Author: Oskar MorgensternPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
On the Accuracy of Economic Observations
Author: Oskar MorgensternEconomic Statistics
Author: Zoltan KenesseyPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
On the Accuracy of Ecnonomic Observations
Author: Oskar MergensternEconomics and the Real World
Author: Andrew M. KamarckPublisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 1512809462
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 176
Book Description
Drawing on a lifetime of distinguished work in economic research and policymaking, Andrew Kamarck details how his profession can more usefully analyze and solve economic problems by changing its basic approach to research. Kamarck contends that most economists today strive for a mathematical precision in their work that neither stems from nor leads to an accurate view of economic reality. He develops elegant critiques of key areas of economic analysis based on appreciation of scientific method and knowledge of the limitations of economic data. Concepts such as employment, market, and money supply must be seen as loose, not exact. Measurement of national income becomes highly problematic when taking into account such factors as the so-called underground economy and currency differences. World trade analysis is based on inconsistent and often inaccurate measurements. Subtle realities of the individual, social, and political worlds render largely ineffective both large-scale macroeconomics models and micro models of the consumer and the firm. Fashionable cost-benefit analysis must be recognized as inherently imprecise. Capital and investment in developing countries tend to be measured in easy but irrelevant ways. Kamarck concludes with a call for economists to involve themselves in data collection, to insist on more accurate and reliable data sources, to do analysis within the context of experience, and to take a realistic, incremental approach to policymaking. Kamarck's concerns are shared by many economists, and his eloquent presentation will be essential reading for his colleagues and for those who make use of economic research.
Science Outside the Laboratory
Author: Marcel BoumansPublisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019938830X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
The conduct of most of social science occurs outside the laboratory. Such studies in field science explore phenomena that cannot for practical, technical, or ethical reasons be explored under controlled conditions. These phenomena cannot be fully isolated from their environment or investigated by manipulation or intervention. Yet measurement, including rigorous or clinical measurement, does provide analysts with a sound basis for discerning what occurs under field conditions, and why. In Science Outside the Laboratory, Marcel Boumans explores the state of measurement theory, its reliability, and the role expert judgment plays in field investigations from the perspective of the philosophy of science. Its discussion of the problems of passive observation, the calculus of observation, the two-model problem, and model-based consensus uses illustrations drawn primarily from economics. Rich in research and discussion, the volume clarifies the extent to which measurement provides valid information about objects and events in field sciences, but also has implications for measurement in the laboratory. Scholars in the fields of philosophy of science, social science, and economics will find Science Outside the Laboratory a compelling and informative read.
Selected Water Resources Abstracts
Author: Research in Economic History
Author: Alexander J. FieldPublisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1848553374
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
Contains six papers, evenly divided between European and North American topics. On the European side, this title provides regional estimates of social overhead investment in Italy. Turning west, it studies conflicts between ranchers and miners over who should bear the burden of taxation in nineteenth century California.
Arc Partner-country Statistics Useful for Estimating " Missing" Trade Data
Author: J. Alexander YeatsPublisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Bilateral Trade
Languages : en
Pages : 44
Book Description
Abstract: Because many developing countries fail to report trade statistics to the United Nations, there has been an interest in using partner-country data to fill these information gaps. The author used partner-country statistics for 30 developing countries to estimate actual (concealed) trade data and analyzed the magnitude of the resulting errors. The results indicate that partner-country data are unreliable even for estimating trade in broad aggregate product groups such as foodstuffs, fuels, or manufactures. Moreover, tests show that the reliability of partner-country statistics degenerates sharply as one moves to more finely distinguished trade categories (lower-level SITCs). Equally disturbing, about one-quarter of the partner-country comparisons take the wrong sign. That is, one country's reported free-on-board (f.o.b.) exports exceed the reported cost-insurance-freight (c.i.f.) value of partners' imports. Aside from product composition, tests show that partner-country data are equally inaccurate for estimating the direction of trade. Why are partner-country data so unreliable for approximating missing data? Evidence shows: 1) problems in reporting or processing COMTRADE data; 2) valuation differences (f.o.b. versus c.i.f.) for imports and exports; 3) problems relating to entrepot trade, or exports originating in export processing zones; 4) problems associated with exchange-rate changes; 5) intentional or unintentional misclassification of products; 6) efforts to conceal trade data for proprietary reasons; and 7) financial incentives to purposely falsify trade data. The author concludes that efforts to improve the general quality, or availability, of trade statistics using partner-country data holds little or no promise, although this information may be useful in specific cases where the trade statistics of a certain country are known to incorporate major errors. Significant progress in ugrading the accuracy, and coverage, of trade statistics can be achieved only by improving each country's procedures for data collection.
Economic Education
Author: United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee. Subcommittee on Economic ProgressPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Development Dilemmas
Author: Melvin AyoguPublisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134329520
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
It is widely believed that economic development in much of the world is not happening quickly enough. Indeed, the standard of living in some parts of the world has actually been declining. Many experts now doubt that the solution can be purely technical and economic; it must also be political and moral. This book brings together contributions from leading authorities, such as Joseph Stiglitz, Jean-Jacques Laffont and Daniel Hausman, on economics and political philosophy to survey current barriers to growth, including problems with policy and problems with concepts and thinking. Getting policies right, the contributors stress, is a complicated task in itself, but it also may not be enough; instead, people in both the developed and developing worlds may also need to reconsider basic and time-worn beliefs about facts, values, the measurement of data, rights, needs and the nature of government. Of interest to economics and policy makers, Development Dilemmas is a long-awaited addition to the debate over economics and political philosophy in the developing world.