Data for Gaming country rankings: consultancies as knowledge brokers for global benchmarks

Drawing on the case of the Ease of Doing Business rankings, published annually by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation between 2005 and 2019, it examines the role consultancies play as knowledge brokers connecting global benchmarks produced by intergovernmental organizations to regulatory reform programs undertaken by national public administrations.

The article shows how consultancies contracted to implement business enabling environment projects by the United States Agency for International Development advised national policymakers on how to design reforms to improve their country's ranking status. Lending weight to criticisms that shifts in country rankings are misleading as an indicator of changes in regulatory quality, the findings suggest that consultancies have leveraged benchmarks to perpetuate demand for their own expertise rather than to improve the evidence base for aid allocation and the evaluation of development projects.<br><br>The dataset lists the published rankings for each country included in the World Bank and International Finance Corporation's Ease of Doing Business Rankings, published annually in the Doing Business reports between 2005 (Doing Business 2006) and 2019 (Doing Business 2020).