1. ESS NET ON C ONSISTENCY OF C ONCEPTS AND A PPLIED M ETHODS OF B USINESS AND T RADE -R ELATED S TATISTICS W ORK P ACKAGE 2: 2011 PROJECT ON TARGET POPULATION, FRAMES, REFERENCE PERIOD, CLASSIFICATIONS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS Session 1: Economic globalization and statistical business registers Some results on the inquiry undertaken by the ESSnet Consistency on the use of the statistical business registers in the production of European business statistics UNECE Meeting of the Group of Experts on Business Registers, Geneva, 2-4 September 2013 Norbert Rainer, Statistics Austria Joseph Keating, Central Statistical Office, Ireland

2. |slide 2 Content  Issue of consistency  Organisational structure of ESSnet on Consistency of concepts and applied methods of business and trade-related statistics  Topics and objectives of Work package 2  Questionnaires as basis for the inventory phase  Some results of the questionnaire on the business registers  Some preliminary conclusions

3. |slide 3 Requirements for consistency  Horizontal consistency: Comparability between various statistical domains Statistical units Target population Frame Classifications Definitions Reference period  Vertical consistency: Comparability between the sum of Member States data and the European aggregate

4. |slide 4 Topics of Work package 2 Target population: definition and implementation of the target population in each statistical domain; Sampling frames: definition and implementation of the survey frames for each statistical domain, consistency with frames for other business statistics domains; Reference period: implementation of the reference period requirements in each statistical domain; Classifications: coverage, level of application, special aggregates, size classes in each statistical domain and in comparison with other business statistics domains.

5. |slide 5 Organizational structure of ESSnet on Consistency Work packagesCoordinatorPartnersTime schedule WP 1: Statistical UnitsIT AT, FR, IE, LV January 2011- December 2012 WP 2: Target population, frames, reference period, classifications and their applications AT DE, IE, IT*, LT, LV, SE,UK January 2012- December 2013 WP 3: Characteristics and definitions SE CH, DE, EE, IE, GR, IT, SI, May 2012 – December 2013 *) Until February 2013

6. |slide 6 Main objectives of WP 2  Inventory of the implementation of target population, frames, reference period, classifications and their applications in Member States  Identification of inconsistencies  Evolution and assessment of inconsistencies  Proposals of necessary adjustments  Inventory of the implementation of target population, frames, reference period, classifications and their applications in Member States  Identification of inconsistencies  Evolution and assessment of inconsistencies  Proposals of necessary adjustments Starting basis: “External Study an Detail Evaluation of the Legal Acts in the Areas of Statistics which were identified by Member States as Areas of Revision, by Josef Richter, Christian Engelage, Peter Thomas, submitted to Eurostat, July 2010

7. |slide 7 Development of tailored questionnaires Statistical domains covered:  Statistical Business Register  Structural Business Statistics  Business Demography  Short Term Statistics; PRODCOM  Structure of Earnings; Labour Cost Survey  Foreign Direct Investment (FDI); Foreign Affiliates Statistics (FATS)  ICT; R&D; Innovation  Job vacancies

8. |slide 8 Target population Article 3 of the European Business Register Regulation (No 177/2008) defines the scope of the business registers: all enterprises carrying on economic activities contributing to gross domestic product (GDP), and their local units Cut-off thresholds for the administrative data sources:  Each country (29 responses) use on average 4.9 administrative sources,  VAT is by far the most commonly used administrative source, followed by Personal Income Tax and Social Security data  41% of the countries reported to have issues of under coverage, 31% of over coverage  38% of the countries made an estimate of register coverage in relation to the target population

9. |slide 9 Time lag and frequency of updating Time lag between the administrative sources recording the event and the event being recorded on the business register – share of countries

10. |slide 10 Time lag and frequency of updating Frequency of updating using administrative sources:  45% of the countries update the register by using VAT data on a monthly basis, 7% on a quarterly basis  Countries using social security data: 43% of the countries update the register on a monthly basis, 29% on a quarterly basis  Due to the character of the source Personal Income Tax and Corporate Tax, data are mostly used on an annual basis

11. |slide 11 Derivation of NACE and sector coding Information available to allow NACE coding of units on business register Number of countries %ageResponses a. NACE Rev. 2 supplied by administrative source 2586%29 b. NACE Rev 1.1 or earlier supplied by administrative source 1241%29 c. Business description 1655%29 d. Special coding survey 1241%29 e. Other survey returned data 2379%29 f. Classification code from a system other than NACE 621%29 g. Unit self codes directly on the business register 310%29 h. Internet research 1862%29 e. Other - please specify 621%29

12. |slide 12 Derivation of NACE and sector coding Information available to allow the coding of the institutional sectors Number of countries %ageResponses a. Code provided by administrative source 414%29 b. Code provided by commercial source 1 3%29 c. Code calculated by rule based system1966%29 d. Code allocated through returned survey information 621%29 e. Other - please specify 724%29

13. |slide 13 Employment and turnover variables Derivation of employment variable for new units Number of countries %ageResponses a. Administrative source2276%29 b. Survey source1448%29 c. Imputed from different variable, e.g. turnover per head ratio 517%29 d. Other - please specify 517%29

14. |slide 14 Employment and turnover variables Derivation of turnover variable for new units Number of countries %ageResponses a. Administrative source2483%29 b. Survey source1345%29 c. Imputed from related variable 517%29 d. Other - please specify 1 3%29

15. |slide 15 Sampling Frames Frozen frames are over 4 times as commonly used as live frames by business domains as a source for sampling Number of countries Selected business domainsLive frameFrozen frame Structural business statistics521 Short term statistics618 PRODCOM514 Structure of earnings/labour costs021 Inward FATS217 Outward FATS213 FDI37

16. |slide 16 Sampling Frames Frequency of frozen extracts from the business register Number of countries %ageResponses a. Annually2069%29 b. Quarterly 2 7%29 c. Monthly 931%29 d. Other - please specify 724%29

17. |slide 17 Sampling Frames Provision of information on changes in the register for those surveys using frozen extracts from the business register  71% of the countries provide information on changes in the register for those surveys using frozen extracts  About 30% of the countries provide information on births and deaths, NACE changes and changes in employment data on a monthly basis, about 10% on a quarterly basis  However, about 60% of the countries reported that they provide such changes on an annual basis only, or on request, or each statistical domain has direct access to the data

18. |slide 18 Feedback to the statistical business register Feedback from the surveys on units in the business register and how frequently  Most survey domains provide feedback to the business register  Domains with highest feedback shares are Structural Business Statistics and Short Term Statistics; domains with the lowest feedback shares are Vocational Training, FDI, Job Vacancies, business demography, ICT and R&D  In two thirds of the countries feedback from Structural Business Statistics is provided on an annual basis; also in half of the countries Inward FATS provides feedback on an annual basis  Short Term Statistics and PRODCOM delivers feedback mainly on a subannual basis

19. |slide 19 Feedback to the statistical business register Kind of information provided as feedback from the survey to the business register  In about 80% of the countries Structural Business Statistics feedback information on the NACE code, in about 60% information that a unit has ceased its activity, as well as information on location/address and on the structure of the unit  For Short Term Statistics and PRODCOM the feedback structure is quite similar  The other domains mainly provide information on NACE code, whether a unit has ceased its activity and information on location/address; however their feedback share is lower than for the domains listed above  Feedback on employment and turnover is mainly an issue for Structural Business Statistics and Short Term Statistics

20. |slide 20 Treatment of conflicts between survey data and administrative data How such data conflicts are dealt with  Feedback from surveys have priority, unless information from administrative source is more up-to-data, or in other specific cases  Data are again checked with all available information and if necessary the respective enterprise is contacted  Priority rules depending on source and variable are applied  Internal group of survey and BR experts

21. |slide 21 Treatment of conflicts between survey data and administrative data Is priority given to a specific survey / domain … … when resolving conflicts in NACE classification … when resolving conflicts in employment values … when resolving conflicts in turnover values

22. |slide 22 Some preliminary conclusions Consistency goal: Comparable high-level quality of the coding of the statistical units Consistency goal: Comparable high-level quality of the coding of the statistical units  Importance of the activity coding  Coding concepts  Information basis and applied methodology  Changes of the activity code and quality of the coding  Growing importance of the sector classification  Guidelines for implementation

23. |slide 23 Some preliminary conclusions Consistency goal: Achievement of high-quality statistical business registers maintained considering the needs of the statistical surveys / domains Consistency goal: Achievement of high-quality statistical business registers maintained considering the needs of the statistical surveys / domains  Quality criteria of statistical business registers  Quality issues: Thresholds / coverage Timeliness Other

24. |slide 24 Some preliminary conclusions Consistency goal: Statistical business registers as backbone of the business statistics system Consistency goal: Statistical business registers as backbone of the business statistics system  A single statistical business register covering all statistical units relevant for the various surveys all economic activities all relevant stratification variables

25. |slide 25 Some preliminary conclusions Consistency goal: Use of the statistical business registers as central frame for all business statistics domains in a coordinated way Consistency goal: Use of the statistical business registers as central frame for all business statistics domains in a coordinated way  Coordinated provision of survey frames  Use of central survey frames in all business statistics domains  Coordination between business register and business statistics on Concepts and requirements of survey frames Practical implementation Treatment of changes and frame errors Survey feedback

26. |slide 26 Further information External Study:Detail Evaluation of the Legal Acts in the Areas of Statistics which were identified by Member States as Areas of Revision http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/external-study-detail-evaluation-legal-acts ESSnet on Consistency of Concepts and Applied Methods of Business and Trade-Related Statistics http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/consistency-0

27. ESS NET ON C ONSISTENCY OF C ONCEPTS AND A PPLIED M ETHODS OF B USINESS AND T RADE -R ELATED S TATISTICS W ORK P ACKAGE 2: 2011 PROJECT ON TARGET POPULATION, FRAMES, REFERENCE PERIOD, CLASSIFICATIONS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS Please address queries to: Contact data: Norbert Rainer Guglgasse 13, 1110 Vienna phone: +43 (1) 71128-7703 fax: +43 (1) 71128-7053 norbert.rainer@statistik.gv.at Thank you for your attention!