首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
     


On the Accuracy of Economic Observations: Do Sub-Saharan Trade Statistics Mean Anything?
Authors:Yeats   Alexander J.
Affiliation:The author is an economist in the International Economics Department of the World Bank. He greatly benefited from an early discussion with Wolfgang F. Stolper on the methodological approach to be used in and the need for this study. The author would like to thank Jong-Goo Park, Paul Meo, Alfred Tovias, and Bela Balassa for comments and suggestions.
Abstract:African governments are being urged to promote commodity exports,yet without reliable trade statistics it is difficult to formulateappropriate policies to achieve this goal. This article assessesthe accuracy of U.N. trade statistics by comparing the declaredvalue of African exports, plus a transport and insurance costfactor, with partner countries' reported import values. Theresults show that major discrepancies often exist between thetwo, with false invoicing and smuggling apparently responsiblefor much of the difference. Although major disparities existin data on trade with developed countries, the average differencesin intra-African trade statistics are substantially larger.Statistical tests show that these data cannot be relied on toindicate the level, composition, or even direction and trendsin African trade.
Keywords:
本文献已被 Oxford 等数据库收录!
设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号