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International data in research for Parliamentarians. Ed Beale & Ian Townsend Economic Policy & Statistics section House of Commons Library UK Parliament. What does the Library do?. (Not just a) Library Research & Information Service for MPs (and public) Approx 200 staff
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International data in research for Parliamentarians Ed Beale & Ian Townsend Economic Policy & Statistics section House of Commons Library UK Parliament
What does the Library do? • (Not just a) Library • Research & Information Service for MPs (and public) • Approx 200 staff • 50 specialist researchers • Business & Transport • Economic Policy & Statistics • Home Affairs • International Affairs & Defence • Parliament & Constitution • Science & Environment • Social & General Statistics • Social Policy
Politicians’ use of Statistics • Statistics = Expertise + authority • Debates/Questions in Parliament • Constituency cases • Responding to constituents • TV, radio, newspaper • Policy analysis / formation
Work of the Economic Policy and Statistics Section • Research papers, notes and debate packs • Select Committee work • Bespoke enquiries – 1,507 enquiries (Nov 07-Nov 08) Wide variety: • Economic profile of Wuxi city, Jiangsi Province, China • Why does UK still give largest % of its bilateral aid to India? • UK Jobs dependent on US/EU trade • International comparisons of skills gaps • EU aid to Madagascar for transport infrastructure • Life expectancy in the OPTs • TB prevalence by country in Africa • Changes in GDP per capita (1998-2006) for 20 poorest countries DFID disburses aid to
Data sources • IMF: WEO, IFS • World Bank: WDI, GDF, ADI • OECD.Stat, SourceOECD, OECD DAC • Eurostat • ILO: KILM Easier to access to data than ever Analysed/presented using Excel
Case study: Kenya Usually, 3 parts to a profile: • Politics • Economics • Development We will look at the latter two
Kenya: Economics (1) • GDP, inflation, external balances(charts & commentary)
Kenya: Economics (2) • Detailed data table in annex
Kenya: Economics (3) Summary of other sources: • World Bank (Doing Business), OECD, EU, etc. • Country sources (variable) • Media sources: Economist/EIU, FT surveys, Factiva database • UK sources: FCO, UKTI
- Poverty line: $1.25 a day- Income distribution and other inequality measures Kenya: Development (1)
Kenya: Development (2) • Detailed MDG progress table
- UK bilateral aid- International comparisons of ODA Kenya: Development (3)
Output & Summary Political profile added Sent to customer Briefing Note on internet? Providing broad profiles of countries for MPs Tell us: is anything missing?