WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A World Bank report that measures factors like corruption control, government accountability and absence of violence, released on Tuesday, shows little overall improvement in governance worldwide despite increasing focus on the issue.
But cautioning against reading too much into global averages, the bank's latest Worldwide Governance Indicators (
www.govindicators.org) also reveal that individually some governments, including those in Africa, could make a difference relatively quickly when they tackled governance reforms.
These countries could expect a three-fold increase in per capita income in the long term, the bank estimated.
"On average we do not find evidence around the world that governance has improved significantly. Whether it is rule of law or control of corruption, on average there is no compelling evidence," said Daniel Kaufmann, an author of the report and director of global programs at the World Bank Institute.
"The good news is this is just an average and hides enormous variation from one country to the other, and there are a large number of countries that are showing that in eight to 10 years, it is possible to significantly improve governance," he added.
For example, between 1998 and 2006, there were improvements in democratic accountability in Sierra Leone and Niger, while rule of law improved in Algeria, Liberia and Tajikistan.
Serbia and Tanzania were examples of countries that were able to better control corruption, the report said.
Still, the indicators also showed that governance deteriorated in Venezuela, Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, Somalia, Myanmar, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti and Zimbabwe ranked lowest in terms of being able to control corruption.
Nordic countries such as Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Norway, as well as New Zealand, received the highest overall governance scores.
Irritating China
The latest indicators cover 212 countries for the period 1996 to 2006 and are based on hundreds of variables and views of thousands of individual and firms in surveys.
The indicators measure governance within the governments of the World Bank's member countries and have put the bank at odds against some governments, like China, who question whether the bank should be involved in rating countries on governance.
The indicators show that China ranks among the bottom 10th percentile on voice and democratic accountability. Despite its governance shortcomings, the Asian giant has been able to attract vast foreign investment and enjoys fast-paced growth.
"A country as vast as China, of course they are going to get large amounts in terms of total volumes of investment. It an extremely attractive market, but the question to be asked is: 'What is the tax to foreign investors due to issues of governance and corruption?'," Kaufmann said.
Elsewhere, Chile, Botswana, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Estonia are among more than a dozen developing countries that beat industrialized nations like Greece or Italy on the governance scale.
"It is achievable to have high levels of governance while still being an emerging economy, which is a precursor of sustained growth," Kaufmann added.
Kaufmann said that just because countries were part of the industrialized world, this did not mean they escaped governance challenges.
"Not so," he said. "The countries that set the standards for governance include the Nordic countries, New Zealand and a few others, but by no means all the countries in the G7 (Group of Seven) are necessarily at the top," he added.
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World Bank governance rankings show mixed results 
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