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dc.titleMaking National Statistical Offices Work Better: Evidence from a Survey of 13,300 National Statistical Office (NSO) Employees in 14 Latin American and Caribbean Countries
dc.contributor.authorMejía-Guerra, José Antonio
dc.contributor.authorSchuster, Christian
dc.contributor.authorRojas Wettig, Magdalena
dc.contributor.authorSass Mikkelsen, Kim
dc.contributor.authorMeyer-Sahling, Jan
dc.contributor.orgunitInstitutional Capacity of the State Division
dc.coverageLatin America and the Caribbean
dc.date.available2023-11-29T00:11:00
dc.date.issue2023-11-29T00:11:00
dc.description.abstractHigh-quality official statistics--from inflation to poverty rates--are essential for effective policymaking. Yet, little is known about the statistics officials who produce this statistical data. How competent are they at statistics? How motivated and ethical are they when producing statistics? And do National Statistical Offices (NSOs) manage them effectively? The answers are central to improving statistical capacity. Nonetheless, NSOs have not developed systematic measurement instruments to identify them. This pioneering publication addresses this gap. It presents the results of a survey of 13,300 NSO Employees in 14 Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Findings show that statistics officials and their characteristics matter. For instance, greater competence of statistics officials correlates with greater statistical performance of an NSO. Findings also show that most statistics officials are motivated in their jobs and committed to their NSO yet many struggle with basic statistical competencies and are not satisfied with their remunerations. Beneath the surface of average findings, however, lies a landscape of substantial variation among NSOs and within different departments inside the same NSO. These disparities are driven in part by differences in human resources management practices. Certain practices, for instance related to merit recruitment, adequate pay and performance feedback, are associated with greater staff motivation, integrity and competence. The report thus provides a data-informed roadmap to manage NSOs better and a survey instrument to help NSOs around the world measure their own management and staff.
dc.format.extent91
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0005307
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Managing-National-Statistical-Offices-Better-Evidence-from-a-Survey-of-13300-National-Statistical-Office-NSO-Employees-in-14-Latin-American-and-Caribbean-Countries.pdf
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/spanish/document/Mejorando-el-funcionamiento-de-las-oficinas-nacionales-de-estadistica-evidencia-a-partir-de-una-encuesta-aplicada-a-13.300-personas-empleadas-en-las-oficinas-nacionales-de-estadistica-ONE-en-14-paises-de-America-Latina-y-el-Caribe.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectLabor Force
dc.subjectWomen
dc.subjectTransparency and Anticorruption
dc.subjectLeadership
dc.subjectPopulation Aging
dc.subjectWage
dc.subjectPublic Sector
dc.subjectPerformance Evaluation
dc.subjectJob Stability
dc.subject.jelcodeD73 - Bureaucracy • Administrative Processes in Public Organizations • Corruption
dc.subject.jelcodeH11 - Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government
dc.subject.jelcodeH83 - Public Administration • Public Sector Accounting and Audits
dc.subject.jelcodeJ45 - Public Sector Labor Markets
dc.subject.jelcodeN46 - Latin America • Caribbean
dc.subject.jelcodeP48 - Political Economy • Legal Institutions • Property Rights • Natural Resources • Energy • Environment • Regional Studies
dc.subject.keywordsnational statistical offices;policy based on evidence;modernization;public administration;statistical capacity
dc.typeLearning Materials
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-LM-00613
idb.operationRG-T3418
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