Africa's statistical tragedy: best statistics, best government effectiveness

Kodila-Tedika, Oasis (2012): Africa's statistical tragedy: best statistics, best government effectiveness. Published in: International Journal of Development Issues , Vol. 2, No. 13 : pp. 171-178.

Abstract

We analyze the effect of statistical capacity on government effectiveness/efficiency using cross-sectional and panel data from a sample of 48 African countries for the period 2003-2008. The results show that statistical capacity positively affects government effectiveness/efficiency. It follows that countries with higher statistical capacity levels enjoy institutions of better quality than countries with low levels of statistical capacity. As a policy implication, if Africa does not have effective governments, it is partly because it has a very weak statistical capacity. In such an environment, access to information for effective governance is compromised.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Sub-Saharan Africa, Institution, Statistical Capacity, Information, Government effectiveness
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D73 - Bureaucracy ; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations ; Corruption; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C4 - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics > C43 - Index Numbers and Aggregation; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O17 - Formal and Informal Sectors ; Shadow Economy ; Institutional Arrangements; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O15 - Human Resources ; Human Development ; Income Distribution ; Migration; P - Economic Systems > P4 - Other Economic Systems > P48 - Political Economy ; Legal Institutions ; Property Rights ; Natural Resources ; Energy ; Environment ; Regional Studies; D - Microeconomics > D8 - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty; N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics ; Industrial Structure ; Growth ; Fluctuations > N17 - Africa ; Oceania

References

Asongu, S. A. (2012a), “Government quality determinants of stock market performance in African countries”, Journal of African Business, 13(3), pp. 183-199.

Asongu, S. A. (2012b), “On the effect of foreign aid on corruption”, Economics Bulletin, 32(3), pp. 2174-2180.

Asongu, S. A., (2013a), “Fighting corruption in Africa: do existing corruption-control levels matter?”, International Journal of Development Issues: Forthcoming.

Asongu, S. A., (2013b), “Fighting software piracy in Africa: how do legal origins and IPRs protection channels matter?”, Journal of the Knowledge Economy: Forthcoming.

Blades, D. (1975), Non-Monetary (Subsistence) Activities in the National Accounts of Developing Countries, Paris: OECD.

Blades, D. (1980), “What do we know about levels and growth of output in developing countries? A critical analysis with special reference to Africa”, in R.C.O. Mathews (ed) Economic Growth and Resources: Proceedings of the Fifth World Congress, International Economic Association, Tokyo, Vol. 2, Trends and factors (New York: St. Martin’s Press). pp. 68–75.

Deaton, A. and A. Heston, (2010), “Understanding PPPS and PPP-based National Accounts”, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2(4), 1–35.

Harttgen, K., Klasen, S. and S. Vollmer, (2011), “An African Growth Miracle? Or: What Do Asset Indices Tell Us About Trends In Economic Performance?”, CRC-PEG Discussion Paper No 109.

Henderson, V., Storeygard, A. and D. N. Weil, (2012), “Measuring Economic Growth from Outer Space,” American Economic Review, 102(2), 994-1028.

Jerven, M. (2010a), “The Relativity of Poverty and Income: How Reliable Are African Economic Statistics?”, African Affairs, 109(434), 77-96.

Jerven, M. and Ebo Duncan, M. (2012), “Revising GDP estimates in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from Ghana”, African Statistical Journal, 15, 13–24.

Jerven, M., (2013), Poor Numbers. How we are misled by African development statistics and what to do about it, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Jerven, M. (2010b), “Random Growth in Africa? Lessons from an Evaluation of the Growth Evidence on Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia, 1965–1995”, Journal of Development Studies, 46(2), 274 – 294.

Jerven, M. (2010c), “Accounting for the African Growth Miracle: The official Evidence, Botswana 1965-1995”, Journal of Southern African Studies, 36(1), 73-94.

Jerven, M. (2011a), “Growth, Stagnation or Retrogression? On the Accuracy of Economic Observations, Tanzania, 1961-2001.” Journal of African Economies, 20(3), 377-394.

Jerven, M. (2011b), “Revisiting the Consensus on Kenyan Economic Growth, 1964-1995”, Journal of Eastern African Studies, 5(1), 2-23.

Jerven, M. (2011c), “Un demi-siècle de fictions de croissance en Afrique (with Béatrice Hibou and Boris Samuel)”, Politique Africaine, 124, 29–43.

Jerven, M. (2011d), “Users and Producers of African Income: Measuring African Progress”, African Affairs, 110(439), 169–190.

Jerven, M. (2011e), “Counting the Bottom Billion: Measuring the Wealth and Progress of African Economies”, World Economics, 12(4), 35–52.

Johnson, S., Larson, W., Papageorgiou, C. and A. Subramanian. (2009), “Is Newer Better? The Penn World Table Revisions and Their Impact on Growth Estimates”, NBER Working Paper 15455.

Kanyama-Kalonda, I. and O. Kodila-Tedika (2012), “Quality of Institutions: Does Intelligence Matter?”, Working Papers 308, Economic Research Southern Africa.

Keyland, F. and E. Prescott, (1977), “Rules Rather than Discretion: The Inconsistency of Optimal Plans”, Journal of Political Economy, 85(3), 473-431.

Kodila-Tedika, O., (2013). "Pauvreté de chiffres : explication de la tragédie statistique africaine," MPRA Paper 43734, University Library of Munich, Germany.

Lucas, R. (1976), “Econometric Policy Evaluation: A Critique”, in The Philips Curve and Labor Markets, Canegie-Rochester Conférence Series on Public Policy, edited by Brunner and Meltzer, vol.1, 19-46.

Miguel, E., Shanker, S. and S. Ernest (2004) “Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: An Instrumental Variables Approach”, Journal of Political Economy, 112(4), 725–53.

Richens, P. (2009), The Economic legacies of the Thin White Line: indirect rule and the colonial comparative development of sub-Saharan African, Economic History Working paper 131/09.

Sahn, D.E. and D.C. Stifel (2003), “Exploring Alternative Measures of Welfare in the Absence of Expenditure Data”, Review of Income and Wealth, 49(4), 463-489.

Sala-i-Martin, X. and M. Pinkovskiy, (2010) “African Poverty is Falling Much Faster Than You Think!” NBER Working Paper 15775.

Stifel, D. and L. Christiaensen (2007), “Tracking Poverty Over Time in the Absence of Comparable Consumption Data”, The World Bank Economic Review 21(2), 317-341.

Young, A. (2010) “The African Growth Miracle” Working Paper. London School of Economics.