Towards a global system of monitoring the implementation of UN fundamental principles in national official statistics
Abstract
The paper aims to advance the discussion on the need for an international-global system of review and assessment of the implementation of the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (UNFP). It introduces an analytical argument of why official statistics and their quality is a ``global public good'', which needs to be managed appropriately at the global level so as to achieve a socially optimal outcome. While progress has been made in promoting the UNFP, the current system of monitoring their implementation and thus the quality of official statistics in individual countries is severely limited. This is because it is a system of voluntary self-assessment and self-monitoring and thus of limited reliability and usefulness. Moreover, the peer reviews that have taken place, although helpful, do not constitute the appropriate long term solution to the issue of optimally managing the global public good of official statistics. Instead, effective compliance monitoring of the implementation of the UNFP, through regular evaluation, verification, follow-up and published reports in the form of audits by an independent international institution, is essential for rigorous, timely and harmonized implementation of the UNFP. The paper also discusses aspects of setting up the proposed international institution and global system of monitoring.
References
[1] | United Nations. United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, Implementation Guidelines, Final draft, subject to editing, January (2015) . Available from: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/dnss/gp/impguide.aspx. |
[2] | Bodin J.L., Remarks. High Level Forum on Official Statistics - UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, 3 March (2014) , United Nations, New York, United Nations Statistical Commission, United Nations [2014 March 21]. Available from: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/statcom_2014/seminars/High_Level_Forum/default.html. |
[3] | Bohata M., UNFP - some implementation issues. High Level Forum on Official Statistics - UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, 3 March (2014) , United Nations, New York'', United Nations Statistical Commission, United Nations [2014 March 21]. Available from: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/statcom_2014/seminars/High_Level_Forum/default.html. |
[4] | Malaguerra C., and MacDonald A.L., Statistics as instruments for prosperous, transparent and democratic societies, Statistical Journal of the IAOS 32: ((2016) ). |
[5] | United Nations Statistics Division. Implementation of the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, Background document, 44th Session of the Statistical Commission, 26 February-1 March 2013, (2013) . Available from: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/44th-session/documents/doc13/BG-FP-E.pdf. |
[6] | Nicholson W., Microeconomic Theory, Basic Principles and Extensions. Hinsdale, Illinois: The Dryden Press, (1978) . |
[7] | Shaffer G., International Law and Global Public Goods in a Legal Pluralist World. European Journal of International Law 23: (3) (August (2012) ). Available from: http://www.ejil.org/article.php?article=2295&issue=112. |
[8] | Kohler H., Intermediate Microeconomics, Theory and Applications. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company, (1982) . |
[9] | Eurostat, European Commission. Peer Reviews in the European Statistical System [Webpage on the Internet]. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/quality/peer-reviews. |
[10] | Blazyk S., , Charumbira G., , Diop L., , Strode M., and Williams T., Peer Reviews of African National Statistical Systems, African Statistical Journal 10: (May (2010) ). Available from: https://www.paris21.org/sites/default/files/ASJ_Vol10_peer_reviews.pdf. |
[11] | Martin-Guzman P., and Aguilera M., Statistical governance in the Latin American and the Caribbean Region: Achievements and challenges, Statistical Journal of the IAOS 31: ((2015) ). |
[12] | Schubert A., and Ahsbahs C., The ESCB Quality Framework for European Statistics, Austrian Journal of Statistics 44: (April (2015) ). Available from: http://www.ajs.or.at/index.php/ajs/article/viewFile/vol44-2-1/60. |
[13] | Ljones O., Twenty years of the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics: The present and an outlook into the future, Statistical Journal of the IAOS 31: ((2015) ). |
