United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Statistical Division
27 October 2011

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Provides recommendations and best practices on how to deal with the impact of globalization on national accounts
Developed 2007-2011 by the Group of Experts on the
Impact of Globalisation on National accounts, under the guidance of the Leadership Group
March-April 2011: electronic consultation with all CES member countries and organizations
June 2011: CES endorsed the Guide
- UNECE Statistical Division Slide 2

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12 core chapters in three main groups:
• Multinational enterprises
• Trade in goods and services, and global manufacturing
• Household-related issues
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Specific country experiences are presented as annexes to the chapters
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Addendum on the impact of the financial crisis
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Chapter 14 brings together the suggestions for further work from earlier chapters and proposes international fora that can advance the work
11 April 2020 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 3

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The Guide does not address or solve all issues related to the impact of globalization
Meeting the statistical challenges presented by globalization will require continuing international cooperation
Issues for further work includes:
 Continuation of initiatives already started
 Conceptual issues
 Measurement issues
 Practical steps in data collection and presentation
 Exchanges of data and best practice
11 April 2020 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 4

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IMF’s Coordinated Direct Investment Survey
OECD Working Group on International Investment and its network of investment experts
OECD Task Force on IPPs
The forthcoming Eurostat Task Forces on R&D and on
Goods for processing
Work on improving remittance and related data e.g. Global
Remittances Working Group and The Suitland Working
Group
Environmental issues on national accounts, implications of
2008 SNA to SEEA
11 April 2020 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 5

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Global manufacturing/production, including international transactions in IPPs and merchanting of services
SPEs: A harmonized definition and further clarification on conceptual issues to improve the comparability of SPEs across countries
International labour movements: links between labour statistics and national accounts
Second homes: property be deemed to produce housing services continuously, or only when occupied?
E-commerce and outsourcing provide challenges for appropriate price deflators
11 April 2020 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 6

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Measurement and data issues related to the new standards on goods for processing and merchanting
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Challenge of import substitution and e-commerce data for price statistics (data sources, quality adjustments)
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Use of administrative data to estimate economic activities of complex enterprise structures: quasi-transit trade
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Recording and estimating remittances: practical issues related to emerging transfer methods
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Measurement of the stock of second homes abroad, and the correction for average occupation time
11 April 2020 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 7

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Business surveys: better use (or additional questions) and linking with international trade data at enterprise level
Special surveys of large MNEs
Separate coding of goods for processing in merchandise trade. In the long run, development of trade documents allowing compilation of data both on physical flows and economic transactions
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More intensive use of household surveys e.g. cross-border labour mobility, remittances, e-commerce
Better use of administrative sources, including tax registers
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Additional analytical tables for international labour movements
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Presentation of national accounts with and without SPEs
11 April 2020 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 8

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Exchanges of data and bilateral comparisons between countries on:
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• FDI
Labour movements and remittances
• Non-resident dwellings (asymmetries in TSA)
Exchanges of best recording practice among countries as complement to international standards
11 April 2020 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 9

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After country consultations, the following topics have been identified as priorities for future work:
 Conceptual and practical measurement issues in relation to global manufacturing
 The recording of international transactions in IPPs
 Outstanding measurement and data issues related to the implementation of the new standards on goods for processing and merchanting
 A conceptual framework for dealing with SPEs, including a harmonized definition
11 April 2020 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 10