Government Effectiveness: A Global Comparative Analysis Using World Bank Governance Indicators
Copyright (c) 2025 Eltayeib Hussein Mahmoud Sharaf Addin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
This study analyses the effectiveness of government, which is crucial for a stable society, and it examines whether government effectiveness (GE) varies significantly across global regions and income groups. Using the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) data over 2023, the study compares differences in GE scores among seven geographic regions and three income groups based on the ANOVA approach and Tukey’s HSD post-hoc tests. Due to its comprehensive and up-to-date comparison, the study offers new insights into institutional performance. Results indicated that the quality of GE differs significantly by region and income level. High GE scores consistently belong to high-income countries, whereas low-income countries, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, tend to be less effective in this regard. Regional differences also exist, with Europe, Central Asia and North America being more effective than other regions. These results suggested the need for policy enhancement and institutional development in the countries of the underperforming regions. Improving governance there is crucial for promoting inclusive growth, enhancing service delivery and achieving certain Sustainable Development Goals.
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References
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The author extends his appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at Northern Border University, Arar, KSA, for funding this research work through the project number “NBU-FFR-2025-2512-2”. Additionally, the author would like to acknowledge the use of Grammarly and QuillBot to enhance the article’s readability, language and sentence structure. These technologies were applied with the author’s oversight and control through the author’s careful review and editing.