NB: from 1 January 2019 the Global Benchmarking Database version 2.0 uses an updated benchmark typology.

The typology used to construct version 1 of the Global Benchmarking Database distinguishes between four types of practices based on the class of actor that is engaged in benchmarking. These four types of practices are: (i) statecraft; (ii) international governance; (iii) private market governance; (iv) transnational advocacy. This does not preclude the possibility that one type of global benchmarking may be used by other actors for a different purpose, or that a benchmark may be produced by more than one class of actor. This typology of global benchmarking is illustrated in the table below.