- The Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics
- Acknowledgments
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Africa, the Next Intellectual Frontier
- Prolegomena to Economics as an African Science: A Philosophical Meditation
- Households and Income in Africa
- Transformation of African Farm-Cum-Family Structures
- The Economics of Marriage in North Africa: A Unifying Theoretical Framework
- The Theory of the Firm in the African Context
- Markets and Urban Provisioning
- Development as Diffusion: Manufacturing Productivity and Africa’s Missing Middle
- Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment in Africa
- Inclusive Growth in Africa
- Poverty: Shifting Fortunes and New Perspectives
- Dimensions of African Inequality
- Inclusive Growth and Developmental Governance: The Next African Frontiers
- Economics and the Study of Corruption in Africa
- Thoughts on Development: The African Experience
- The Idea of Economic Development: Views from Africa
- Principles of Economics: African Counter-Narratives
- Economics and Culture in Africa
- The Economics of Non-Cognitive Skills
- Modeling African Economies: A DSGE Approach
- Measuring Economic Progress in the African Context
- Measuring Structural Economic Vulnerability in Africa
- Measuring Democracy: An Economic Approach
- Measurement and Analysis of Competitiveness
- Africa’s New Economic Opportunities
- Tigers or Tiger Prawns?: The African Growth “Tragedy” and “Renaissance” in Perspective
- The Economic Legacies of the African Slave Trades
- The Economics of Colonialism in Africa
- Public–Private Interface for Inclusive Development in Africa
- Natural Resources in Africa: Precious Boon or Precious Bane?
- Volatility and Vulnerability
- Africa’s Urbanization: Challenges and Opportunities
- Environmental and Climate Change Issues in Africa
- Informality, Growth, and Development in Africa
- Capitalism and African Business Cultures
- The Impact of Democracy on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1982–2012
- The Economics of Authoritarianism in North Africa
- The Potential Economic Dividends of North African Revolutions
- The Economics of Violent Conflict and War in Africa
- The Causes and Consequences of Terrorism in Africa
- The Political Economy of the New Arab Awakening
- Democratic Decentralization and Economic Development
- The Economics of Happiness and Anger in North Africa
- Name Index
- Subject Index
Abstract and Keywords
This chapter examines the debates over the measurement of economic progress in African countries in the twentieth century, paying particular attention to national accounting and the measurement of gross domestic product per capita and economic growth. It considers how African economic progress has been measured from colonial times to the pioneering national account initiatives in the 1950s, economic liberalization and the “discovery” of the informal sector in the 1970s, and the adoption of evidence-based policy on social indicators in the twentieth century. It also discusses Africa’s focus on poverty reduction and the millennium development goals that required a change in focus in development and in the data needs for measuring progress.
Keywords: economic progress, Africa, national accounting, gross domestic product, economic growth, economic liberalization, informal sector, social indicators, poverty reduction, millennium development goals
Morten Jerven has a PhD in economic history from London School of Economics and works as Assistant Professor at the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University. He has published widely on national income accounting, African development statistics, and how these pertain to the debates on African economic performance both currently and over the long term.
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- The Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics
- Acknowledgments
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Africa, the Next Intellectual Frontier
- Prolegomena to Economics as an African Science: A Philosophical Meditation
- Households and Income in Africa
- Transformation of African Farm-Cum-Family Structures
- The Economics of Marriage in North Africa: A Unifying Theoretical Framework
- The Theory of the Firm in the African Context
- Markets and Urban Provisioning
- Development as Diffusion: Manufacturing Productivity and Africa’s Missing Middle
- Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment in Africa
- Inclusive Growth in Africa
- Poverty: Shifting Fortunes and New Perspectives
- Dimensions of African Inequality
- Inclusive Growth and Developmental Governance: The Next African Frontiers
- Economics and the Study of Corruption in Africa
- Thoughts on Development: The African Experience
- The Idea of Economic Development: Views from Africa
- Principles of Economics: African Counter-Narratives
- Economics and Culture in Africa
- The Economics of Non-Cognitive Skills
- Modeling African Economies: A DSGE Approach
- Measuring Economic Progress in the African Context
- Measuring Structural Economic Vulnerability in Africa
- Measuring Democracy: An Economic Approach
- Measurement and Analysis of Competitiveness
- Africa’s New Economic Opportunities
- Tigers or Tiger Prawns?: The African Growth “Tragedy” and “Renaissance” in Perspective
- The Economic Legacies of the African Slave Trades
- The Economics of Colonialism in Africa
- Public–Private Interface for Inclusive Development in Africa
- Natural Resources in Africa: Precious Boon or Precious Bane?
- Volatility and Vulnerability
- Africa’s Urbanization: Challenges and Opportunities
- Environmental and Climate Change Issues in Africa
- Informality, Growth, and Development in Africa
- Capitalism and African Business Cultures
- The Impact of Democracy on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1982–2012
- The Economics of Authoritarianism in North Africa
- The Potential Economic Dividends of North African Revolutions
- The Economics of Violent Conflict and War in Africa
- The Causes and Consequences of Terrorism in Africa
- The Political Economy of the New Arab Awakening
- Democratic Decentralization and Economic Development
- The Economics of Happiness and Anger in North Africa
- Name Index
- Subject Index