Aims

To introduce students to the basic techniques used in calculating the socio-economic indicators or development; these indicators have been analysed in other DES courses at the level of their interrelations and of their doctrinal and theoretical interpretations.

Main themes

A presentation of methods of calculating the following indicators:
- levels-structure analysis;
- movements (shift and share analysis);
- indices of concentration and specialisation, and the notion of entropy (applications include international trade and production);
- indices of dispersal and concentration (application at a spatial level);
- indices of income distribution (quartiles, Lorenz Curve, Gini, Atkinson, Theil, the coefficient of variation, a standard deviation in logarithms and the sensitivity of indices (Champernowne));
- indices of poverty (e.g. poverty line, poverty threshold and poverty fracture);
- indices of human development;
- matrix of social accountability.

Content and teaching methods

The lectures will be reduced to a minimum to give as much time as possible to enabling the students themselves to understand the calculation formulas and their application in practice.
Use of a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel).

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Assessment: A written examination based on exercises already completed, and also containing the content of Course SPED 3245.
Pre-requirement: This course is preceded by Course SPED 3245 for DES development studies students.
For other students, a course in descriptive statistics must be taken prior to enrolling on this course.

Other credits in programs