Do expert surveys underrate lower-income countries?

Abstract

Perceptions of countries’ policy environments and innovation efforts drive important investment and regulatory decisions, but those perceptions may be biased. One particular concern is that evaluations of richer countries might be inflated compared to evaluations of poorer countries, as general stereotypes of national success spill over into assessments of research capability. Comparison of World Economic Forum survey assessments of businesses’ research spending with official spending figures reveals that, among countries spending comparable amounts on research, richer countries receive higher survey ratings. Richer countries’ educational outcomes are similarly rated higher than similarly performing poorer countries’. These findings suggest that perceptions may systematically disadvantage economically poorer countries, thereby misdirecting real-world investments and policy decisions derived from those rankings.