Data for Socio-Economic Research

1
Economic Policy Institutes Network Research
Capacity Development Component

• Data for Socio-Economic Research
• in Transition Countries
• 1-3 December 2005, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

Jacek Cukrowski MDG Advisor, UNDP Europe and the
CIS Bratislava Regional Centre
2
Problems with statistical data in post-communist
countries

• Underdeveloped statistical capacities
• Lack of data, quality, reliability, comparability
• National definitions
• Changing environment
• Short time series

3
What kind of data?

• Macroeconomic data
• Inflation, GDP, growth rates, public sector
  deficit, etc.
• Household data
• Living standards, poverty, consumption, etc.
• Enterprise data
• Ownership structure, employment arrangements,
  etc.
• Financial data
• Stock market data
• Social sector data
• Poverty, enrolment, life expectancy, infant
  mortality, etc.

4
Sources of macro data

• World Bank (www.worldbank.org/data)
• World Development Indicators database
• World Bank webpage www.worldbank.org
• Country reports
• EBRD
• Transition Report (and its supplement)
• National Statistical Offices
• Webpages and publications
• National Central Banks

5
Macro dataStatistical Offices and Central Banks
Source Filer R. and Hanousek J. (2002) Data
Watch Research Data from Transition Economies,
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
Vol. 16, No.1
6
Sources of household data

• Labor force surveys
• Household budget survey
• Consumer expenditure surveys
• Living Standards Measurement Surveys
• For details see www.worldbank.org/lsms

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Firms level data and financial data

• National sources
• Filer R. and Hanousek J. (2002) Data Watch
  Research Data from Transition Economies, Journal
  of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 16, No.1
• See also tables in the Annex

8
Social sector data/poverty data

• UNDP Human Development Reports (HDR)
• Global (annual reports)
• http//hdr.undp.org
• Regional (CA HDR, CIS HDR, MDG Report)
• http//europeandcis.undp.org
• http//mdgr.undp.sk
• National HDR
• http//hdr.undp.org/nhdr
• World Bank survey data
• WB report Growth, Poverty a Inequality in
  Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union
  (2005)

Available at http//web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTER
NAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/ 0,,contentMDK20627214pageP
K146736piPK146830theSitePK258599,00.html
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Other sources of social sector data

• Children
• United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF),
  International Child Development Centre
• MONEE database www.unicef-icdc.org/research/
• Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS)
  www.childinfo.org/mics2
• Health
• World Health Organization
• Mortality database www.who.int/whosis/
• Health for All database www.who.dk/hfadb
• Nutrition anthropometry database
  www.who.int/nutgrowthdb
• Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS
• www.unaids.org/hivaidsinfo

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Other sources of social sector data

• Gender
• World Bank
• World development indicators (gender statistics)
• www.worldbank.org/data/
• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
• www.unece.org/stats/data.htm
• Ageing
• United Nations, Department for Economic and
  Social Affairs (Policies and Programmes on
  ageing)
• www.seniorweb.nl/un/memberstates
• Crime
• Interpol (International crime statistics)
• www.interpol.int

See also Scott Wolf (2004) Tracking Human
Development. UNDP, Bratislava
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Reports and working papers

• International organizations
• World Bank, IMF, UNDP, Asian Development Bank,
  OECD, UNCTAD, etc.
• Research institutes
• Studies and Analyses CASE
• http//www.case.pl
• Center for Economic Research and Graduate
  Education (CERGE-EI)
• http//www.cerge-ei.cz/publications/

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Reports and working papers (Cont.)

• EERC (http//www.eerc.ru)
• National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
• http//www.nber.org/
• William Davidson Institute working papers
• http//www.wdi.umich.edu/Publications/
• Center for Economic and Financial Research at New
  Economic School (CEFIR)
• http//www.cefir.ru

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Research papers databases

• EBSCO
• Academic Search Premier - The worlds largest
  academic multi-disciplinary database
• full text for nearly 4,700 publications,
  including full text for more than 3,600
  peer-reviewed journals
• PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available
  for well over one hundred journals
• JSTOR
• Arts Sciences I
• JSTOR's first collection and includes many of the
  core research and society published journals in
  economics, history, political science, and
  sociology, as well as in other key fields in the
  humanities and social sciences
• This collection also includes a selection of
  titles in the more science-oriented fields of
  ecology, mathematics, and statistics

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EBSCO
15
JSTOR
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Practical remarks (1)

• Be careful with national data
• Change in the definitions during transition
• Data in particular countries during transition
  are not comparable
• Differences in definitions between countries
• Limited comparability
• Example
• Infant mortality rate
• The definition of a live birth in the former
  Soviet Union differed from the international WHO
  definition
• IN FSU a child was considered not to have a live
  birth if the infant was born before 28th week of
  pregnancy with a weight of less than 1000 gm or a
  length below 35 cm

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Practical remarks (2)

• Be careful with international data
• Change in the definitions and retrospective
  updates
• UNDP HDR
• World Bank data
• Example Gini Index of consumption inequality

WDI (2004) WDI (2005)
Correction Russia (2000)
45,62 34,8
-23 Armenia (1998)
37,92 32,08
-15 Uzbekistan (2000) 26,83
35,49 32
WB report Growth, Poverty a Inequality in
Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (2005)
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Thank you

• Jacek.Cukrowski_at_undp.org

• United Nations Development Programme
• Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent
  States Bratislava Regional Centre
• www.europeandcis.undp.sk
• Regional MDG web page
• MDGr.undp.sk

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Annex
20
Households dataLabor force surveys
Source Filer R. and Hanousek J. (2002) Data
Watch Research Data from Transition Economies,
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
Vol. 16, No.1
21
Households dataHousehold surveys
Source Filer R. and Hanousek J. (2002) Data
Watch Research Data from Transition Economies,
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
Vol. 16, No.1
22
Sources of firm level data
Source Filer R. and Hanousek J. (2002) Data
Watch Research Data from Transition Economies,
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
Vol. 16, No.1
23
Stock market data
Source Filer R. and Hanousek J. (2002) Data
Watch Research Data from Transition Economies,
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
Vol. 16, No.1
24
Stock market data (cont.)
Source Filer R. and Hanousek J. (2002) Data
Watch Research Data from Transition Economies,
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
Vol. 16, No.1