environment, their shareholders; competing companies, valid legal norms and their commitment to Mexico’s development. Methodology and implementation: To construct the IMRE a questionnaire (with closed answers) was designed by Transparencia Mexicana and Consulta Mitofsky, S.A., directed at qualified informants from November 15 to December 7, 2003. At least three persons at the executive level of the nine following groups were interviewed: stock brokers, journalists, economic analysts, financial risk analysts, external auditors, certifiers, public functionaries, corporate lawyers and entrepreneurs. All of these had to be familiar with the sectors and companies included in the study, but they could not evaluate those companies with which they had any kind of relationship. The IMRE takes on values between one and zero, where the higher the value, the greater the company’s reputation. 108 companies were selected according to the following criteria: The volume of sales of the company places them among the 500 most important companies of the country. The company belongs to one of the 12 fields specified in the design of the index: food and nonalcoholic beverages, secondary education, automobiles, pharmaceutical industry, alcohol and tobacco, department stores and other stores of self-service, public building and construction, financial services, computer and telecommunication, means of communication, tourism and transport, energy. Use and Impact: The IMRE is used by the administrative boards and the areas of operation to identify the behaviour and the reputation of their company in eight variables, including respect towards the valid norms. Thus, it is an external evaluation tool that allows one to correct corporate policies or to recognize progress of the companies in this matter. Poverty and gender aspects (if applicable): No poverty or gender specific data was collected. Reports and contact information: http://www.transparenciamexicana.org.mx/imre/. For additional Information contact: Eduardo Bohórquez, Director of Transparencia Mexicana (tmexican@data.net.mx)
3.3.7 Deficiencias y Corrupción en el Sistema de Justicia y en el Estado de Derecho en Panamá (2004) Type of tool: Private sector survey Coverage: Panama Source: Asociación Panameña de Ejecutivos de Empresa Funding: USAID Purpose: • To evaluate the national cost created by a corrupt and inefficient judiciary. • To improve the knowledge of the private sector and the general public on the costs of corruption in the judicial system and a deficient rule of law. • To identify, define, put into order and make public those specific problems that affect the judicial system and weaken the rule of law, promoting the spread of corruption and affecting the investment climate, as well as economic growth. • To establish objective indicators which allow the revelation of the cost of the identified problems. • To evaluate over time the development of the identified problems towards a specified goal.
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