Programme of Annual
Economic Surveys (PAES)
in Hong Kong
2nd International Workshop on Economic Census
6-9 July 2009, Seoul
Presented by
Lilian Fung
Census and Statistics Department (C&SD)
Hong Kong, China
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Introduction

Economic Census
vs

A well-developed Programme of
Annual Economic Surveys (PAES)
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PAES in Hong Kong

Survey system covering six mandatory annual surveys :
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Annual Survey of Industrial Production (ASIP)
Annual Survey of Building, Construction and Real Estate Sectors
(ASBCRE)
Annual Survey of Wholesale, Retail and Import and Export Trades,
Restaurants and Hotels (ASW)
Annual Survey of Transport and Related Services (AST)
Annual Survey of Storage, Communication, Financing, Insurance
and Business Services (ASS)
Annual Survey of Banks, Deposit-taking Companies, Restricted
Licence Banks and Representative Offices of Foreign Banks (ASB)
Basically cover all non-government economic sectors
[ supplemented by a voluntary annual survey on personal services activities ]
3
Roles of PAES

PAES
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Represents the core data feeding system
for business operating statistics
Constitutes a major source of input
data for GDP compilation
Generates economic indicators for
measuring cost structure and
performance of different industries
4
Sub-annual surveys

Monthly and quarterly surveys to provide
up-to-date information to gauge short-term
economic performance
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Quarterly Survey of Industrial Production
Quarterly Survey of Construction Output
Quarterly Survey of Restaurant Receipts
and Purchases
Quarterly Survey of Service Industries
Monthly Survey of Retail Sales
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Legal provisions
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Each PAES survey governed by its
respective Census and Statistics order
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Clear and explicit details on survey
coverage and items of enquiry
Provision for protection of confidentiality
of individual information
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Design and administration
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PAES surveys
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Separate surveys with in-built
“programme” concept to achieve :
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Harmonisation in conceptual framework
Standardisation of statistical methods
and survey design
Administratively under one umbrella as
a key statistical survey activity of C&SD
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Planning & Organisation

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Preparation meetings among subject
PAES survey professionals to agree on
time schedule and data requirements
Issue of press release upon
commencement of each round of PAES
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Sampling frame
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PAES surveys adopt a common sampling frame :
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Based on Central Register of Establishments (CRE)
“Type of business” classified according to Hong Kong
Standard Industrial Classification (HSIC)
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HSIC modeled on UN’s International Standard
Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC)
with local adaptation
HSIC Version 2.0 released in late 2008 to comply with
ISIC Revision 4 and adopted from 2009 round of PAES
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Sample design
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Sampling frame stratified by industry
group and then employment size
Full coverage of establishments with
employment size above thresholds
Sample allocation to remaining cases
with due consideration of desired level
of precision in terms of “value added”
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Frame and sample size
of 2007 PAES
Survey
ASIP
ASBCRE
ASW
AST
ASS
Frame size
16 300
34 700
192 700
33 100
48 500
Sample size Sampling rate
1
7
1
2
500
200
300
200
600
3.3%
3.4%
3.8%
3.7%
5.4%
Note : ASB is a full census covering about 300 cases.
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Fieldwork arrangements
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Fieldwork centralised since late 1990s
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More timely production of statistics :
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Enhancement of fieldwork efficiency
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Introduction of streamlining measures
Customer Relations Programme :
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Courtesy Visit Programme
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Meet-the-Client Sessions
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Customer Window Scheme
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Data items (1)
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Basic data
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Type of ownership
Origin of investment
Floor area
Employment
Compensation of employees
Operating expenses
Business receipts
Capital expenditure
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Data items (2)
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Specific subjects (examples)
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Resources on computer products and services
Research and development activities
Trade in services
14
Data collection
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Data refer to calendar year
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Questionnaires mailed to target respondents
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Electronic questionnaire available
Postal return or collection in person
Assistance offered to respondents with
difficulties in completion of questionnaires
Telephone interview as main follow-up method,
supplemented by personal interview
15
Quality assurance
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Standard procedures include :
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Field and indoor checking/verifications
Computer validation
Professional review
Quality assurance review programme :
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Subject professionals to conduct self-assessment
on quality of statistical systems
Dedicated quality assurance team at departmental level
Focuses on six dimensions in defining “quality”, viz.
relevance, accuracy, timeliness, accessibility,
comparability and coherence
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Dissemination of results
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PAES results available within 12 months
after reference year
Dissemination in form of :
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Press release
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Reports
[ free download from C&SD Website ]
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Direct enquiry
Further promotion via talks to media, publication
of feature articles in statistical digests, etc.
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PAES survey reports
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Key statistics released :
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Operating account
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Principal statistics
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No. of persons engaged
Compensation of employees
Operating statistics
Business receipts and other income
Relative standard errors and confidence
intervals of selected principal statistics
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Major developments
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Starting from 2009 round
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Implementation of HSIC Version 2.0
Planned legislative change to introduce
a new integrated survey order
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Pave way for further integration of
separate annual economic surveys
into a unified survey system
Expand coverage to include data collection
of personal services activities
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Thank you !
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