---
product_id: 12130267
title: "Poor Numbers: How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)"
brand: "morten jerven"
price: "7736 kr"
currency: ISK
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 12
url: https://www.desertcart.is/products/12130267-poor-numbers-how-we-are-misled-by-african-development-statistics
store_origin: IS
region: Iceland
---

# Poor Numbers: How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)

**Brand:** morten jerven
**Price:** 7736 kr
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Poor Numbers: How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It (Cornell Studies in Political Economy) by morten jerven
- **How much does it cost?** 7736 kr with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.is](https://www.desertcart.is/products/12130267-poor-numbers-how-we-are-misled-by-african-development-statistics)

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## Description

Poor Numbers: How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Bad data
  

*by D***R on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 1, 2013*

Bravo to Morten Jervens on a fine and informative book. May the stats get better!!!!I just finished reading this book. Since I had read other things by author, I did not discover anything that I did not already know. For those who are not aware of his work, this book will come as quite informative and for some hopefully a wake up call. My only quibble with the book is that it too nice. Probably, this is a question of personality and style. He references  epistemological and methodological problems that arise from using bad data (bad plus noisy data is, in my view, a priori junk); however, he does not, borrowing from a Seinfeld episode, bother to name names as much as I think he should have. In my view, there is no justification for someone who is methodologically sophisticated  using bad data to draw inferences about whether institutions/regime types impact economic development and public goods distribution. There is no basis for claiming  that there is a positive and robust relationship between post-structural adjustment, democratization and an uptick in economic growth in Africa based on national income data. As Jerven shows clearly, the problems with the data is just too much to rest such an inferential oomph onto. Even with pristine data, this proposition is problematic. It is down right silly with bad data! In a nutshell, I like the book a lot and see it as having a major impact but I would have liked it to have been more forceful in its criticism of those who have used bad data and should have known better

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Valuable insight about how much we don't know (though experts would like us to think otherwise)
  

*by S***N on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 2, 2018*

In my own research, I've often been dismayed at how often junk "data" is used as the basis for conclusions that are entirely unjustified. So it's helpful to see Morten Jerven's thorough exploration of this issue.He writes that "more than half of the rankings of African economies up to 2009 may be pure guesswork. It is not clear from the World Bank database whether or when these data are official, official preliminary data, projections based on previous country performance, projections based on performance of neighboring countries, or conjectures based on 'expert' advice." That's a lot to leave unclear!It's not a breezy read -- did you expect it to be? -- and not everyone needs to read it, but anyone working in fields where this data is used needs to understand what is (and often, is not) going on. I know of no other book that explores it so candidly.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    at last a book on important item
  

*by P***N on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 24, 2013*

after 40 years working on developpement planning in african countries I find a book dealing with poor or even false basic statistics.National population census have disappeared. Birth ratios, disease ratios , population structures are extrapolated from neighbouring countries and vice versa. Income end expenses family budgets are extrapolated from extremely small samples.the reality is that 40 years ago a socio-economist expert stayed from 2 to 3 years on the spot either in the bush or in shelter towns to get technical or socio-economical datas for a single project. 20 years later the World Bank standards were a week.Now people are allocated in the best case 3 days for focus group meetings with so called representative sample.Is is very necessary that other books on same topic be published on an hidden scandal

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*Product available on Desertcart Iceland*
*Store origin: IS*
*Last updated: 2026-02-24*