Kohonen Self-organizing Maps as a Tool for Assessing Progress toward the UN Millennium Development Goals

Abstract

This paper introduces Kohonen self-organizing maps to the scholarly discussion of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We use data through the MDGs' approximate mid-point (2000–2008) to analyze three world regions: Africa, Asia and Latin America. We observe a handful of countries that showcase noteworthy progress, including Ghana, Senegal, China, Vietnam, India, and Brazil, and then examine more closely the three major regions of developing countries: Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Major statistical differences within Africa separate the northern and southern regions from the central, eastern and western regions. In contrast, Latin America and Asia are largely homogeneous in the MDG measures with the exceptions of Afghanistan, Haiti, and Bolivia, which lag far behind. The substantial differences between Africa and the other continents (and indeed within Africa itself) appear to be mainly attributable to deficiencies in education and information and communications technology infrastructure, both areas that are imperative for the achievement of other MDGs. The paper demonstrates self-organizing maps to be a useful tool in evaluating differential convergence over the three time periods under investigation.

Keywords:

• Millennium Development Goals
• Kohonen self-organizing maps
• Africa
• Asia
• Latin America

Notes

See [http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/], with an update on the September 2010 summit available at [http://www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/].

Easterly's (2009) paper is informed by his underlying criticism of international development policy laid out in more detail in his 2006 book The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (Easterly, 2006).

See [http://www.cis.hut.fi/projects/somtoolbox/]

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joel Ian Deichmann

Joel Ian Deichmann is Associate Professor of Geography in Global Studies, Bentley University, Waltham, USA

Dominique Haughton

Dominique Haughton is Professor of Mathematics, Bentley University, Waltham, USA

Charles Malgwi

Charles Malgwi is Senior Lecturer in Accountancy, Bentley University, Waltham, USA

Olumayokun Soremekun

Olumayokun Soremekun is PhD in Business, Bentley University, Waltham, USA