On the failure of systems of economic indicators on the example of indicators of the knowledge economy of the World Bank

Abstract

To assess the state and the possibility of development of the economy, countries, regions, due to neglect of the basic principles of the methodology of economic science, without empirical justification, various systems of indicators and indicators are introduced. To assess the consistency of the World Bank Group's knowledge economy index system, a correlation analysis of data on the value of knowledge indices, institutions, innovations, education, ICT, GDP per capita and economic growth rates of countries of the world was carried out, and the corresponding econometric models were constructed. A close positive correlation has been established between the values of all five indices for the countries of the world, per capita GDP. The close relationship between the values of all indices and per capita GDP shows that, due to multicollenarity, it is impossible to assess the complex im-pact of indices on per capita GDP. Thus, the system of indices can be considered redun-dant, and the problem of the cause-and-effect relationship remains unresolved. In addition, the values of all five indices are associated with a significant negative correlation with the magnitude of the growth rates. The results obtained indicate that the system of indicators - indicators of the knowledge economy, proposed by the World Bank Group, is untenable and cannot be productively used to reasonably assess the possibility of economic develop-ment of a country or region.