Thinking about setting up shop in Azerbaijan or Croatia? Lehman Brothers andEurasia Group, a New York-based political risk analysis firm, have teamed up tolaunch an index that examines political and economic factors as measurements ofthe stability of emerging markets. The index will initially cover 10 countriesin Eastern Europe and Asia and increase to 25 countries by the end of 2002.

While such indexes are nothing new, the Lehman Eurasia Group Stability Index (LEGSI) focuses more on stability than business conditions and has a moreforward-looking theoretical model, which includes political, social, securityand economic factors, says Tina Nelson, the joint venture's director.. LEGSIemploys proprietary information. Further, the Eurasia Group has locally basedexperts who provide data and analysis for the index.

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