Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/50332 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
KOF Working Papers No. 173
Publisher: 
ETH Zurich, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, Zurich
Abstract: 
Macroeconomic data are indispensable for modern governance, yet it is often unclear how reliable these data are. The production process of macroeconomic data inside the statistical offices is often not very transparent for the general public. Bystanders usually have no choice but to take for granted the published data because criteria by which to judge data quality are wanting. Hoping to contribute to a better understanding of the quality of macroeconomic data, this paper proposes several plausibility checks and applies them to recently published Swiss labour productivity growth figures. Although the proposed checks cannot prove or disprove the official data, they are capable of either strengthening our confidence in the official data or, alternatively, of casting them into doubt. Policy debates drawing on official data will hardly be able to ignore differences in the degree of confidence with which these data are held to be accurate.
Subjects: 
Accuracy of macroeconomic observations
statistical artefacts
labour productivity
JEL: 
C82
O47
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
304.38 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.