google Scholar
Parks, Bradley, and Masaki, Takaaki. 2016. When Do Performance Assessments Influence Policy Behavior? Micro-Evidence from the 2014 Reform Efforts Survey. Presented at the APSA Annual Conference, Mini-Conference on Assessment Power in World Politics, Philadelphia PA.Google Scholar
Pawson, Ray. 2006. Evidence-based Policy: A Realist Perspective. Sage.Google Scholar
Pope, Devin G. 2009. Reacting to Rankings: Evidence from “America's Best Hospitals.” Journal of Health Economics 28 (6):1154–65.Google Scholar
Rege, Mari. 2008. Why Do People Care About Social Status? Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 66 (2):233–42.Google Scholar
Ridgeway, Cecilia L. 2013. Why Status Matters for Inequality. American Sociological Review.Google Scholar
Rieh, Soo Young. 2002. Judgment of Information Quality and Cognitive Authority in the Web. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 53 (2):145–61.Google Scholar
Risse, Thomas. 1999. International Norms and Domestic Change: Arguing and Communicative Behavior in the Human Rights Area. Politics and Society 27 (4):529–59.Google Scholar
Ron, James, Ramos, Howard, and Rodgers, Kathleen. 2005. Transnational Information Politics: NGO Human Rights Reporting, 1986–2000. International Studies Quarterly 49 (3):557–87.Google Scholar
Rosen, Stephen Peter. 2005. War and Human Nature. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Schäferhoff, Marco, Campe, Sabine, and Kaan, Christopher. 2009. Transnational Public-Private Partnerships in International Relations. International Studies Review 11 (3):451–74.Google Scholar
Scheufele, Dietram, and Tewksbury, David. 2007. Framing, Agenda Setting, and Priming: The Evolution of Three Media Effects Models. Journal of Communication 57 (1):9–20.Google Scholar
Schueth, Sam. 2011. Assembling International Competitiveness: The Republic of Georgia, USAID, and the Doing Business Project. Economic Geography 87 (1):51–77.Google Scholar
Sikkink, Kathryn. 1993. Human Rights, Principled Issue-Networks, and Sovereignty in Latin America. International Organization 47 (3):411–41.Google Scholar
Simmons, Beth A. 2009. Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Simonsohn, Uri. 2011. Lessons from an “Oops” at Consumer Reports: Consumers Follow Experts and Ignore Invalid Information. Journal of Marketing Research 48 (1):1–12.Google Scholar
Sinclair, Timothy J. 2008. The New Masters of Capital: American Bond Rating Agencies and the Politics of Creditworthiness. Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Stanton, Elizabeth A. 2007. The Human Development Index: A History. PERI Working Paper, no. 85. Available at <https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1101&context=peri_workingpapers>..>Google Scholar
Stone, Diane. 2002. Introduction: Global Knowledge and Advocacy Networks. Global Networks 2 (1):1–12.Google Scholar
Szyszczak, Erika. 2006. Experimental Governance: The Open Method of Coordination. European Law Journal 12 (4):486–502.Google Scholar
Thomas, Melissa A. 2010. What Do The Worldwide Governance Indicators Measure? The European Journal of Development Research 22 (1):31–54.Google Scholar
Tingley, Dustin H., and Walter, Barbara F.. 2011. The Effect of Repeated Play on Reputation Building: An Experimental Approach. International Organization 65 (2):343–65.Google Scholar
Van de Walle, Steven. 2006. The State of the World's Bureaucracies. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 8 (4):437–48.Google Scholar
Van Ham, Peter. 2001. The Rise of the Brand State: The Postmodern Politics of Image and Reputation. Foreign Affairs 80 (5):2–6.Google Scholar
Weisband, Edward. 2000. Discursive Multilateralism: Global Benchmarks, Shame, and Learning in the ILO Labor Standards Monitoring Regime. International Studies Quarterly 44 (4):643–66.Google Scholar
Wilson, Patrick. 1983. Second-hand Knowledge: An Inquiry into Cognitive Authority. Greenwood.Google Scholar
Wohlforth, William C. 2009. Unipolarity, Status Competition, and Great Power War. World Politics 61 (1):28–57.Google Scholar
Zürn, Michael. 2004. Global Governance and Legitimacy Problems. Government and Opposition 39 (2):260–87.Google Scholar
Zürn, Michael. 2018. A Theory of Global Governance: Authority, Legitimacy, and Contestation. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Kelley and Simmons supplementary material

Kelley and Simmons supplementary material 1

Download Kelley and Simmons supplementary material(File)
File 121.2 KB