Seldon Project

The Approach

The Seldon Project provides a comprehensive assessment methodology for 11 traditional areas of commercial law. This results in a data-rich framework for understanding the policy and institutional implications that flow directly from the relative competitive position of a nation’s economy and society. Governments, donor organizations, and stakeholders can use this framework to design and target trade and capacity-building initiatives to correct inefficiencies in the country’s laws and legal institutions.

Seldon Project Services

The services that can be provided through the Seldon Project may be accessed directly by USAID missions without further procurement procedures. The services include:

• Assessment Tool
  The assessment tool applied to each country consists of indicators fitting a four-dimensional paradigm consisting of:
  
1. Written (“Black Letter”) Law
2. Implementing Institutions
3. Supporting Institutions
4. The Social Dynamics of commercial legal reform

Each substantive law that directly influences business and trade is assessed against a baseline for each of the four indicators.

• Country Assessments
  A five-person team of legal experts collects the necessary data during a two-week trip in-country. The data are then input into the assessment tool, and the results are synthesized into a report indicating relative strengths and weaknesses within the country’s commercial and trade laws and institutions.

• Trade and Commercial Law Consultative Services
  In addition to performing country assessments, legal experts provide short-term, targeted technical advice and assistance for trade and commercial law reform.

• Knowledge Management
  A workshop demonstrating the approach to interested parties was conducted, and a secure website highlighting specific commercially related laws and successful commercial law reform projects has been launched to disseminate the knowledge gained from the country assessments and the application of the assessment tool.