Why does Austria score over 10 on migration? Why does Denmark do the same on aid?
Each component of the CDI combines many numbers into a single score, placing that score on a standard scale, so that 5 represents average performance in 2008. This makes it easy to see that Japan’s policies, for instance, are above-average on technology (with a 6.0 in 2008), but not as strong on security (2.0) by the standards of Japan’s peers. If a country is twice as good as average, it scores a 10, and if it’s more than twice as good, it scores above 10. That happened to Austria on migration. The opposite is true for the environment and trade components. Scores on environmental pollution and trade barriers start at 10 (no emissions or barriers) and go down from there. Just as a country can power through the 10-point ceiling by giving more aid or admitting more immigrants, it can break through the floor of zero by emitting excessive pollution or imposing high tariffs. In fact, the benchmark averages are from scores in 2008. Using a fixed benchmark allows proper score tracking over ti
