1. ISAE - Institute for Studies and Economic Analyses
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS
12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007
Results of first coordinated international survey on what people know about key statistical indicators produced by official statistics
by Marco Malgarini
ISAE - Institute for Studies and Economic Analyses

2. The OECD Global Project on “Measuring and Fostering the progress of Societies”
In June 2007, an exceptional group of 1200 people from about 130 countries gathered in Istanbul to attend the second OECD World Forum on "Statistics, Knowledge and Policy“
At the end of the Forum, the OECD, the European Commission, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the United Nations, the UN Development Programme and the World Bank released the Istanbul declaration, affirming their willingness to:
Foster a global conversation about what progress actually means
Galvanise people and institutions to action
Improve the effectiveness of indicator work and their use for policy making
Make a key contribution to the international discussion
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007

3. The OECD Global Project on “Measuring and Fostering the progress of Societies”
The time frame to achieve this goals is
In this period, the Global Project will carry out activities in the following areas:
Statistical research on the measurement of societal progress in all its dimensions, in particular:
Publish comparative results based on an international survey on what citizens know about the progress of their society
Design, develop and promote the use of innovative ICT tools to facilitate the transformation of statistics into knowledge
Establish a global network to foster the measurement of progress in each and every country
Develop a global infrastructure to facilitate the assessment of societal progress at national and global levels to bring about evidence-based policy discussions and decision-making
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007

4. First results of International surveys on what people know: the Eurobarometer Survey
In the framework of the standard Eurobarometer survey in April-May 2007 a number of questions have been added regarding:
the knowledge of key statistical indicators
The “necessity” to know this information
Whether political decisions are made on the basis of them.
The general level of trust the public has in official statistical data.
First evidence suggests that:
A large majority of people “do not know” about official data on GDP and Unemployment
People tend to affirm that they know about inflation, even if the share of wrong answer exceeds 50% in all countries
The percentage of people not knowing official figures ranges from more than 85% of people in Romania concerning the unemployment rate, to less than 10% in Greece for inflation.
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007

5. First results of International surveys on what people know: GDP growth
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007

6. First results of International surveys on what people know: inflation
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007

7. First results of International surveys on what people know: trust in official statistics and political decisions
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007

8. The survey on Statistical Knowledge
During 2007, a number of questions have been added to the usual ISAE monthly survey on Italian Consumers
Questions concerned the statistical knowledge of Italian citizens on:
MARCH-APRIL 07: GDP growth, Inflation rate, Unemployment rate, Deficit/ GDP ratio
MARCH & APRIL: two questions on the importance and desire of being informed and on the media used to gather relevant information
MAY-SEPTEMBER 2007: two questions on statistical literacy, specific to the knowledge of Inflation statistics
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007

9. The survey on Statistical Knowledge
LOW Response rates to quantitative questions
On average, Italian citizens tend to be OVEROPTIMISTIC about GDP growth and PESSIMISTIC for the remaining variables
UNCERTANTY among respondents was rather HIGH - as indicated by Std. Dev
The MEDIAN is generally closer to true values than the mean, indicating that answers distributions are RIGHT- SKEWED
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007

10. The survey on Statistical Knowledge
How important is to be informed on the issues we have discussed so far? 
Average (%)
Extremely important
8.2
Very important
24.4
Important
46.1
Not very important
12.4
Not important
3.2
Don't know 4
Refuse to answer
1.7
Would you like to be more informed on these issues?
Yes
54.8 No
40.5
Don’t Know/ Refuse to Answer
4.7
Italian citizens believing that information is “extremely” or “very” important are only a 33% of the population
More than 15% believe that information is not very important or not important at all
More than 40% of the respondents do not want to be more informed about these issues
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007

11. The survey on Statistical Knowledge
TELEVISION is the most often cited channel used to acquire statistical information
NEWSPAPERS & INTERNET are cited by respectively 52 and 23% of the respondents
Opinions shared among friends and relatives (cited by 11,2% of respondents) and political and civic leaders (7%) lag behind the radio (almost 19%) as other relevant sources of statistical information
Information channels %
Television 82
Radio
18.6
Newspapers, periodicals
51.9
Internet
23.3
Political, opinion leaders 7
Friends, relative
11.2
Refuse to answer
1.8
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007

12. The survey on Statistical Knowledge
THIRD JOINT EUROPEAN COMMISSION – OECD WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND CONSUMER TENDENCY SURVEYS
BRUSSELS 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2007

13. Building a Knowledge Score
What are the determinants of statistical knowledge?
Method employed:
Construct a “Knowledge Score” aggregating the answers to the 5 five questions included in March’s questionnaire
Assign a score to each respondent based on the accuracy of individual answers to each specific knowledge question
Compute the ABSOLUTE VALUE of the individuals errors (i.e. the difference between individual answer and official data)
SORT Individual errors and calculate a “RAW SCORE” for each question
Compute a PERCENTILE RANK SCORE (PRS)
AGGREGATE by averaging each PRS and get the “Knowledge Score”

14. A Model for Knowledge - CONCEPT
Model estimation using the Knowledge score as dependent variable allowing the residuals to be heteroskedastic and use robust methods in the OLS estimates :
Ki = f (SDi, Di, Si) + ui
Ki = knowledge score
SDi = socio-demographic characteristics of the respondent
Di = desire of being informed
Si = source used for being informed
ui = unobserved error term, assumed to be uncorrelated with the regressors

15. A Model for Knowledge - VARIABLES
Control variables
GENDER (M/F)
AGE ( <30 years, , 50-64, and 65+)
ZONE OF RESIDENCE (North West, North East, Center and South of Italy)
EMPLOYMENT STATUS (self-employed, employed, unemployed and out of LF)
LEVEL OF EDUCATION (Primary school, Secondary school and University level and higher), and
INCOME (divided into quartiles).
Desire to be informed and the channels used to acquire information are measured on the basis of the answers provided to the survey questions

16. OUTCOMES- Socio-demographic factors
 VARIABLES
BETA
STD DEV
 T-STAT
Professional category (baseline: Employed)
Self employed
4.1
1.7
2.3 **
Unemployed 1
1.1
0.9
Out of labour force
1.4
0.4
3.5
***
Age (baseline: up to 30 years)
30-50 years
4.01
2.1
1.91 *
50-65 years
9.49
2.15
4.41
> 65 years
1.88
2.35
0.8
Gender (baseline: Male)
Female
-12.08
1.12
-10.75
Zone of residence (baseline: North-West)
North-East
0.01
1.62
Center
-0.94
1.6
-0.59
South
-5.7
1.46
-3.91
Education (baseline: primary school)
High School or less
5.05
1.27
3.99
University degree
8.72
1.89
4.62
Income (baseline: 1st quartile)
Second Quartile
-0.25
1.56
-0.16
Third Quartile
0.7
1.57
0.44
Fourth Quartile
2.03
1.51
1.34
Statistically Significance : * = 10% ** = 5% *** = 1%
Knowledge is HIGHER:
For men with respect to women
For people between 30 and 65 years of age
For better educated people
For self-employed and inactive people (including students) with respect to dependent workers
It is LOWER for people leaving in the South of Italy
It is NOT INFLUENCED by income

17. OUTCOMES- Importance and desire to be informed
 VARIABLES
BETA
STD DEV
 T-STAT
Importance of being informed
(baseline: Extremely important)
Very Important
-1.8
1.99
-0.9
Important
-7.42
1.86
-3.98
***
Not very important
-11.45
2.47
-4.64
Absolutely not important
-19.29
4.15
-4.65
Desire to be more informed
(baseline: No Desire)
Yes
0.71
1.26
0.56
***= Statistically Significant at 1%
Knowledge is NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT for people thinking it is VERY important to be informed
Knowledge is NOT SIGNIFICANTLY influenced by the desired to be more informed about these subjects

18. OUTCOMES- Information Channels
VARIABLES
BETA
Std Dev
T-STAT
Television
0.43
1.58
0.27
Radio
1.39
1.37
1.01
Newspapers
5.15
1.15
4.46
***
Internet
2.95
1.47 2 **
Political, civic leaders
-2.08
1.73
-1.2
Friends, relatives
-0.19
1.74
-0.11
**= 5% ***= 1%
Knowledge SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER for:
Italians reading NEWSPAPERS to achieve economic information
Italians using INTERNET
NO significant EFFECTS of watching television, listening to the radio and discussing economic issues among friends and relatives or political and civic leaders

19. Conclusions
European and Italian consumers have shown a low level of knowledge of economic data
There exist a complex interaction between trust in official statistical agencies, opinion on the political process and the willingness to be informed on economic data
Knowledge results to be significantly influenced by socio demographic characteristics of the respondents,
people attributing lower importance to being informed being also those scoring worst results
people reading newspapers and using the Internet show a better knowledge of key economic data
Is there some “irrationality” of Italian and European consumers?
Or is it a case of “rational inattention” (Curtin, 2007)?

20. Conclusions
Results stress the importance of developing new measurement of societal progress, along the lines suggested in the OECD Global Project on Measuring and Fostering the progress of societies.
An important step in this direction may be that of extending the survey on statistical knowledge at the international level, having the goal of measuring:
The public level of trust in official statistics; the possibility of providing a comparison of the level of trust in official statistics with the general level of trust in societies may also be explored
The public appraisement on the political process, particularly regarding the role statistic information plays in shaping political decisions
The public desire/willingness of being informed on statistical issues
The media used to acquire statistical information
The knowledge of:
statistical data (economic, socio demographic data)
Statistical metadata (goods and services comprised in the calculation of inflation; meaning of the GDP concept)
Else?