<TitleType>01</TitleType> <TitleText>Cornell Studies in Political Economy</TitleText>

Cornell University Press cornell@onixsuite.com 20130525 eng

COM.ONIXSUITE.9780801478604 03 01 Cornell University Press 01 GCOI 80140100939320 02 080147860X 03 9780801478604 15 9780801478604 59 BC <TitleType>01</TitleType> <TitleText>Cornell Studies in Political Economy</TitleText> <TitleType>01</TitleType> <TitleText textcase="02">Poor Numbers</TitleText> <Subtitle textcase="02">How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It</Subtitle> 1 A01 Jerven, Morten Morten Jerven Morten Jerven is Assistant Professor in the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University. 01 eng 176 00 176 03 14 11 12 18 2 POL010000 KCHS 10 HIS001000 10 SOC027000 24 Internet Political Science / Africa and the Middle East 24 Internet Political Science / Development Studies 24 Internet Political Science / International Relations 01 01 01 One of the most urgent challenges in African economic development is to devise a strategy for improving statistical capacity. Reliable statistics, including estimates of economic growth rates and per-capita income, are basic to the operation of governments in developing countries and vital to nongovernmental organizations and other entities that provide financial aid to them. Rich countries and international financial institutions such as the World Bank allocate their development resources on the basis of such data. The paucity of accurate statistics is not merely a technical problem; it has a massive impact on the welfare of citizens in developing countries. Where do these statistics originate? How accurate are they? Poor Numbers is the first analysis of the production and use of African economic development statistics. Morten Jerven's research shows how the statistical capacities of sub-Saharan African economies have fallen into disarray. The numbers substantially misstate the actual state of affairs. As a result, scarce resources are misapplied. Development policy does not deliver the benefits expected. Policymakers' attempts to improve the lot of the citizenry are frustrated. Donors have no accurate sense of the impact of the aid they supply. Jerven’s findings from sub-Saharan Africa have far-reaching implications for aid and development policy. As Jerven notes, the current catchphrase in the development community is "evidence-based policy," and scholars are applying increasingly sophisticated econometric methods—but no statistical techniques can substitute for partial and unreliable data. 02 Poor Numbers is the first analysis of the production and use of African economic development statistics. 04 Introduction 1. What Do We Know about Income and Growth in Africa? 2. Measuring African Wealth and Progress 3. Facts, Assumptions, and Controversy: Lessons from the Datasets 4. Data for Development: Using and Improving African Statistics Conclusion: Development by Numbers Appendix A. A Comparison of GDP Estimates from the World Development Indicators Database and Country Estimates Appendix B. Details of Interviews and Questionnaires Notes References Index 08 "I found Poor Numbers illuminating and disturbing at the same time—I think that is exactly what Morten Jerven intended. It is well written, even elegant in some places. Jerven's recommendation that more funding be put into statistical services to do baseline surveys and field-based data collection makes a lot of sense."—Carol Lancaster, Dean of the School of Foreign Service and Professor of Politics, Georgetown University, author of Aid to Africa: So Little Done, So Much to Do 08 "In Poor Numbers, Morten Jerven takes on the issue of inaccurate macroeconomic data in Sub-Saharan Africa. First, by describing collection methods, he shows quite convincingly that the data are pretty dreadful, and perhaps more damning, that they may include systematic and predictable flaws linked to the way in which they are collected and aggregated. Jerven demonstrates that basic national accounts data are too poor to assess very basic characteristics of African economic performance since independence. This short elegant book is fascinating and strikes me as a must-read for any social scientist interested in African political economy and policy."—Nicolas van de Walle, Cornell University, author of African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979–1999 04 03 72 01 http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/resources/titles/80140100939320/images/80140100939320L.jpg 07 03 72 01 http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/resources/titles/80140100939320/images/80140100939320S.jpg http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100939320 Cornell University Press 01 02 2021862 Cornell University Press Ithaca US 04 20130219 06 AO BW AQ LS MG MW MU MZ NA ZA SZ TZ ZM ZW 01 9 in 02 6 in 08 10 oz 07 2021862 CUP Services http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu 02 CA MX US BV AL AD AM AU AT AZ BY BA BG HR CY CZ DK EE FO FI GE DE GI GR HM HU IS IE MK IT PS KZ LV LI LT LU UM MT MC ME NL NZ NO PG PL PT RO RU SM AX SK SI ES SJ SE CH TR UA GB VA 20 42 01 02 s 02 22.95 USD 06 5013546051314 NBN International http://www.nbninternational.com 02 BV AL AD AM AT AZ BY BE BA BG HR CY CZ DK EE FO FI FR GE DE GI GR HM HU IS IE MK IT PS KZ LV LI LT UM MT MD MC ME NL NO PL PT RO RU SM AX SK SI ES SJ SE CH TR UA GB VA AU CA JP MX US NZ PG 20 01 02 s 02 14.50 GBP