Soviet Statistics

Jasny, Naum

doi:10.2307/1928283

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Authoritarian regimes systematically manipulate information and, in particular, statistical data. Some regimes, such as the Soviet Union or North Korea, suppress a substantial amount of data or even publish deliberately wrong information (Eberstadt 2007; Jasny 1950). Others are more open but still inclined to manipulation.…”

Section: Theoretical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Encouraged to Cheat? Federal Incentives and Career Concerns at the Sub-national Level as Determinants of Under-Reporting of COVID-19 Mortality in Russia

Kofanov

Козлов²,

Libman

et al. 2022

Brit. J. Polit. Sci.

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This article investigates the determinants and consequences of manipulating COVID-19 statistics in an authoritarian federation using the Russian case. It abandons the interpretation of the authoritarian regime as a unitary actor and acknowledges the need to account for a complex interaction of various bureaucratic and political players to understand the spread and the logic of manipulation. Our estimation strategy takes advantage of a natural experiment where the onset of the pandemic adjourned the national referendum enabling new presidential terms for Putin. To implement the rescheduled referendum, Putin needed sub-national elites to manufacture favourable COVID-19 statistics to convince the public that the pandemic was under control. While virtually all regions engaged in data manipulation, there was a substantial variation in the degree of misreporting. A third of this variation can be explained by an asynchronous schedule of regional governors’ elections, winning which depends almost exclusively on support from the federal authorities.

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Section: Theoretical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Encouraged to Cheat? Federal Incentives and Career Concerns at the Sub-national Level as Determinants of Under-Reporting of COVID-19 Mortality in Russia

Kofanov

Козлов²,

Libman

et al. 2022

Brit. J. Polit. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A second census ordered by Stalin in 1939 reported a population of 171 million. Jasny (1950) details numerous other Soviet examples of statistical manipulation, including contributions of trade to national income or concealment of unfavourable data. Manipulation in Italy was uncovered by Albert Hirschman, one of few researchers able to read between the lines of official fascist data as it became increasingly difficult to understand how the economy was actually performing (Adelman 2013, p. 142).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%