Can we infer trends in global averages from the Worldwide Governance Indicators?
The WGI measure governance in units where the average score for the world as a whole is zero in every period. Therefore, the six composite WGI measures cannot be used to study trends in world averages of governance, although they can of course be used to compare countries’ performance relative to one another. To gain insights into trends in global averages of governance it is necessary to consult the data from the underlying sources. Over the past several years we have documented that global averages of individual data sources show no clear pattern of systematic improvements or declines. This observation can be used to justify our choice of units for the WGI where the world average is constant over time.
