Business Register Guidelines for Small Developing Nations Proposal for Discussion Geoff Mead and Ron Mckenzie Statistics New Zealand

A business register is part of the “foundation” of a statistical office –Source of samples and populations for surveys of businesses –Source of numeric statistics on numbers and types of businesses –Integration framework for integrating different sources of business data –Source of classification information for businesses –Important for the coherence and consistency of business statistics

Objective of paper Business register guidelines aligned with the requirements of a small developing nation –For comment and further development An outline of a generic system for a small scale business register

Current situation –Well developed business register standards that meet the requirements of medium to large developed nations –Many best practice examples of business registers –Are these ‘over engineered’ in relation to the immediate needs of small developing countries? –Identify the core elements of a business register that is scaled to support the statistical needs of small developing countries.

Business register development phases

Statistical requirements for a small developing nation Business register is not top of the list But when: The number of formal sector businesses is in the 00’s and More than one business survey of the population of businesses Benefits achievable if the business register can be readily implemented

PC Trade case study Trade statistics system designed for small countries Same system and methodology used in 14 countries Albania, Cook Is, Fed States of Micronesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Is, Nauru, Niue, Paalau, Tonga, Somoa, etc. Benefits of: –Knowledge sharing –Spreads maintenance & dev costs –Sustainability –Statistically robust

Business register guidelines Population Formal sector businesses –potentially eligible for more than one business survey –identifiable as an entity: legal unit, admin system –will have records required for statistical surveys Informal sector businesses outside coverage

Population source –Ideally a source of administrative data will be available as a foundation for the business register Tax Business registrations etc –Very important to understand the admin data Rules and processes used to collect data Fit of admin data with business register requirements Admin data may supply many of the register variables –Ongoing relationship with organisation responsible for the admin data.

Statistical Unit(s) Proposed is one unit Fit with key statistical outputs Fit with administrative systems Simplicity Enterprise unit = legal unit

Core variables on the register Requirements –Uniquely identify the unit –Link to admin sources –Standard classifications –Contact information –Quality information

VariablePurpose / requirement IdentifyLinkClassification / sample/ statistics ContactQuality Enterprise IDy Admin IDyyy Legal nameyyy Trading / other name yyy Industry Classy Sector Classy Life cycley Sizey Postal & other contact details y Locationyy Date & sources of changes y History of changes y

Maintenance Strategy Maintenance plan for business register required –Essential to keep the register fit for use over time with business start ups, cessations etc. –Maximise coverage, avoid duplications Sources –Admin –Survey feed back –Media –Other, observation etc Timetable of maintenance activities

Quality Plan & Statement To document that the register is fit for use –Metadata –Population of units covered –Population source –Known gaps in population coverage –Variables on register –Classifications used –Maintenance plan –Metrics –Reference point & time series –Number of live enterprises –Births & ceases –Total of size measure (employees) The time series should provide an ‘expected picture’

Generic system functionality Requirements –Data entry & validation –Name search - Use of standard classification codes –Coding to classifications »none (paper based) or »auto coder –Report generation »none (use Access, Excel etc) or »suite of standard reports –Population selection »none (use Access, Excel etc) or »parameter driven system

System requirements Single PC or several PCs on a network Low cost or free software Robust database Data can be accessed with tools such as Excel System is simple and easy to maintain

Proof of concept system Screen shots from proof of concept work Demonstrates the potential for a generic small scale business register system –Screen shot 1 – navigator listing all businesses on the left, selected enterprise details main screen –Screen shot 2 – classification coding tool, to an industrial activity classification in this example

Thank you Questions