1. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances Measuring Personal Transfers: The Contribution of Household Budget Surveys Werner Haug Swiss Federal Statistical Office Washington 14-15 January 2008, U.S. Census Bureau, Expert Group Meeting on the Contribution of Household Surveys to Measuring Remittances

2. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances The sample of the Swiss HBS Reference population: households resident in Switzerland Monthly samples Pooling of years 2002-2004 10‘500 households over 3 years Data about nationality and place of birth Monetary and non-monetary transfers according to different items Notebooks in 3 languages

3. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances Conceptual framework 1 Monetary personal transfers received (from Switzerland) 5 Monetary personal transfers paid (in Switzerland) 2 Personal transfers received, in kind (from Switzerland) 6 Personal transfers effected, in kind (in Switzerland) 3 Monetary personal transfers received (from abroad) 7 Monetary personal transfers paid (to foreign countries) 4 Personal transfers received, in kind (from abroad) 8 Personal transfers effected, in kind (to foreign countries)

4. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances Structure of households 15% of households include only foreign citizens 10% of households are mixed 75% of households include only Swiss citizens

5. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances Structure of remittances Foreign and mixed households transfer a much higher proportion to households abroad than Swiss households However, in absolute terms the transfers of Swiss households reach the same volume as the transfers of foreign households Foreign households do not only transfer important amounts abroad but also inside Switzerland

6. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances Sending households 33% of all Swiss and 15% of all foreign households affect a monetary transfer to other households in Switzerland 5% of all Swiss and 12% of all foreign households affect a monetary transfer to other households abroad

7. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances Recipient households 22% of all Swiss households receive a monetary and 61% a non monetary transfer from another household in Switzerland 11% of all foreign households receive a monetary and 40% a non monetary transfer from another household in Switzerland 1% of all Swiss households receive a monetary transfer and 8% a non monetary transfer from a household abroad 3% of all foreign households receive a monetary transfer and 17% an non monetary transfer from a household abroad

8. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances Comparison with data of the Swiss National Bank The estimated volume of remittances for the resident population based on HBS data comes very close to the volume estimated by the SNB according to a different method However: The reference population has to be harmonized and non monetary flows have to be included This clearly indicates that HBS can be a relevant source for the estimation of international personal transfers and their composition

9. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances Criteria for HBS Household Budget Surveys are useful tools for the measurement of personal transfers if : 1.They include a „foreign sector“ according to National Accounts 2.They include questions on non monetary transfers 3.They include migration related variables (nationality, place of birth, resident permit)

10. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances Advantages of HBS Close links between micro- and macroeconomic frameworks The data cover the whole year and reflect seasonal patterns The data are very detailed and cover different types and items of transfers

11. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances Limits of HBS Refer to the resident population only (no short term workers and short term migrants) Marginal groups and some immigrant groups are underrepresented The sample size is small and pooling over several years is necessary for detailed results

12. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances The contribution of HBS Data about the composition and origin of sending and receiving households Both national, foreign and mixed Data about types of personal transfers Both inflows and outflows in household budgets Both nationally and internationally

13. Washington 14-15 January 2008, Expert Group Meeting on Household Surveys and Remittances Conclusions The analysis should take a comprehensive approach to personal transfers between households both nationally and internationally The analysis of personal transfers has to include not only the foreign population but also the national population The analysis has to include the non monetary transfers which seem to be more important than the monetary transfers The analysis should consider the relationship between internal and external transfers and the structure of sending and receiving households