the 2009 International Property Rights Index was launched in Washington D.C. on February 24th, 2009.

The Index is a collaborative effort between the Property Rights Alliance. and 54 global institutions, (all good friends of Atlas).

The 2009 International Property Rights Index (IPRI) is an international comparative study that measures the significance of both physical and intellectual property rights and their protection for economic well-being. Property Rights Alliance initiated the IPRI studies for the Hernando de Soto Fellowship Program to contribute to developing accurate and comprehensive measures regarding property rights (PR) on an international scale.

The International Property Rights Index will provide the public, researchers and policymakers, from across the globe, with a tool for comparative analysis and future research on global property rights. In order to incorporate and grasp the important aspects related to property rights protection, the Index focuses on three areas: Legal and Political Environment (LP), Physical Property Rights (PPR), and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

The current study analyzes data for 115 countries around the globe, representing ninety-six percent of world GDP. Of great importance, the 2009 gauge incorporates data of PR protection from various sources, often directly obtained from expert surveys within the evaluated countries.