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

Abstract

Purpose

The author aims to analyze the effect of statistical capacity on government effectiveness/efficiency using cross-sectional from a sample of 48 African countries for the period 2003-2008.

Design/methodology/approach

The estimation technique used is a two-stage least squares instrumental variable methodology and ordinary least square.

Findings

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.

Practical implications

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.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to existing literature on the determinants of institution by focusing on the distribution of the dependent variable (government effectiveness). The author stressed the importance of information and statistics capabilities.

Citation

Kodila-Tedika, O. (2014), "Africa's statistical tragedy: best statistics, best government effectiveness", International Journal of Development Issues, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 171-178. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJDI-12-2013-0090