Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 General introduction to Business Registers Wednesday 30 March 2011 Mrs Vibeke Skov Møller and Mr Søren Schiønning Andersen

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 Outline for the workshop A.Supplier perspective: Statistics based on re-use of administrative data from other administrations - Rationale - Examples 2.The case of the Danish Business Register B.User perspective: 3.Key elements in the use of a Business Register in surveys 4.The role of the Business Register in relation to burden reduction

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 Re-use of admin data – rationale (1) Political pressure: –Reduced cost and burden: Collect data only “one time and one place” –Re-use all available information – and not “only” for statistics –More and better statistics – and maintaining independence Preconditions: –Good quality administrative systems –Access to / sharing of data must be allowed by law –Confidentiality must be ensured by law (i.e. “one- way” delivery)

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 Re-use of admin data – rationale (2) Mutual interest and benefits: –Identification of units – and not “only” for statistics –Harmonisation of definitions and classifications –Coverage of all relevant units and better quality (e.g. both organisations and sole proprietors in relation to the Business Register) –Agreement on “sensitivity” of data (e.g. what is open to the public, what is open to govt. agencies and what is fully restricted?) –Credibility and public trust - via transparency and efficiency

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 Important administrative registers in Denmark Central Register of Persons Central Business Register (mandatory usage) Central Register of Buildings and Dwellings Central Register of Addresses –Code: Municipality_code, road_code, house_no. Tax: e-Income, VAT, accounts, imports/exports Pupils and students Danish Integrated Agricultual Control System Danish register of Livestock Obligation to register / update information !!!

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 Use of common identification numbers Data on persons and families Data on buildings and dwellings Data on businesses Personal identification number (PIN) Identification number of building and access address Identification number of enterprise and local unit Owner’s / resident’s PIN Address (code) Identification Number of enterprise and local unit Owner’s / employee’s PIN

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 The Danish Business Register set-up

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 What is in the Administrative Business Register? What is “basic / common data” about businesses? Identification numbers (legal units and local units) Name Address (official and physical) Telephone, , fax Date of creation/cessation Legal form (type of ownership) – and owner Activity code (NACE) – also valuable for administra- tive purposes Size indicator – perhaps just as a category Links to local units / legal unit

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 WHAT ARE YOUR POSSIBILITIES IN ARMENIA? ANY SUGGESTIONS? WHAT COULD YOU ACHIEVE?

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 Surveys and SBR – Siamese twins (1) Five key elements regarding use of a SBR for surveys: 1.Full coverage of business entities - no missing units and no duplicates Which survey units do you miss today in NSSRA’s Business Register? 2.High quality: “All surveys benefit from all updates” Standardised logical checks are made by SBR team SBR ensures continuity over time (historical data) How do survey teams deal with incorrect addresses? How is the correct address registered now?

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 Surveys and SBR – Siamese twins (2) 3.Standardisation of units, variables and classifications How could you ensure a coherent approach to local units? Be aware that an enterprise may not always consist of only one legal unit 4.Cost-efficiency and coordination Division of work between SBR and survey divisions? Division of work with regional offices? Could on-line access to whole SBR for all users be useful in relation to data collection and validation?

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 Surveys and SBR – Siamese twins (3) 5.Reduction of response burden Optimised sample sizes High data quality leads to lower non-response and less re-contact to respondents Positive and/or negative coordination of samples Maximum number of survey participation in a given year Exemption of small enterprises from surveys Survey “holidays” Common identifiers enable electronic reporting

Armenia Action B1 28 th March – 1 st April 2011 DO YOU SEE NEW POSSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO THE BUSINESS REGISTER? ANY SUGGESTIONS? WHAT COULD YOU ACHIEVE?