Modeling Cross-Country Variation in Impunity: Relative Performance and
Responsiveness under Beta Regression
Beta distribution, beta regression, impunity, relative performance, elasticity, responsiveness
This thesis investigates cross-country variation in impunity using beta regression models, relating expected impunity to seven dimensions of socioeconomic development and providing a framework for conditional comparisons across structurally heterogeneous countries. We introduce a novel probabilistic measure of relative performance based on the full fitted conditional distribution of impunity, rather than on conditional means alone. This measure is used to rank countries and to quantify the Nordic premium in a distribution based manner. In addition, we estimate country-specific elasticities of mean impunity withrespect to each socioeconomic dimension and propose an aggregate Index of Impunity Responsiveness, summarizing the overall sensitivity of expected impunity to structural progress and decomposed into economic and socio-institutional components. The results reveal substantial cross-country heterogeneity in both conditional performance and responsiveness.