Bedecarrats Florent, Dazet F., Guérin Isabelle, Razafindrakoto Mireille, Roubaud François. (2023). Tracking the cost of living, for whom and at what price ? A political economy of price indicators in Madagascar. International Sociology, [Early access], [20 p.]. ISSN 0268-5809.
Titre du document
Tracking the cost of living, for whom and at what price ? A political economy of price indicators in Madagascar
Bedecarrats Florent, Dazet F., Guérin Isabelle, Razafindrakoto Mireille, Roubaud François
Source
International Sociology, 2023,
[Early access], [20 p.] ISSN 0268-5809
This article studies the production and meaning of price indicators in Madagascar, a post-colonial context characterized by a weak state, the prominence of international aid, and repeated food crises. We observe a profusion of indicators, data, and analyses related to prices. Such profusion illustrates not only different meanings of the cost of living but also fragmented economies and a fragmented mode of government in which nongovernmental organizations and international organizations play a leading role. Whatever their efforts, these initiatives struggle to capture the specific features of the cost of living in a context where the subsistence economy remains hardly convertible into numbers. Our analysis confirms the close links between statistical production and modes of government. The Malagasy Consumer Price Index coexists with many disparate initiatives aimed to cope with inequalities and emergencies, reflecting a country in the throes of repeated political, economic, and social crises.
Plan de classement
Economie générale / Macroéconomie [094]
;
Société, développement social [106]
;
Politique [114]
