2006 BEA Government Statistics Users Conference

1
2006 BEA Government Statistics Users Conference

• The Government Divisions Research Program 2004
  2006 and Beyond

Brooks B. Robinson Chief, Government
Division Washington, DC September 14, 2006
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2004 Users Conference Research Topics

• New measures of government output
• Integration of the National Income and Product
  Accounts (NIPAs) with Flow-of-Funds Accounts
• Military equipment and inventory timing and a new
  government inventory account
• Enterprise and pension plan sectoring
• Accrual accounting

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Developments Since 2004

• Continued production of high-quality NIPA
  estimates
• - Two years of hurricanes
• - Two Federal Budget Translations
• - Two annual NIPA revisions

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New Research Topics Surfaced

• Adopting private-sector treatment of insurance
  for government-owned business enterprises
  (Mandel)
• Improving the classification and estimation of
  capital transfers
• Improving the treatment of territorial adjustment
  transactions (Tsehaye)

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Research Methods

• Formed research teams
• Considered national accounts international
  guidelines (System of National Accounts, 1993
  (SNA) / Government Finance Statistics Manual,
  2001 (GFS))
• Developed a research plan and timetable
• Conducted consultations
• Considered data requirements
• Proposals to be prepared by spring of 2007

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New Measures of Government Output

• Purpose To improve the measurement of
  government output in order to measure government
  productivity change
• Research by State and Local Branch staff on the
  output of health services using Center for
  Medicare and Medicaid Services data
• Christian et al. (2006) IARIW paper on
  educational services output and health services
  prices
• Plans to explore using PART statistics to
  estimate Federal Government output

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NIPA - Flow of Funds Integration

• Purpose To complete the full system of national
  accounts to meet international guidelines and
  to facilitate international comparability
• Presentation forthcoming from Bond this morning.

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Military Equipment Inventory Timing

• Purpose To ensure the proper recording of
  inventories
• Research design completed
• Internal consultations with estimators of private
  inventories to confirm the nature of possible
  inconsistencies
• Data requested from the Census Bureaus
  Manufacturing and Construction Division
• Revised estimates will be produced using the MCD
  data

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New Inventory Account

• Purpose To create a new government inventory
  account and improve the recording of transactions
• Two data sources identified
• - Financial Report of the United States
  Government
• - Supply System Inventory Report
• Issues
• - Estimate consistency
• - Insufficient detail to prepare constant-price
  estimates
• Earmarked for the 2013 NIPA revision

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Enterprise and Pension Plan Sectoring

• Purpose To separate market from non-market
  institutional units and transactions
• Clear direction on Federal enterprises
• Certain state and local enterprises problematic
• - Identifying separate institutional units
• - Identifying required statistics on
  transactions (receipts, expenses, income
  receipts on assets, subsidies, etc.)
• Consultations with STATCAN in October

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Accrual Accounting

• Purpose To more appropriately align
  transactions in the NIPAs
• Team developed a working document
• - Includes criteria and methods for converting
  series from a cash to an accrual accounting
  basis
• - BEA analysts can use the document as a guide
  for series conversion
• Team will continue to serve as consultant on
  accrual conversions

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Conclusion

• Research Topics
• Accrual accounting
• New measures of government output
• NIPA-FOFA Integration
• Military equipment and inventory timing
• Insurance
• Capital transfers
• Territorial adjustments
• Enterprise and pension plan sectoring
• New inventory account

• Requirements for Success
• Accelerate the pace of the research
• Do not expand the scope of the research
• Complete proposals and estimates early

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2006 BEA Government Statistics Users Conference

• The Government Divisions Research Program 2004
  2006 and Beyond

Brooks B. Robinson Chief, Government
Division Washington, DC September 14, 2006