Morten Jerven Morten Jerven

Conference Program, April 18-20, 2013

Conference Program, cheap April 18-20, for sale 2013
African Economic Development:
Measuring Success and Failure

The World Bank Chief Economist for Africa, Shanta Devarajan, recently declared that the state of development data in Africa amounts to nothing less than a statistical tragedy. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that, due to data unreliability, we currently know little about the growth and income of African economies. Yet institutions and scholars routinely make statements regarding the pace and direction of development in Africa.

Recently, there has been an increased focus on the weakness of statistical systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The remarkable upward revision causing a doubling in GDP in Ghana has just been confirmed, and reports suggest that a similar upward revision of GDP is pending in Nigeria. These very visible events have raised the attention given to African statistics, especially for the measurement of growth, poverty and also for development in African economies in a broader sense.

The conference seeks to establish the extent of the data problems and the implications for both academic interpretations and policy advice. As well as fully setting out the problems, the main task is then to suggest improvements or alternatives that can advance our understanding of African economic development and provide active guidance for policy makers. Specifically this conference invites producers of data (the local statistical offices in African countries); disseminators of data (representatives from World Bank and the IMF); and data users such as development scholars and International development organizations. The conference also unique in that brings together scholars from different disciplines, including history, economics, economic historians, political scientists, anthropology and sociology. Bringing these types of data users together will generate a productive and innovative basis for remedying the problems of development statistics.


The conference runs over three days with three specific themes:

April 18, Day 1: Statistical Tragedy in Africa? Evaluating the Data Base for African Economic Development
April 19, Day 2: Measurement, Planning and the State in Sub-Saharan Africa: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
April 20, Day 3: New African Economic History: Sources and Methods in Analyzing Long Term African Economic Development


Special Events:

Friday April 19, 6 pm: Book launch. Morten Jerven, Poor Numbers. How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It.

Saturday April 20, 10 am: Keynote. Anthony Hopkins, New African Economic History.


Thursday 18 April

The Data Base for African Economic Development 20 Years on: What Have We Learned?

8:30-9:00am – Registration and Coffee

9:00-10:30am – Panel 1: Africa’s Statistical Tragedy: Poverty, Income and Growth

10:30-11:00am – Coffee Break

11:00am-12:30pm – Panel 2:  Africa’s Statistical Tragedy: Poverty, Income and Growth

Chair: Deborah Johnston (SOAS)

  • Justin Sandefur and Amanda Glassman (Center of Global Development) – The Mystery of African Development: Exploring Systematic Discrepancies between Survey and Administrative Data
  • Sara Randall (UC London) and Ernestina Coast (LSE) – Poverty in African Households: the Limits of Survey Representations
  • Andrew Dabalen (World Bank) – Is Poverty Reduction in Africa Underestimated Because of Poor Data?

12:30pm -1:30pm – Lunch

1:30-3:30pm – Panel 3: Surveying Labour and Agriculture

Chair: Sara Randall (UC London)

3:30-4:00pm – Coffee Break

4:00-6:00pm Panel 4: Monitoring Human Capital Development

Chair: Alex Moradi (Sussex)


Friday 19 April

Measurement, Planning and the State in Sub-Saharan Africa: Historical Perspectives

8:30-9:00am – Coffee

9:00-10:30am Panel 5: Economic Planning in Newly Independent States

Chair: Felicitas Becker (Cambridge)

10:30-11:00am – Coffee Break

11:00am-12:30pm – Panel 6: The Use of Numbers in Politics

Chair: Gerardo Serra (LSE)

12:30-1:30pm – Lunch

1:30-3:00pm – Panel 7:  Reports from the Statistical Offices

Chair: Elizabeth Cooper (SFU)

3:00-3:30pm – Coffee Break

3:30-5:00pm – Panel 8:  Between Statistical Tragedy and Renaissance

Chair: Ewout Frankema

6:00pm – Book Launch

Morten Jerven – Poor Numbers How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It

7:00pm – Drink Reception

8:00pm – Dinner


Saturday 20 April

New African Economic History: Sources and Methods in Analyzing Long Term African Economic Development

9.30-10:00am– Coffee

10:00-11:00am – Keynote:   Tony Hopkins – The New Economic History of Africa

11:00am-12:00pm – Panel 9:  Sources and Methods

12:00-1:00pm – Lunch

1:00-3:00pm – Panel 10:  Colonial States, Investment and Growth 

Chair: Gareth Austin (Graduate Institute)

3:00-3:30pm – Coffee Break

3:30pm-5:30pm – Panel 10:  Commerce and Merchants

Chair: Tony Hopkins

6:00pm – Conference Closing.


List of Participants

Shimeles Abebe – African Development Bank
Alexandre Abreu – University Technique of Lisbon
Oladejo Ajayi – formerly Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics
Kofi Asante – Northwestern University
Gareth Austin – The Graduate Institute Geneva
Felicitas Becker – Cambridge University
Jutta Bolt – University of Groningen
Gero Carletto – World Bank
Roy Carr Hill – Institute of Education, London
Elizabeth Cooper – Simon Fraser University
Oliver Chinganya – African Development Bank
Ernestina Coast – London School of Economics
Andrew Dabalen – World Bank
Jeff Davis – Bill Gates Foundation
Alec Dawson – Simon Fraser University
Magnus Ebo Duncan – Ghana Statistical Services
Louise Fox – World Bank
Ewout Frankema – University of Utrecht and Wageningen University
Erik Green – Lund University
John Harriss –  Simon Fraser University
Ellen Hillbom – Lund University
Barbro Hexeberg – World Bank
Joseph Hodge – West Virginia University
Anthony Hopkins – The University of Texas at Austin
Cynthia Howson – University of Washington
Joseph Inikori – Rochester University
Andrew Jack – Financial Times
David Jacks – Simon Fraser University
Deborah Johnson – School of Oriental and African Studies
Dean Jolliffe – World Bank
Johannes Jutting – OECD
Oyeyemi Kale – National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria
Ben Kiregyera – DevInfCo, formerly Uganda Bureau of Statistics
Mattias Lindgren – Gapminder
Patrick Manning – University of Pittsburg
Robert McCaa – University of Minnesota
Alex Moradi – University of Sussex
Themba Munalula – Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
Yusuf Murangwa – National Institute of Statistics Rwanda
Alice Nabalamba – African Development Bank
Moffat Nyoni – Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency
Innocent Oduh – National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria
Kayode Olaniyan – National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria
Clint Pecencka – Bill Gates Foundation
Sara Randall – University College London
Matteo Rizzo – School of Oriental and African Studies
Boris Samuel – Sciences Po and CERI
Justin Sandefur – Center for Global Development
Dimitri Sanga – United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
Gerardo Serra – London School of Economics
Chibuike Uche – University of Nigeria Enugu Campus
Marlous van Waijenburg – Northwestern University
Dwayne Woods – Purdue University
Alden Young – Princeton University

 

2 thoughts on Conference Program, April 18-20, 2013

  1. Dear Dr.Morten Jerven:
    I am very glad to see your blog and information about your book. I was former representative of JICA Kenya Office and I was in charge of economist of Sub-Sahara African countries. Your suggestions are very helpful. “Poor Numbers” was translated into Japanese and published, you know. Thank you!

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