The problem with Goldman Sachs' index is that two of its components leading service provider America Online aol and Internet portal Yahoo! yhoo –account for more than 50% of the weight of the index.
One of the things CPA has found from its exchanges with companies through the CPA-Zicklin Index is that companies keep a close eye on what their peers are doing and want to be in sync with them.
And the big advantage of the R-word index is that it is instantly available, unlike official figures which are always out of date.
The snag with this index is that it is out of date because the ODPM, like the Land Registry, compiles the figures on a quarterly basis.
The latest BP-related outrage (we could use an index) is that the company, according to a document obtained by the Times, was given the choice between two casing methods for the well.
"The most consistently predictable aspect of the index is that West Virginia will be ranked last," says Dan Witters, the research director of the Well-Being Index.The economy plays a big part in these rankings.
However, Mr Esty argues, "the chief virtue of this index is that it begins the process of shifting environmental debates on to firmer foundations, underpinned by data and a greater degree of analytic rigour".
"This report indicates that the U.S. economy was on even weaker footing than commonly believed as 2008 came to a close," said Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist at MFR. "Moreover, the signal from the export orders index is that the rest of the world is right there with us.
It is bested in both tables by Botswana and Ghana, perhaps because of a perceived rise in corruption.Another notable feature of the WJP index is that several countries that foreign investors have been eyeing with high hopes nonetheless perform poorly in terms of the law.
