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• Since 1996, Institute for Management Developmentbrings out a World Competitiveness Yearbookthat has data on 49 developed and developingcountries. This has a question on whetherlabour regulations hinder business activities. 72• UNDP’s Human Development Report (HDR) hasbeen in existence since 1990 and now covers177 countries. Data on ratification of some conventions(child labour, elimination of discriminationagainst women, elimination of forced andcompulsory labour, freedom of association andcollective bargaining, elimination of all forms ofracial discrimination can be used). 73• The ILO database can be extensively used. Indicatorsare broadly of two categories: those thatcontain information on ratification of selectedinternational labour conventions, and those thatmeasure specific aspects of work, often linked topoverty/empowerment and the lack thereof. Internationallabour conventions set minimum standards,and information on ratification is availablefor 180 member countries. 74 Ratification doesn’tsolve the problem of implementation per se, butratification in itself signifies political will. Theratified convention database can be divided intothree broad segments, beyond which there is arich database on statistics: 751. Eight fundamental conventions that concernfundamental principles and rights atwork, such as Conventions 29 and 105 onelimination of forced labour, Conventions 138and 182 on child labour, Conventions 100and 105 on discrimination in employment andprotection, and Conventions 87 and 98 onfreedom of association and right to engage incollective bargaining.2. Conventions that provide a basic institutionalframework aimed at protecting againstexploitation, such as Convention 95 on protectionof wages, Convention 155 on occupationalsafety and health, Convention 81 onlabour inspection, Convention 129 on labourinspection for agriculture, Convention 144 ontripartite consultation, and Convention 122 onemployment policy.3. Conventions that address situations thatoverlap with poverty, as, for example, Convention149 on indigenous and tribal people, 76Conventions 97 and 143 on migration foremployment and migrant workers, Convention183 on maternity protection, and Convention137 on rural workers’ organisations.Business• Business Environment Risk Intelligence’s OperationRisk Index (ORI) has data on 50 countriessince 1996 and has a question on bureaucraticdelays. 77• Columbia University’s State Capacity Survey hasdata since 1999, on 108 countries and has aquestion on the severity of corruption within thestate and several separate questions on nepotism,cronyism and patronage. 78• The World Bank’s Country Policy and InstitutionalAssessment (CPIA) database has data on 136 developingcountries; the creation of the databasegoes back to the late 1970s. There is a questionon transparency, accountability and corruption inthe public sector. 79• Since 1997, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)has a database on the economic and businessenvironment in 120 developed and developingcountries. There are three separate questions onorderly transfers, vested interests and accountabilityof public officials. There is a separate questionon excessive bureaucracy/red tape. There isa separate question on corruption among publicofficials. 80• Freedom House has three separate rankings, buttwo nations in transit and countries at the cross-348