3 the Intemational Labor Organization, for a large number of countries on a uniform basis); average wages as a multiple of per capita GDP; and what secondary sources do exist concerning the ratio of public to private wages for a few countries in each region.

These difficulties preclude the inclusion of all countries. We were able to collect and verify government employment and wage data for 80-100 countries in the early 1990s, including all sizable countries in every region (with the single exception of Brazil - and Mexico) the largest such survey to-date, accounting for about 90 percent of the world's population. (see Figure 2). As the source statements in the Statistical Appendix explain in detail, country by country, the information covered in this survey was obtained from international surveys, intemational and national country reports, World Bank, UN, OECD and IMF reports--and was verified with IMF and World Bank country economists and in many cases with World Bank Resident Missions. Note that the Appendix tables show all countries, whether or not reliable and complete data could be found. The text tables and the regional averages are based only on countries for which reliable data could be found or estimated concerning: central government administration employment; local government administration employment; teachers; and health personnel. In the course of the research, we also came across information on employment in state-owned enterprises and the military. This information is partial, not verified, and not used in the text: it is included in the Statistical Appendix because of the low cost of doing so and because it may be useful to the reader for other purposes. However, this paper deals exclusively with government employment and wages and - not at all with employment in public enterprises or the military which raises quite different policy and empirical questions.

Although the size of the sample for each region is sufficiently large to make it representative of the region as a whole (see Figure 2), the above qualifications make it clear that one should take the regional averages shown below only as pointers for further analysis. For example, the extremely low civil servants' compensation in Eastern Europe and the former USSR is, in part, a clue to the many in-kind subsidies and benefits enjoyed by public employees in that region. In a real sense, it is the country-bycountry data in the Appendix which matter, although even these can be quite misleading in the absence of knowledge of the country and the circumstances.

# 2. THE KEY FINDINGS ON GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT

Table 1 and Figure 3 show civilian employment in central and local government administration, and teaching and health employment in the various regions - as percentage of population. The key findings are as follows:

- worldwide, total government civilian employment currently averages (on an unweighted basis for all the countries of the sample) about 4.7% of population. It is relatively largest in the developed market economies of the OECD (7.7% of population), and second largest in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union -

- (Europe and Central Asia ECA), at 6.9% of population. Government employment is relatively smallest in Africa and Asia (respectively, 2.0% and 2.6% of population). Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are in between, with employment accounting for about 3.0% and 3.9% of population respectively;