<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Economic issues have been a major concern for Europeans in the last few years. In this context, it is reasonable to suppose that people are aware of the main economic figures regarding Europe. But are they really familiar with them? Do they know what the rates of growth, unemployment and inflation are?</p><p>The aim of this article is to explore the level of knowledge of these three economic indicators among Europeans. Several regression models are specified and estimated in order to identify the relationship between an individual’s knowledge and their socioeconomic profile, use of the Internet, perceived importance of economic issues and official statistics and trust in them. Cross-country differences are also assessed.</p></abstract>

Economic issues have been a major concern for Europeans in the last few years. In this context, it is reasonable to suppose that people are aware of the main economic figures regarding Europe. But are they really familiar with them? Do they know what the rates of growth, unemployment and inflation are?The aim of this article is to explore the level of knowledge of these three economic indicators among Europeans. Several regression models are specified and estimated in order to identify the relationship between an individual’s knowledge and their socioeconomic profile, use of the Internet, perceived importance of economic issues and official statistics and trust in them. Cross-country differences are also assessed.

Figuring Figures: Exploring Europeans’ Knowledge of Official Economic Statistics

University of Oviedo – Applied Economics

Journal of Official Statistics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Economic issues have been a major concern for Europeans in the last few years. In this context, it is reasonable to suppose that people are aware of the main...

Figuring Figures: Exploring Europeans’ Knowledge of Official Economic Statistics

Published Online: Nov 18, 2017

Page range: 1051 - 1085

Received: Aug 01, 2016

Accepted: Jul 01, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jos-2017-0049

Keywords
Economic indicators, European Union, literacy, misperception

© 2017 Maria R. Vicente et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Figuring Figures: Exploring Europeans’ Knowledge of Official Economic Statistics

Published Online: Nov 18, 2017

Page range: 1051 - 1085

Received: Aug 01, 2016

Accepted: Jul 01, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jos-2017-0049

KeywordsEconomic indicators, European Union, literacy, misperception

© 2017 Maria R. Vicente et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Economic indicators, European Union, literacy, misperception