Different Dreams, Same Bed : Collecting, Using, and Interpreting Employment Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa--The Case of Uganda
Employment and earnings statistics are the key link between the size and structure of economic growth and the welfare of households, which is the ultimate goal of development policy, so it is important to monitor employment outcomes consistently. A...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/05/17680193/different-dreams-same-bed-collecting-using-interpreting-employment-statistics-sub-saharan-africa-case-uganda http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15577 |
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okr-10986-155772021-04-23T14:03:19Z Different Dreams, Same Bed : Collecting, Using, and Interpreting Employment Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa--The Case of Uganda Fox, Louise Pimhidzai, Obert ACCOUNTING ADJUSTMENT AGGREGATE EMPLOYMENT ATTENTION ATTRITION CHILD LABOR DEVELOPMENT PLANNING DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC THEORY EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT INDICATORS EMPLOYMENT OUTCOME EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES EMPLOYMENT PATTERN EMPLOYMENT STATUS EMPLOYMENT STATUSES EMPLOYMENT TRENDS ETHNIC GROUPS FARM INCOME GENDER HIPC HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD ENTERPRISE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN RESOURCES IHS INCOME INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES INFANT MORTALITY INTEGRATED HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS JOB CREATION JOB SEARCH JOBS KNOWLEDGE GAP LABOR ECONOMICS LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKET INDICATORS LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES LABOR ORGANIZATION LABOR STATISTICS LABOUR LABOUR FORCE LITERATURE LIVELIHOOD LIVELIHOODS LIVING STANDARDS LOW UNEMPLOYMENT LOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATE MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OCCUPATION OCCUPATIONS OPEN ACCESS OUTCOME INDICATORS PAPERS PARTICIPATION RATES PERCEPTION PORTFOLIOS POVERTY MONITORING POVERTY REDUCTION PREVIOUS SECTION PRODUCTION UNIT PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT PRODUCTIVITY READERS RECALL REGIONAL POVERTY REGRESSION ANALYSES RESEARCHERS SERVANTS SERVICE DELIVERY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYMENT WAGE EARNER WAGE EMPLOYMENT WORKER WORKERS Employment and earnings statistics are the key link between the size and structure of economic growth and the welfare of households, which is the ultimate goal of development policy, so it is important to monitor employment outcomes consistently. A cursory review of employment data for low-income Sub-Saharan African countries shows both large gaps and improbable variation within countries over time and among countries, suggesting that low quality data are routinely reported by national statistics offices. Unfortunately, policies are formed and projects developed and implemented on the basis of these statistics. Therefore, errors of measurement could be having profound implications on the strategic priorities and policies of a country. This paper explains the improbable results observed by using data from Uganda, where the labor module contains variation both within and across surveys, to show the sensitivity of employment outcomes to survey methodology. It finds that estimates of employment outcomes are unreliable if the questionnaire did not use screening questions, as labor force participation will be underestimated. Likewise, surveys that use a seven-day recall period underestimate or potentially misrepresent employment outcomes, owing to seasonality and multiple jobs. Common multivariate analysis applied on household survey data will be affected, as the errors in measurement in the dependent and independent variables will be correlated. Corrections to reduce measurement bias in existing data are tested with the survey data; none are found to be completely satisfactory. The paper concludes that there is a knowledge gap about employment outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa that will continue unless collection techniques improve. 2013-09-04T16:47:10Z 2013-09-04T16:47:10Z 2013-05 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/05/17680193/different-dreams-same-bed-collecting-using-interpreting-employment-statistics-sub-saharan-africa-case-uganda http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15577 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6436 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Africa Uganda |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
ACCOUNTING ADJUSTMENT AGGREGATE EMPLOYMENT ATTENTION ATTRITION CHILD LABOR DEVELOPMENT PLANNING DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC THEORY EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT INDICATORS EMPLOYMENT OUTCOME EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES EMPLOYMENT PATTERN EMPLOYMENT STATUS EMPLOYMENT STATUSES EMPLOYMENT TRENDS ETHNIC GROUPS FARM INCOME GENDER HIPC HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD ENTERPRISE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN RESOURCES IHS INCOME INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES INFANT MORTALITY INTEGRATED HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS JOB CREATION JOB SEARCH JOBS KNOWLEDGE GAP LABOR ECONOMICS LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKET INDICATORS LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES LABOR ORGANIZATION LABOR STATISTICS LABOUR LABOUR FORCE LITERATURE LIVELIHOOD LIVELIHOODS LIVING STANDARDS LOW UNEMPLOYMENT LOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATE MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OCCUPATION OCCUPATIONS OPEN ACCESS OUTCOME INDICATORS PAPERS PARTICIPATION RATES PERCEPTION PORTFOLIOS POVERTY MONITORING POVERTY REDUCTION PREVIOUS SECTION PRODUCTION UNIT PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT PRODUCTIVITY READERS RECALL REGIONAL POVERTY REGRESSION ANALYSES RESEARCHERS SERVANTS SERVICE DELIVERY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYMENT WAGE EARNER WAGE EMPLOYMENT WORKER WORKERS |
| spellingShingle |
ACCOUNTING ADJUSTMENT AGGREGATE EMPLOYMENT ATTENTION ATTRITION CHILD LABOR DEVELOPMENT PLANNING DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC THEORY EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT INDICATORS EMPLOYMENT OUTCOME EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES EMPLOYMENT PATTERN EMPLOYMENT STATUS EMPLOYMENT STATUSES EMPLOYMENT TRENDS ETHNIC GROUPS FARM INCOME GENDER HIPC HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD ENTERPRISE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN RESOURCES IHS INCOME INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES INFANT MORTALITY INTEGRATED HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS JOB CREATION JOB SEARCH JOBS KNOWLEDGE GAP LABOR ECONOMICS LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKET INDICATORS LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES LABOR ORGANIZATION LABOR STATISTICS LABOUR LABOUR FORCE LITERATURE LIVELIHOOD LIVELIHOODS LIVING STANDARDS LOW UNEMPLOYMENT LOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATE MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OCCUPATION OCCUPATIONS OPEN ACCESS OUTCOME INDICATORS PAPERS PARTICIPATION RATES PERCEPTION PORTFOLIOS POVERTY MONITORING POVERTY REDUCTION PREVIOUS SECTION PRODUCTION UNIT PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT PRODUCTIVITY READERS RECALL REGIONAL POVERTY REGRESSION ANALYSES RESEARCHERS SERVANTS SERVICE DELIVERY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYMENT WAGE EARNER WAGE EMPLOYMENT WORKER WORKERS Fox, Louise Pimhidzai, Obert Different Dreams, Same Bed : Collecting, Using, and Interpreting Employment Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa--The Case of Uganda |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Uganda |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6436 |
| description |
Employment and earnings statistics are
the key link between the size and structure of economic
growth and the welfare of households, which is the ultimate
goal of development policy, so it is important to monitor
employment outcomes consistently. A cursory review of
employment data for low-income Sub-Saharan African countries
shows both large gaps and improbable variation within
countries over time and among countries, suggesting that low
quality data are routinely reported by national statistics
offices. Unfortunately, policies are formed and projects
developed and implemented on the basis of these statistics.
Therefore, errors of measurement could be having profound
implications on the strategic priorities and policies of a
country. This paper explains the improbable results observed
by using data from Uganda, where the labor module contains
variation both within and across surveys, to show the
sensitivity of employment outcomes to survey methodology. It
finds that estimates of employment outcomes are unreliable
if the questionnaire did not use screening questions, as
labor force participation will be underestimated. Likewise,
surveys that use a seven-day recall period underestimate or
potentially misrepresent employment outcomes, owing to
seasonality and multiple jobs. Common multivariate analysis
applied on household survey data will be affected, as the
errors in measurement in the dependent and independent
variables will be correlated. Corrections to reduce
measurement bias in existing data are tested with the survey
data; none are found to be completely satisfactory. The
paper concludes that there is a knowledge gap about
employment outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa that will continue
unless collection techniques improve. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Fox, Louise Pimhidzai, Obert |
| author_facet |
Fox, Louise Pimhidzai, Obert |
| author_sort |
Fox, Louise |
| title |
Different Dreams, Same Bed : Collecting, Using, and Interpreting Employment Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa--The Case of Uganda |
| title_short |
Different Dreams, Same Bed : Collecting, Using, and Interpreting Employment Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa--The Case of Uganda |
| title_full |
Different Dreams, Same Bed : Collecting, Using, and Interpreting Employment Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa--The Case of Uganda |
| title_fullStr |
Different Dreams, Same Bed : Collecting, Using, and Interpreting Employment Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa--The Case of Uganda |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Different Dreams, Same Bed : Collecting, Using, and Interpreting Employment Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa--The Case of Uganda |
| title_sort |
different dreams, same bed : collecting, using, and interpreting employment statistics in sub-saharan africa--the case of uganda |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/05/17680193/different-dreams-same-bed-collecting-using-interpreting-employment-statistics-sub-saharan-africa-case-uganda http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15577 |
| _version_ |
1764429450350428160 |