Utilization of Benford’s Law by Testing Government Macroeconomics Data
Utilization of Benford’s Law by Testing Government Macroeconomics Data

Author(s): Michal Plaček
Subject(s): Supranational / Global Economy, Economic policy, Government/Political systems, Evaluation research
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: Benford´s law, Z test; Government data; manipulation;
Summary/Abstract: This article builds on research published in the article "Fact and Fiction in EU Govermnental Economics Data" (Rauch, Göttsche, Brähler, 2011). By exploring the possibilities of applying Benford´s Law as a useful instrument for detecting data manipulation, this instrument is applied to the Czech Republic, especially on monthly data of exports and imports for the period 1996-2012, which make up the trade balance. We use the Z test as the test criterion and the first and second digits are tested.

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