RIA systems. The challenge here is to determine what constitutes a “functioning” RIA system, and by when such functionality could be expected.

Two options were considered for determining the status of RIA systems after introduction. A first alternative was to contrast RIA systems in developing countries with their observation of a number of “good practices” both in terms of internal procedures, transparency measures, citizen engagement, and dissemination of RIAs – possibly leading to the construction of synthetic indicators also for this dimension of analysis. The challenge with this approach would be the degree of subjectivity and discretion associated with selecting and attaching value to certain RIA features.

An alternative pathway was to establish a simple and easily operationalizable threshold criterion to adjudicate whether a country has effectively a (minimally) functioning RIA system in place. This second option appeared more straightforward, promising and commensurate to the degree of reasonable expectations that one should hold, notably for _young_ RIA systems in countries with limited administrative capacity. This study thus measured the status of an RIA system in terms of _the existence of publicly available RIA documents drafted by national officials, at least two years after launch of the RIA reform._ This choice was informed by the assumption that the utility of RIAs is limited if RIA documents are not subject to public access and scrutiny. The study recognizes that evidence-based assessments may be produced and made available for internal ministerial purposes. However, for the purposes of this study we do not consider such practices to equate the existence of an RIA system, which also would have to include transparency and consultation measures.

To gauge if RIA systems were “alive” or not, the study also applied a two-year design and initiation phase from the time the RIA reform was launched. RIA reforms which have been launched within the last two years or less than two years were counted as “too early to call”, regardless if these RIA systems were actively producing RIAs or not. This time gap was established in part because it is well-known that RIA systems take time to develop and launch. But also because many RIA systems, in their first couple of years, are artificially propped up by financial and in-kind support from development partners. The two-year threshold does not reflect a view that RIA systems can be fully designed and operating impeccably two years after launch. However, it reflects an assumption that “chances of survival” are limited if two years into the reform there is no publicly available evidence of activities to improve regulatory policy-making. It should be added that this two-year threshold is not entirely unproblematic. There are a large number of countries, notably in the OECD, that have struggled for longer time periods than two years before finally creating a well-functioning system. The two-year threshold can therefore be considered a very conservative measure of RIA reform success.

# Can particular design features be associated with successful and unsuccessful RIA reforms?

The study also sought to explore if particular design features could be associated with successful and unsuccessful reforms. An indicator of “good practice design” was developed to gauge the extent to which the identified RIA reforms observed good practices along the six RIA dimensions identified in Box 3. Although some studies have suggested that different reform components may carry different weights (Gill and Intal 2016a and 2016b), each of the six dimensions of RIA reform were assigned equal weight. This was done because assigning more weight to “important” best practices could artificially augment the importance of these practices beyond reason, should it be true that they are more prevalent in successful reforms.

Scores assigned to each of the elements above are mainly based on _de jure_ indications about the various reforms, retrievable in publicly available sources. For instance, this allows scoring according to whether RIA or consultation was introduced as a legal requirement, but not (apart from rare instances) whether these obligations were complied with, or whether they were soundly applied in practice, as this would require detailed cast study analysis.

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