CSO Enterprise Statistics
Liaison Group
Jonathan Healy
Senior Economist
23/11/11
Forfás Surveys: Background
►Forfás has dedicated Surveys Unit (4.5 staff)
►Collects enterprise data on Agency clients
as per Forfás remit in Industrial
Development Act (1993)
►Collects R&D data to fulfil national and
international data obligations
Institutional Arrangements for
Enterprise Policy
Government Departments
(Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
in particular)
Forfás
Policy Advisory Board
for Enterprise, Trade, Science
Technology and Innovation
Science
IDA Ireland
Enterprise Ireland
Shannon Development
Udaras na Gaeltachta
Main agency responsible for
direct foreign investment
Main agency responsible for
Irish industry
Responsible for economic
development in Shannon area
Promotion of economic
development in the Gaeltacht
Base of 3,000 core clients
Base of 100 firms > 10 employees
Base of 250 firms > 10 employees
Base of 750 firms >10 employees
Overview of Forfás Surveys
►Enterprise
• Annual Business Survey of Economic Impact
• Annual Employment Survey
►S&T
• Science Budget (GovERD / GBAORD)
• Higher Education R&D (HERD)
• Business Expenditure on R&D (BERD) with CSO
• Community Innovation Survey (CIS) with CSO
1.Annual Business Survey of
Economic Impact
ABSEI
► Tracks performance of Agency-assisted firms
► Since 2000 (succeeded the IEE survey)
► Variables relating to the output of firms and expenditure
by these firms in the economy
► Information yielded is a key input into a framework of
performance indicators designed to assess the economic
contribution of agency-assisted firms
► Data on individual firms are also used by the agencies in
their day-to-day working relationship with their clients
► Forfás co-ordinates survey across the 4 agencies and
maintains survey’s integrity.
► Consultants hired to undertake survey (send and collect
questionnaires, aggregation of results, etc.)
ABSEI Methodology
► Data collection via postal questionnaire and electronic
option (from 2011)
► Survey population is client base of each of the development
agencies with 10 + employees operating within manufacturing
and internationally traded services
Agency
Enterprise Ireland
IDA Ireland
Shannon Development
Údarás na Gaeltachta
Total
3,000
750
100
250
4,100
ABSEI Core Variables
►4-page questionnaire covering:
Sales and Exports
Domestic sales
Export sales
Detailed country by country breakdown of destination of
exports
Share of sales accounted for by new products
Payroll Costs and
Workforce
Total wages and salaries
Number of employees
Materials and Services
Cost of all materials and components
Proportion of materials produced in Ireland
Cost of all bought-in services
Proportion of services sourced in Ireland
Other expense items from profit and loss account
Corporation Tax
Corporation tax payments and estimates for future years
R&D Expenditure
Persons employed on in-house R&D
Expenditure on in-house R&D
Expenditure on sub-contracted R&D
Training Expenditure
Expenditure on formal, structured training
Breakdown of Results
► As well as producing aggregate information for each
agency, disaggregated results are produced:
Industry Sector
Nationality of ownership
Region
Breakdowns using NACE Rev 2 classification into approx.
21 groupings (e.g. Food, Drink and Tobacco; Textiles
and Clothing etc.)
Breakdown between Irish-owned and Foreign-owned
firms
Breakdown into regional groups as appropriate (Dublin,
Rest of Southern and Eastern region, BMW region)
► Response rate typically ~ 60%, so this enables good
disaggregation
► Extremely high level of follow-up required to achieve
60% rate
ABSEI Methodology
1. Initial mail-out
2. Follow-up
3. Data management and validation
4. Weighting
5. Data Analysis
Data Validations
1. Initial visual screening of each survey
2. Data entry of cleared surveys into customised data
repository
3. Internal review of validation sheets prior to agency
validation
4. Validation meetings with agencies (2 weeks) to double
check returns with relevant Development Advisors (DAs)
and to flag non-response firms for follow up with DAs
5. Agency reviews of preliminary weighted results in
advance of final tables
Weighting of Data
► Weighting scheme devised by consultants to take account
of non-respondents
► The following variables are used to stratify each company
into homogeneous groups; agency, sector/department,
size, region, relationship and nationality
► Employment data (gathered from Forfás Annual
Employment Survey) used to weight up for nonrespondents within each stratum
Timeframe
►EI questionnaires sent by end-December
►All others by end-March
►Results provided to Forfás by endSeptember
►Presented to Forfás Board October
►Publication by end of year (T+12 months)
Summary Results of 2010 ABSEI
S.1.
Summary Table of Headline Indicators for the 2010 ABSEI
2010 (€billions)
Foreign-
Irish-
owned
Owned
Sales
118.88
27.18
Exports
114.63
Value Added
Direct Expenditure
Share of total, 2010
All
Foreign-
Irish-
All
owned
Owned
146.06
81%
19%
100%
12.37
126.99
90%
10%
100%
52.74
11.18
63.92
83%
17%
100%
17.95
17.00
34.95
51%
49%
100%
Year-on-year difference in exports
and domestic sales growth
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
-5%
-10%
-15%
-20%
-25%
-30%
-35%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
(e)
Growth in exports
Growth in domestic sales
Irish Economy Expenditure
30%
20%
10%
0%
-10%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
-20%
-30%
-40%
Payroll
Irish Materials
Irish Services
Export Sales and Irish Economy Spend
140
120
€ billion
100
80
60
40
20
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Exports
Direct Expenditure in the Irish Economy
Exports as % of Total Sales of Irish Firms by Sector
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
Total - All Sectors
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Food/Drink/Tobacco
Traditional Manufacturing
Modern Manufacturing & Energy
Information, Communications & Computer
Business , Financial & Other Services
2011(e)
2. Annual Employment Survey
AES: Overview
► Annual census of employment in all manufacturing and
services companies supported by development agencies
► The survey takes place in October and November
► ~8,000 questionnaires are posted to relevant firms
► Clients are asked to make an accurate estimation of
Permanent Full-time Jobs and ‘Other Jobs’ as at 31
October of that year
► Survey has been carried out each year since 1973
► Results are used to inform the Development Agencies’
End of Year Statements and Annual Reports as well as to
inform policy analysis conducted by Forfás
AES (cont’d)
► Regional, sectoral, Agency, and time-series
analysis undertaken
► Variables include: Job Gains, Losses, Net
Change, 1st-time jobs, PFT/TPT
► Results can be disaggregated to a fine level
(DED/ county, NACE) due to high response rate
(>85%) with non-responses imputed by DAs
► ESS database used throughout year for analysis,
including PQs
Sectoral Proportions in Permanent/ FT Employment
within Irish Agency-Assisted Firms: 2001-Vs-2010
Business
,
Financia
l and
Other
Services
9%
Cons,
Utilities
and
Primary
Producti
on
5%
Info,
Comms,
and
Comput
er
Services
12%
Business,
Financial
and
Other
Services
18%
M'facturi
ng 74%
2001
Construc
tion,
Utilities
and
Primary
Producti
on
6%
Informat
ion,
Comms,
and
Compute
r
Services
14%
2010
M'facturi
ng
62%
Stats at a Glance
► Key Forfás Enterprise and R&D Stats published in
Forfás Statistics at a Glance publications
1. Economic Context and Output
2. International Exports of Goods & Services
3. International Imports of Goods & Services
4. Direct Investment (ODI/FDI)
5. National Expenditure on R&D
6. Expenditure on R&D by Sector: Business, Higher
Education and Public
7. R&D Workforce
8. Innovation Stats
9. Other S&T Indicators
For more information
►www.forfas.ie/publications
►Jonathan.Healy@forfas.ie