Institutional Development Index (IDI): Calculation for Municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas (Brazil)

Abstract

The construction of indexes in subnational units is extremely important to provide detailed information for assessing the situation and monitoring public policies considering aspects of institutional sustainability. The indexes and indicators are essential as they serve as a guide for decision-making at various levels, allowing the measurement of progress and the achievement of strategic objectives established in government actions. This research aims to find evidence on the institutional development of municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas (Brazil) through the construction and evaluation of the Institutional Development Index (IDI). As the result, unsatisfactory institutional performance in the studied region was detected, since most municipalities are in a “bad” situation in terms of institutional sustainability for a set of 57 indicators. With this unprecedented application, one expects an indication of situations (diagnostics) to guide the manager to put into practice clear and direct corrective measures (straight to the target), which will serve as a reference for the formulation and application of more effective public policies for municipal and regional development, in addition to enabling the creation of a strategic information bank (system of indexes and indicators) for monitoring and evaluating institutional development.