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Social Indicators: a Third World Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Michael Ward
Michael Ward
Affiliation:
Economist, World Bank
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Extract

Social Indicators provide data for assessing the social issues and concerns for human welfare inherent in the concept of sustainable development, particularly in the context of economic structural adjustment. They give a broader social view of development.1 The World Bank is now the only institution that regularly publishes, on an annual basis, detailed data on social conditions for all countries of the World. This information is contained in the Bank's Social Indicators of Development Report (SID), the latest edition of which came out in December 1989.2 The data published form a subset of a much broader array of social statistics of varying reliability held on file in the Bank's central data base. Since the Bank is organized according to geographical regions for operational purposes, and implements policy country by country, the data are arranged primarily on a national basis. Statistical series published by the Bank, therefore, mostly reflect country specific definitions and classifications. This has both advantages and disadvantages, but it means that in some cases international comparability may be sacrificed for national relevance. The Social Indicators Report, however, also contains several World Tables on special topics where certain selected indicators, judged to be more comparable and critical than others, are shown for all countries.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , October 1989 , pp. 445 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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References

NOTES

1 The World Bank's social indicators reflect related initiatives in the Bank, notably the Social Dimension of Adjustment, (SDA) project in Africa; Living Standards Measurement Surveys (LSMS), and the study of poverty in the 1990 World Development Report.

2 Diskettes may be obtained by contacting the Publication Sales Unit, The World Bank, Washington D.C., 20433; (202) 473–2943. Books may be obtained by contacting World Bank Publications, P.O. Box 7247–8619, Philadelphia PA 19170–8619 USA; Telephone 20 1–225–2 165.

3 For example, consensus is building in favor of expanding the UN System of National Accounts (SNA) to provide satellite accounts on environmental issues, beginning with natural resource accounting. The UN Environmental Program and others collaborate on a Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) that seeks to measure air and water quality. Geographic information systems (including those based on remote sensing) are also being harnessed to studies of environmental issues.

4 Atlas-type GNP per capita (‘income’) estimates are subject to fluctuations inherent in exchange rate conversion procedures. For some analytical purposes, readers may therefore wish to consider the results of the International Comparison Program (ICP).

5 The Bank seeks to extend and update income distribution estimates but these depend on nationwide household studies which tend to be infrequent. It is hoped that, at least for some low income countries, the Social Dimensions of Adjustment (SDA) and Living Standards Measurement Studies (LSMS) will improve the situation over the next few years.

6 They are given here in terms of original national current values, partly because the relative prices actually applicable in each country have social consequences.