Advisory Expert Group on National Accounts
Paris, France, April 13 – 15, 2016
Peter van de Ven
Head of National Accounts
OECD

• Putting focus on a key areas of interest:
– Extending supply and use tables:
• Further breakdown of relevant industries and/or products
• Enlarging the production boundary by including the in-house production of relevant goods and services
• Adding more details on value added components (e.g. more details on labour inputs and compensation of employees
• Adding physical data on the relevant phenomenon
– Possibly, extending institutional sector accounts:
• Providing additional information on income and financing of relevant activities (depending on proper allocation to institutional units)
– Examples: tourism, transport, health, education, non-profit institutions, … but also extended supply and use tables for globalisation, and SEEA Central Framework
– Great demand from rather specific groups of users
2

• Introducing conceptual variations to the central framework of the SNA:
– Introducing significant changes to the production boundary (e.g. unpaid household activities)
– Introducing significant changes to the asset (and production) boundary (e.g. extending knowledge based capital, either or not including human capital)
– True departure from the main SNA-concepts for measuring economic activities
• Sometimes interrelated with first type of satellite account:
– Satellite accounts for education vs. Satellite account for human capital
– SEEA Central Framework vs. Extended SEEA including accounting for ecosystems
3

• IARIW-OECD Conference: Social and environmental issues to be presented in a more inclusive framework, of which the System of National Economic Accounts
(the “central framework”) forms one part, and alternative or additional frameworks (satellite accounts) given equal status
• Very much related to criticism that SNA does not appropriately reflect issues related to broader measures of well-being and sustainability
• Proposal to use the latter as a criterion for priority setting and developing a more systematic approach
4

• Distributional aspects of income, consumption and wealth (considered as part of central framework)
• Well-being: housing, income, jobs, community , education, environment, civic engagement , health, life satisfaction , safety , and work-life balance .
– Possibly extending information on income and jobs
– Better linking and extending relevant information on housing, education, health, and environment
– Unpaid household activities
– …?
5

• First step: Implementation of SEEA Central Framework
• Further alignment with the capital approach:
– Financial capital: already included
– Produced capital: already included, but possibly to be extended with other types of economic capital
– Human capital: implementing satellite account for human capital
– Natural capital: implementing SEEA Extended Ecosystem
Accounting
– Social capital : ???
6

• What does the AEG think of the proposed lines for priority setting?
• Does the AEG see potential for the development of a more integrated approach?
• Does the AEG have alternative ideas about moving forward?
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