Replication Data for: A Race to the Top? The Aid Transparency Index and the Social Power of Global Performance Indicators

Recent studies on global performance indicators (GPIs) reveal the distinct power that nonstate actors can accrue and exercise in world politics. How and when does this happen? Using a mixed-methods approach, we examine the impact of the Aid Transparency Index (ATI), an annual rating and rankings index produced by the small UK-based NGO Publish What You Fund. The ATI seeks to shape development aid donors’ behavior with respect to their transparency—the quality and kind of information they publicly disclose. To investigate the ATI’s effect, we construct an original panel data set of donor transparency performance before and after ATI inclusion (2006–2013) to test whether (and which) donors alter their behavior in response to inclusion in the ATI. To further probe the causal mechanisms that explain variations in donor behavior we use qualitative research, including over 150 key informant interviews conducted between 2010 and 2017. Our analysis uncovers the conditions under which the ATI influences powerful aid donors. Our mixed-methods evidence reveals how this happens. Consistent with Kelley’s and Simmons’s central argument that GPIs exercise influence via social pressure, we find that the ATI shapes donor behavior primarily via direct effects on elites: the diffusion of professional norms, organizational learning, and peer pressure.

近年来针对全球绩效指标（GPIs）的研究揭示，非国家行为体可在世界政治中积累并行使独特的权力。这一过程如何发生、又于何时出现？本研究采用混合研究方法，考察援助透明度指数（ATI）的影响效应——该指数由英国小型非政府组织Publish What You Fund编制，为年度评级与排名类指标。ATI旨在引导发展援助捐赠方在透明度维度上的行为，即捐赠方公开披露信息的质量与类型。为探究ATI的影响效应，我们构建了原创性面板数据集，覆盖2006至2013年间捐赠方在纳入ATI评级前后的透明度表现，以此检验是否存在（以及哪些）捐赠方会因被纳入ATI评级而调整自身行为。为进一步剖析捐赠方行为差异背后的因果机制，我们采用质性研究方法，涵盖2010至2017年间开展的150余场关键知情人访谈。本研究的分析揭示了ATI对强势援助捐赠方产生影响的具体情境条件。本研究的混合研究证据阐明了这一过程的具体路径。与凯利（Kelley）与西蒙斯（Simmons）提出的核心论点——GPIs通过社会压力发挥影响力——相一致，我们发现ATI主要通过对精英群体的直接作用塑造捐赠方行为：包括专业规范的传播、组织学习与同辈压力。