THE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS IN A CHANGING ECONOMY: HOW BEA MEASURES E-COMMERCE

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1 THE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS IN A CHANGING ECONOMY: HOW BEA MEASURES E-COMMERCE BARBARA M. FRAUMENI, ANN M. LAWSON, and G. CHRISTIAN EHEMANN Bureau of Economic Analysis Brookings Program on Output and Productivity Measurement in the Service Sector WORKSHOP ON MEASURING E-COMMERCE September 24, 1999 BROOKINGS INSTITUTION WASHINGTON, DC

2 Brief Summary < The size of the digital economy is unknown, although some estimates do exist, they vary widely. < The digital economy and E-commerce are embedded in the national accounts, not distinguishable from other economic activities, yet the level of activities is reflected in GDP. < BEA methodology is designed to quickly incorporate information from new surveys and censuses, such as the Annual Retail Trade Survey and the quinquennial economic censuses. < Some activities may be missed or misallocated among intermediate goods or services and GDP, for example in some instances when manufacturers sell directly to individuals. < There are a number of statistical agency E-commerce initiatives, including those involving supplements to existing Census surveys, a proposed BEA initiative in conjunction with other agencies to focus on E-commerce, and BLS research into CPI-related effects. < In some cases E-commerce measurement may be difficult as many activities occur in difficult to measure industries such as banking, a number of web goods and services such as information are free, the dividing line between goods and services is often fuzzy, and product prices and quality characteristics may differ from those of conventional outlet products. < There are additional data needs to measure E-commerce beyond currently planned data collection efforts, such as information on cross-border flows, tracking of new goods and services, including new investment goods, and new E-business formation, and information on changes in distribution brought on by E-commerce. < BEA and other U.S. statistical agencies are rising to the measurement challenge. These challenges include more accurately reflecting the nature of E-commerce and separating E-commerce from other activities.

3 I. Introduction The National Accounts in a Changing Economy: How BEA Measures E-Commerce Barbara M. Fraumeni, Ann M. Lawson, and G. Christian Ehemann 1 A frequently asked question is What is the size of the digital economy? Although many raising this question focus on the future growth of the digital economy, its current size is also debated. A June 1999 Commerce Department report The Emerging Digital Economy II cited widely varying although not directly comparable E-commerce estimates for 1998, as well as forecasts 2 for 2002 and The Commerce report concludes that estimates made only a year earlier in 1998 were too conservative. The BEA national accounts, by measuring the level of market activities in the economy, are an essential element in formulating an answer to the size of the digital economy question. This paper uses the term digital economy as used in the Commerce report and the terms E- business and E-commerce as used by the Census Bureau to develop their strategy for collecting new data on theses areas. By the digital economy, the Commerce report refers to E-commerce and Information Technology (IT) industries, the latter a concept similar to the Census concept Ebusiness infrastructure. Census considers E-business as any process that a business organization 3 conducts over a computer-mediated network. Census currently defines E-commerce as any transaction completed over a computer-mediated network that involves the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods and services. The definitions for these terms can be expected to change and evolve at the same time as the digital economy itself is changing and evolving. The focus of this paper is on E-commerce. Although E-commerce is a transactions-based definition, the activities that are classified by Census as E-commerce will be classified within existing classification systems. This approach will be consistent with the national accounts approach. The extent to which E-commerce is and will be included in the national accounts is explored. No attempt is made to describe how BEA might separate E-commerce activities from other 1 This paper represents views of the authors and is not an official position of the Bureau of Economic Analysis or the Department of Commerce. 2 U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, Office of Policy Development, The Emerging Digital Economy II, p At the May 25-26th, 1999 Commerce organized conference Understanding the Digital Economy: Data, Tools and Research, the term E-business was used more generally to include changes in the organization of business brought about by the digital economy. 1

4 activities. The emphasis is on how E-commerce activities are included over time using BEA methodologies such as those employed in the generation of quarterly and annual estimates. These methodologies underlie the relationships between the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA s) and the Input-Output (I-O) Accounts. Much of the discussion of E- commerce in this paper applies as well to other activities. However, the pace of change associated with the emerging digital economy accentuates the measurement challenges. The paper begins with a section on methodology. The discussion more specific to E-commerce includes subsequent sections on coverage in the national accounts, data initiatives by the statistical agencies, and estimated time lines reflecting the incorporation of NAICS and other new initiatives, measurement challenges, and additional data needs. II. Methodology Quarterly and annual estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) The data used to prepare current estimates of quarterly and annual GDP consist of a variety of economic measures, such as sales or shipments, wages and salaries, insurance premiums, and housing stock. Although GDP is a product side concept, concurrent estimates are made of the components of the income side of the national accounts. For most product and income components, the source data are value data ; that is, they encompass both the quantity and price dimensions that are required for current-dollar estimates. For those estimates not derived from value data, a combination of data with separate quantity and price dimensions is used to derive the required value estimate; for example, the estimate for new autos is calculated as unit sales times expenditure per auto. The source data, as listed in Appendix Table 1, vary depending upon whether estimates are being prepared for a comprehensive (benchmark) NIPA revision, a non-benchmark year, or a current quarterly estimate. The source data for a NIPA comprehensive revision can vary depending upon whether a new benchmark I-O Account has become available since the last NIPA comprehensive revision, e.g., currently the 1992 I-O Accounts, whether preliminary data are available from the more recent quinquennial census, e.g., currently the 1997 economic census, and the extent of newly available information from the annual surveys. There are three releases of the current quarterly estimates of GDP: Advance, preliminary, and final. The advance estimate is released approximately one month after the end of the quarter; the preliminary estimate at the end of two months; and the final at the end of three months, at which point the estimate is not subject to further revision until additional information is incorporated at the time of an annual estimate or during a NIPA benchmark revision. During the two months after the release of the advance estimate, more source data become available. Accordingly, the advance data sources are the most limited, but are expanded in successive estimates. Appendix Table 1 lists sources for NIPA estimates in benchmark versus non-benchmark (other) years and for advance quarterly GDP estimates.. 2

5 The current quarterly estimates of the annual rate of growth of GDP, along with the other estimates of product and income, are of crucial importance to policy-makers, forecasters, and other analysts. When the NIPA benchmark process occurs, such as in this year, historical revisions of annual time series of all components of the accounts are be introduced to reflect definitional, classificational, and statistical changes, including the incorporation of information 4 from the most recent benchmark I-O Accounts. GDP can be measured either as the sum of final expenditures or as the sum of costs incurred and the incomes generated in production. Final expenditures exclude expenditures for intermediate goods and services. Final expenditures (called final uses in the I-O Accounts) include personal consumption expenditures (PCE), gross private domestic investment, exports less imports (net exports), and government consumption expenditures and gross investment. Two methods that are used to prepare current dollar estimates of many PCE and PDE categories 5 are the retail-control method and the abbreviated commodity-flow method. The retail-control method provides the indicator series used to extrapolate and interpolate the total of most goods from their benchmark levels and the control total to which the PCE categories and residential PDE included in this group must sum. An abbreviated form of the commodity-flow method is used to prepare most current dollar estimates of PDE. This method updates benchmark levels with data on product shipments, imports, exports, and limited information on government gross 6 investment expenditures. The fiscal year-analysis method provides the framework for the estimates of Federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment. The estimates of expenditures are prepared by program. For most programs, the fiscal (budget) year analysis begins by adjusting budget outlays for coverage and for netting and grossing differences between these outlays and NIPA expenditures. The expenditures total as adjusted for a program is then classified by type of NIPA expenditure with nondefense consumption expenditures and gross investment determined residually. 4 The release of the NIPA benchmark is scheduled for October 28th of this year. A summary of the definitional and classificational revisions appeared in the August Survey of Current Business (SCB). Two summaries are forthcoming in future SCBs: A summary of the table revisions in the September SCB and a summary of the statistical revisions in the October SCB. below. 5 The full-blown commodity flow method used for I-O benchmark years is described 6 The main benchmark relationships that are maintained for the abbreviated commodity flow method include the products in the category being updated, the rates used to estimate trade margins and transportation costs, and the split between final and intermediate uses. 3

6 7 The source data for net exports are the balance of payments accounts prepared by BEA. For some NIPA components, the balance of payment accounts estimates are adjusted to conform to NIPA concepts and definitions. Real (chained 1992-dollar) GDP is computed as the product of the GDP chain-type quantity 8 index and current-dollar GDP for To prepare quantity indexes for each component of real GDP, one of three alternative methods is used. These include deflation, quantity extrapolation, and direct valuation. (Appendix Table 2 provides a summary of the data sources and estimating methods used in preparing real estimates of final uses.) In deflation, the quantity index is obtained by dividing the current-dollar index by an appropriate price index that has the reference year currently 1992 equal to 100 then by multiplying the result by 100. The quantityextrapolation and direct-base-year valuation methods both use explicit quantity data. In quantity extrapolation, quantity indexes are obtained by using a quantity indicator to extrapolate from the reference year value in both directions. In direct valuation, actual quantity data and a price index set equal to 100 in the reference year is used. Comprehensive revision (benchmark) estimates of GDP The source data used to prepare estimates of GDP are most complete and the estimating methods 9 used are most detailed in I-O benchmark years. The I-O benchmark forms the basis for establishing the level, general composition, and component detail of the NIPA s in the benchmark year, and from which GDP is extrapolated in the non-i-o-benchmark years. The I-O benchmark estimates are based primarily on data collected from the quinquennial economic censuses conducted by the Bureau of the Census every five years for years ending in 2" and 7". The economic censuses provide comprehensive and consistent data including information on industry and commodity production, materials consumed, and operating expenses that are not available on a more frequent basis. The same quinquennial economic censuses form the basis for the benchmark I-O Accounts. The 1992 benchmark I-O Accounts were completed in November 1997, and the 1997 benchmark accounts are slated to be completed in late The 1992 benchmark I-O Accounts used data from economic censuses covering the following industries: Agriculture; mining; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation; 7 See U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (May 1990). Revisions to the methodologies described in this report are typically introduced as part of the annual revisions of the balance of payment accounts. These revisions are described in the SCB articles that describe the most recent data, most recently in Bach (1999). 8 With the release of the NIPA benchmark revision on October, 28, 1999, the reference year will change from 1992 to The word benchmark is used in this paper in two ways: To refer to the I-O benchmark and to the NIPA benchmark, also called the NIPA comprehensive revision. The relationship between these two benchmarks is explained in the text. 4

7 communications; utilities; finance, insurance and real estate; and services. In addition, the I-O Accounts also used data from the 1992 Census of Governments. As part of the current NIPA benchmark process, the 1992 benchmark I-O Accounts are being incorporated into the NIPA s, as well as preliminary estimates from the 1997 economic censuses. The NIPA benchmark process has been used as an opportunity to introduce several major 10 innovations that contribute to our understanding of the digital economy. The BEA qualityadjusted a computer price index, which was introduced into the national accounts in late 1985, 11 helped to clarify the impact of computers on the economy. Since 1985, the work on qualityadjusted price indexes has been extended to several other information technology products, such 12 as semiconductors and telephone switching equipment. In the forthcoming benchmark 13 revisions, computer software will be treated as investment. In addition, the contribution of ATMs to bank output will be recognized for the first time in the new deflation procedure for 14 unpriced bank services. Relationship between the NIPA and the I-O Accounts For quinquennial economic census years, the I-O Accounts play a crucial role in the generation of current estimates of GDP. The I-O Accounts present a much more detailed look at the economy than the NIPA s. This is made possible by the quinquennial economic censuses which are more comprehensive and detailed than the annual surveys. A substantial amount of the information in the I-O Accounts is not directly used in the NIPA s. Rather, the I-O Accounts form a baseline for determining the level and composition of the product and income sides of the NIPA s. The basic conceptual relationship between the NIPA s and the I-O Accounts is highlighted in Figure A. The NIPA s, shown on the left side of Figure A, measure the production of the Nation within its boundaries, both in terms of final uses and in terms of the costs incurred and the incomes generated in production. Final uses consist of PCE, gross private domestic investment, net exports of goods and services, and government consumption expenditures and gross investment. The sum of the final uses equals GDP. The same total may be derived by summing the costs incurred and incomes generated in production (gross domestic income) plus the statistical discrepancy. 10 See Moulton (1999) for a more detailed description of these accomplishments. 11 The computer price index was the result of a BEA and IBM collaboration. See Cole et. al (1986) See Grimm(1998) and Parker and Seskin (1997). See Moulton, Parker and Seskin (1999). See the forthcoming October 1999 SCB. 5

8 Figure A.--Gross Domestic Product In the National Income and Product Accounts In an Input-Output Format Compensation of employees Personal consumption expenditures INDUSTRIES FINAL USES (GDP) Indirect business tax and nontax Gross private domestic investment liability Gross Government Net exports of goods and services COMMOD- private consumption Other income: ITIES Personal domestic expenditures Proprietors' income with IVA Government consumption investconsumption Net and gross GDP and CCAdj expenditures and gross expenditures ment exports investment Rental income of persons investment with CCAdj Compensation Corporate profits with IVA of and CCAdj employees Net interest Business transfer payments Less: Subsidies less current VALUE Indirect surplus of government ADDED business enterprises tax and Consumption of fixed capital nontax Less: Receipts of factor income liability from the rest of the world Plus: Payments of factor income to the rest of the world Other value added* GROSS DOMESTIC INCOME Plus: Statistical discrepancy TOTAL VALUE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT ADDED CCAdj Capital consumption adjustment IVA Inventory valuation adjustment * Other value added consists of the following national income and product accounts components of gross domestic income: Proprietors' income with IVA and CCAdj, rental income of persons with CCAdj, corporate profits with IVA and CCAdj, net interest, business transfer payments, current surplus of government enterprises less subsidies, consumption of fixed capital, and net payments of factor income to the rest of the world. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

9 The right side of Figure A shows the final use components of GDP and value added components, arranged in the format of an I-O matrix, that is, a table in which information is presented in rows and columns. The row labeled commodities shows the final uses that make up GDP. The column headed industries shows the incomes that make up value added. The equality on the left side of the chart between GDP and the costs incurred and the incomes generated in production is maintained on the right side, where the total of the commodities row equals the total of the industries column. The empty box represents intermediate consumption of commodities by industry. The detailed information in this box is not directly used in the NIPA s. However, an understanding of its role in commodity flow calculations and in the column and row equality constraints of the I-O framework brings into sharper focus the effect of business-tobusiness (B-to-B) and business-to-consumer (B-to-C) transactions on the composition of the product and income sides of the NIPA s and their relationship to one another. I-O Benchmarks Two methods the direct estimation method and the commodity-flow method are used to prepare estimates of final uses in the I-O Accounts for benchmark years. Estimates are made at the detailed level for approximately 2,000 different products consumed by final users; these detailed estimates are then aggregated to about 500 commodities for the published estimates. Direct estimation is used for some PCE, some structures in gross private domestic investment, Federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment components, and exports and imports of goods and services. (Direct estimation is also used to determine totals of State and local government spending by category, using compilations from budget documents.) Generally, direct estimation is used when the final user is defined by the data source, such as exports and imports from the balance of payments accounts, or when by definition the commodity is sold only to a particular final user, such as the rental value of owner-occupied dwellings, which is attributed exclusively to persons. Direct estimation is also used when the method results in a more accurate and reliable estimate; for example, estimates of gasoline and oil purchases by persons are based on unit sales and average prices for these commodities. For benchmark estimates, the commodity-flow method is used to derive most estimates of PCE and producers durable equipment (PDE) in gross private fixed investment, as well as the commodity detail for State and local government consumption expenditures and gross investment. The commodity flow method begins with the identification of products that should be included in a final use spending category. Judgements are made on the basis of the nature of the product from the product titles contained either in the detailed tabulations in the quinquennial economic censuses or in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987 for the 1992 and earlier benchmarks. An estimate of output for each product is then made. The commodity flow method then converts the value of these outputs produced by domestic establishments, referred to as domestic output, to the value of production available for sale to domestic purchasers, referred to as domestic supply. The domestic supply is then allocated to domestic 7

10 15 purchasers that is, to persons, businesses, and government. As noted earlier, an abbreviated commodity flow method is used to produce current estimates of PDE. Gross Product Originating (GPO) by Industry BEA views its annual gross product originating (GPO) by industry estimates as preferred to the 16 benchmark I-O estimates of value added by industry. However, the GPO by industry estimates 17 are not as detailed as the I-O estimates. The current-dollar GPO is derived as the sum of industry distributions of the detailed components of the NIPA measure of gross domestic 18 income. This methodology, which conceptually is equivalent to measuring GPO for an industry as the difference between its gross output and intermediate inputs, is used for all GPO 19 industries. The GPO series were used as input to the recent Commerce report on the digital economy, however, components of IT infrastructure had to be broken out as the GPO estimates do not provide sufficient detail. Real (chained 1992-dollar) GPO is computed as the product of the GPO chain-type quantity index and the current-dollar GPO for For most private industries, the GPO chain-type quantity index is computed using the double-deflation method, in which the GPO quantity index is derived from quantity indexes for gross output and for intermediate inputs. This method is preferred because it requires the fewest assumptions about the relationships among industry outputs, inputs, and prices. The double-deflation method, however, requires detailed price indexes and current-dollar values for both gross output and intermediate inputs by industry. 20 Currently, price indexes are not available for all industries. When the double-deflation method 15 See U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (1997), p. M-5. Output refers to gross output or the sum of intermediate outputs and final uses. 16 See Parker (1997). 17 The GPO series is published for 62 industries and four government categories, whereas the I-O series are published for close to 500 industries. 18 For private industries, these components consist of wage and salary accruals, supplements to wages and salaries, indirect business tax and nontax liability less subsidies, corporate profits, proprietors income, rental income of persons, net interest, capital consumption allowances, and business transfer payments. 19 See Yuskavage (1998). 20 These industries include the following: Water transportation, transportation services, depository institutions, nondepository institutions, other real estate, holding and other investment offices, business services, social services, membership organizations, other services, and private 8

11 cannot be used, the GPO quantity index is either a measure of labor input or derived by deflating the current-dollar GPO series. III. Data Coverage of E-Commerce for Preparing the National Accounts The previous section discussed the relationship between the NIPA s and the benchmark I-O Accounts, as well as the data sources and estimating methods used to prepare current and benchmark estimates for these accounts. This section begins the discussion that is more specific to E-commerce. Its focus is data coverage of E-commerce in preparing the national accounts. An overview will be provided of the current SIC-based data used to estimate E-commerce in the accounts, followed by a brief discussion of changes that are being introduced by the NAICS, beginning with the 1997 economic census conducted by the Bureau of the Census. The NIPA s and the most recent set of completed benchmark I-O Accounts are both based on the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. The original SIC system was developed in the 1930's as an establishment-based industry classification system, based on the primary production of the establishment. Over time, this system has been revised periodically to reflect changes in the economy of the United States. Although its last revision was in 1987, two years 21 prior to the origination of the World Wide Web, the SIC system has shown remarkable adaptability to capture these and other changes over the years. On the other hand, although the SIC-based data collection system has been able to incorporate these new economic activities within its overall estimates, generally these new activities are not readily separable but are instead embedded with other economic activities. Generally, E-commerce can be viewed as a channel for conducting transactions that prior to its advent in the mid-1990's would have been completed in more traditional ways, for example, by face-to-face contact at retail stores and by telephone, mail or facsimile for catalog sales. Regardless of the distribution channel, in the case of the purchase of a good, its purchasers price value in the national accounts is the sum of the value of the good in producers prices and the wholesale and retail trade margins, as well as transportation costs. In the case of the purchase of a service, whatever the channel used to complete the transaction, its output is measured as the value of the commodity receipts. In the benchmark I-O Accounts, retail trade and wholesale trade costs are estimated separately from the value of the underlying goods and their transportation costs. From the detailed information collected by the economic censuses, estimates are made separately for retail and household services. 21 In 1989, a Britisher researcher, Tim Berners-Lee, working at the European Particle Physics Lab in Geneva, Switzerland, completed and circulated for comments, Information Management: A Proposal ; this paper is credited for providing a conceptual basis for the World Wide Web. 9

12 wholesale trade sales by establishments that have trade as their primary activities. Those retail establishments that sell through E-commerce channels as their primary activity are included with catalog, mail-order houses, and other similar types of establishments as SIC In the case of establishments for which selling through E-commerce channels is only a secondary activity for example, a manufacturer of computers (SIC 3571) that is secondarily also involved in the direct selling of some of its computers through the Internet additional estimates for retail and wholesale trade costs are not needed because these transactions are bypassed. E-commerce-based transactions for services for example, the purchase of airline tickets through the Internet are similarly embedded in the benchmark estimates. As noted earlier, typically the purchase of a service as an E-commerce-based transaction is a substitute for an earlier similar transaction by telephone, facsimile, or other traditional channel. Although the current data collection system does not distinguish among these channels for selling services, estimates of services sold through the new channels are embedded in the total. IV. E-Commerce Related Data Initiatives In general, BEA is not the source for the data used in the national accounts with the exception of some international statistics. As a result, the data initiatives of the Bureau of the Census (Census) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are of crucial importance to BEA. BEA can develop new statistical estimates of E-commerce, but the extent of these efforts depends on data obtained from surveys normally undertaken by others. 22 Initiatives to help fill in the E-commerce data gaps are being undertaken primarily by Census. Census short-term strategy is to use existing surveys and to focus primarily on E-commerce. E- commerce coverage initially will be selective. For example, the 1999 Annual Retail Trade Survey will collect on-line and mail order E-commerce data for 8-10 selected commodities. There are no plans in the short-run to cover business-to-business E-commerce, which represents the majority of E-commerce activity, with the exception of computer retailers sales to business. Census long-term strategy is to initiate special E-commerce surveys and to primarily focus on understanding E-business processes, as proposed in a FY2001 budget initiative. Data from the short-term strategy to collect expanded information from the 1999 Annual Retail Trade Survey will be available at soonest in Spring of 2000, at latest under current plans by mid As these surveys are annual surveys rather than a quinquennial census, they will be used as indicator series to extrapolate from the 1992 benchmark I-O Accounts. (Information from the 1997 economic censuses is only now becoming available.) While activity levels would clearly be reflected in the NIPA s, changes in the distribution of activities across final demand categories and between intermediate output and final demand might not be reflected until completion of the 22 The source of information is a handout of xeroxed copies of transparencies used in the Digital Economy Working Group presentation by Thomas L. Mesenbourg, Jr. of the Census Bureau on July 15,

13 1997 I-O Account in A BEA initiative is being formulated in coordination with Census and BLS to incorporate E- commerce more fully into its economic accounts. This initiative, which is in its early planning stages and requires interagency cooperation, tentatively calls for BEA to develop detailed and consistent data on E-commerce, including the volume of activity, E-commerce s effect on GDP and the U.S. economy, its cross-industry, regional, income and price effect. Specific E- commerce concerns are the effect on service industries, output, prices and productivity of E- commerce users, the level of wholesale versus retail activity, method of delivery of goods and services, investment in computers and communication equipment, tax collections, the domestic and international location of production, worker compensation, the number of self-employed workers, and overall growth and productivity. BLS data will be incorporating E-commerce and the digital economy mainly through the adoption of NAICS, which is a interagency and international effort, and a new Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. The 2002 NAICS, a continuation of the NAICS interagency and international effort, will include more E-commerce and digital economy-related industry detail. The new 1998 SOC system has more occupations than the previous 1988 SOC. Notably among the expanded detail are more computer-related occupations. Internet service providers (ISPs) may be more easily recognizable as an industry in the 2002 NAICS and a new producer price index will be constructed by BLS for information retrieval services, which contains ISPs, in FY2000. Attention is also being paid in the 2002 NAICS to the design of classifications encompassing information retrieval or search services such as that of yahoo.com. As the nascent North America Product Classification System (NAPCS) is designed, other opportunities will arise to incorporate E-commerce and the digital economy. Currently, research is being conducted at BLS to determine how E-commerce might fit into the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This research is primarily concerned with assuring that CPI initiation procedures (drawing samples of retail outlets and consumer items in those outlets) give the proper chance of selection to E-commerce outlets and items. Additional research concerns ongoing pricing activities (following the price movement of the selected items in the selected outlets over time), since the E-commerce prices may move differently from those in conventional outlets. Incorporation of the 1997 economic censuses is already underway. As BEA depends upon 23 information from other government agencies to construct its accounts, BEA s I-O timetable is contingent upon the timetables of other agencies, notably Census and BLS. Some parts of the 1997 economic censuses are already available. It is expected that 1997 census releases will continue through mid BEA plans to complete the 1997 I-O Accounts by the end of Complicating the process is the transition from the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system to the NAICS system. At least one government agency, BLS, will not fully convert to 23 The 1992 I-O Accounts were released in November

14 24 the NAICS system until NAICS 2002 is in place. If history is a guide, the 2002 I-O Accounts, which will be based on the 2002 economic censuses, will not be available until at soonest V. Some E-Commerce Measurement Challenges There are several reasons why E-commerce output measurement may be difficult even if the additional data described in the next section is collected. A number of E-commerce activities occur in industries whose output is difficult to measure even if the goods and services are provided through a brick-and-mortar outlet. These industries include finance, banking, insurance, and business services. Examples of E-commerce activities in these industries include on-line brokerage services, on-line bill-paying and bank account services, ATMs, and on-line 25 insurance purchase and customer services. In the case of banks it is difficult to measure output directly as many services are paid for by the difference between interest rates paid by borrowers and those received by depositors. Also, in the case of business services, it is difficult to identify standard products. The growth of E-commerce will increase the importance of activities whose output is difficult to measure just as did the growth of service industries generally. When services are provided free, output is difficult to measure. Information is commonly provided free. There may be less of a connection between information provision and business sales on the web than there is with other forms of information provision. For example, airlines provide information for free over the telephone on flights and fares in the hope of making a sale. The same thing occurs on the web. However, web search engines are not necessarily used to find information related to a prospective purchase. The web has become a virtual encyclopedia of information. Expenses of web search engines are supported largely by advertising, which is a business expense. The purchase of information by an individual would not be allocated to PCE in the same way that a purchase of an encyclopedia would be allocated to books under PCE. Instead, the purchase is indirectly included in a variety of PCE categories to the extent the associated costs are embedded in the prices of goods and services purchased by consumers from 26 businesses who advertise on the web. Census is not planning to attempt to measure or document the frequency and type of services provided free in its E-commerce supplements to existing surveys. 24 See Murphy summary (April 20, 1999). 25 Note that under the Census transactions definition of E-commerce, customer service will not be counted as E-commerce. 26 Currently, free goods are not included in GDP except by businesses passing on their costs to purchasers of priced goods and services included in final demand. The definition of what is a free good is fairly tricky. For example, own-bank ATM use is free to consumers having deposit accounts. Note that ATM transactions are included in bank transactions which affect the new NIPA price for unpriced banking services. 12

15 The dividing line between goods and services becomes fuzzier with E-commerce. If you receive a newspaper on-line, is it a good or service? When a printed copy of the newspaper is delivered to your home, it is counted as a good. When a newspaper is delivered on-line, it could be counted as a good or service. Our perception of the changing composition of economic activity can be affected by the classification of such goods or services. E-commerce prices and goods and services quality are frequently different from brick-and-mortar outlet prices and goods and service quality. Do we need price indexes for E-commerce goods and services that are different from price indexes for brick-and-mortar outlet goods and services? Is a good or service delivered electronically or sold over the web really the same in all its dimensions as a product not delivered or sold in that manner? An electronic airline ticket is a good example. Electronic tickets currently cannot be transferred between airlines, but paper tickets normally can be transferred. A substitution exists between time spent by an airline reservation representative inputting information and the time spent by an individual purchasing a ticket on the web inputting information. In addition, as is true with ATMs versus teller transactions, the convenience attributes of E-commerce goods and services are not well captured in the national accounts; therefore, prices may not accurately reflect what is being delivered. VI. Additional Data Needs to Measure E-Commerce Additional data are needed to measure E-commerce. Survey efforts are needed beyond those currently planned or funded. The data collected should include more E-commerce related information on changes in methods of distribution, point-of-sale, new products, including new investment goods, new businesses, and the level and composition of exports and imports. Notably on the household side, E-commerce may be bringing about a significant change in distribution methods. Goods formerly shipped in bulk to brick-and-mortar outlets are now being delivered by courier services and smaller trucks to homes. Consumers who had participated in the distribution system by bringing goods home from brick-and-mortar outlets now receive these goods without leaving home. For households, the effect of the growth of E-commerce on distribution is similar to the effect of the growth of mail-order business. However, the size of the effect is expected to be significantly larger. Distribution methods may be affected in other ways. B-to-B E-commerce is the primary form of E-commerce today. It is unclear if B-to-B E commerce has or will in the future change the nature and form of distribution. Some goods, particularly software, are being delivered electronically, e.g., over the internet. For these goods there is not a conventional transportation component. It is difficult to predict the full ramifications of the E-commerce revolution on distribution methods. At least some information will be forthcoming from the Census surveys on point-of-sale. Of specific concern is the documentation of direct sales to consumers from manufacturers and wholesalers as these represent PCE, a component of GDP. If these sales are wholly captured as 13

16 direct sales by existing and planned surveys, then it is a matter of a shift from a B-to-B transaction, representing intermediate inputs, followed by a B-to-C transaction, representing final demand, to a B-to-C transaction only sequence, resulting in the elimination of the intermediate step. If sales to consumers are wholly captured by the existing surveys, but not as a direct sales, then GDP is correctly estimated. However, the intermediate input part of the commodity flow of goods and services through the economy, a crucial part of the input-output accounts, is misestimated. If any sales to consumers, regardless of the source, are not wholly captured by the existing surveys, then GDP is underestimated. In any E-commerce direct sale situations, traditional retail prices might be applied to determine real PCE as opposed to internet manufacturer or wholesale prices. The B-to-B flow of goods and services may be affected by E- commerce in other ways, for example if small businesses switch purchases from retailers and small wholesalers to manufacturers and larger wholesalers. The B-to-B flow does not enter into GDP as it is not final demand as previously noted. Whether these changes arise from B-to-C or B-to-B transactions, the pattern of growth and the industrial composition of the economy can be affected. Growth in E-commerce and the supporting infrastructure has been accompanied by many new products, including new investment goods. An example of a new product is internet service provision. Clearly internet service providers (ISPs) did not exist before the internet. ISPs offer heterogeneous products that are typically bundled. The variety of ISP products and their sales 27 have both been increasing, adding to the measurement difficulty. How fast can ISPs and other new E-commerce related goods and services be incorporated into the accounts? In addition, how will the prices (and quantities) of new products be estimated? Supporting infrastructure frequently involve new types of investment goods, some of which may not be picked up by existing surveys, therefore compounding the problem. The new product problem is not a new problem. However the apparent high rate of growth of E-business and E-commerce and the associated rate of new product creation increases its importance. The level of economic activity may be underestimated if E-commerce or E-business related new business formation is missed. If the amount of activity is significant and not well-represented by those businesses surveyed, it is a problem. Tracking the creation and activity levels of new virtual businesses may be more difficult than tracking new brick-and-mortar businesses. The pace of new virtual business creation may be fast and their potential growth very high. Stock market expectations for such businesses are high, but may be incorrect. With E-commerce it is more difficult to track the origins and destinations of goods and services than with brick-and-mortar businesses. This can be a problem for international statistics, consequently, for GDP estimates, as the latter include net exports. The internet does not have customs agents. E-commerce facilitates transactions between parties that are geographically distant from each other. Digital products can move long distances at little or no cost subsequent to the initial set-up cost. E-commerce contributes to a global economy without national boundaries, but creates additional headaches for national accountants. 27 For a discussion of ISPs, see Greenstein (1999). 14

17 VII. Conclusion BEA and other U.S. statistical agencies are rising to the challenge of measuring E-commerce. E- commerce is only the most recent of a continuum of changes in the economy addressed by the statistical agencies. E-commerce is already included in BEA s national accounts, but not separated out from other activities. The two-fold challenge for all statistical agencies is to improve E-commerce estimates. The first challenge is to more accurately reflect the nature of E- commerce. This first challenge requires new measures of output and prices, a more complete picture of distribution methods and commodity flows through the economy and across our borders, and a greater understanding of how information technology infrastructure contributes to economic growth and productivity. The second challenge is to separate E-commerce from other activities. Separation of E-commerce activities from other activities will not change estimates of GDP, but will facilitate analysis of the E-commerce phenomenon. The current planned and proposed initiatives by BEA and Census, supplemented by the efforts of BLS, will go a long ways towards meeting these challenges. Additional surveys and efforts are needed as E- commerce and the digital economy evolve and grow. 15

18 Bibliography Bach, Christopher L. (1999), U.S. International Transactions, Revised Estimates for , Survey of Current Business, Vol. 79, No. 7, pp Cole, Rosanne, Y.C. Chen, Joan A. Barquin-Stolleman, Ellen Dulberger, Nurhan Helvacian, and James H. Hodge (1986), Quality-Adjusted Price Indexes for Computer Processors and Selected Peripheral Equipment, Survey of Current Business, Vol. 66, No. 1, pp Greenstein, Shane, Framing Empirical Research on the Evolving Structure of Commercial Internet Markets, written for Understanding the Digital Economy: Data, Tools and Research, Washington, DC, May 25-26, Grimm, Bruce T. (1998), Price Indexes for Selected Semiconductors, , Survey of Current Business, Vol. 78, No. 2, pp Haltiwanger, John and Ron S. Jarmin, Measuring the Digital Economy, conference draft for Understanding the Digital Economy: Data, Tools and Research, Washington, DC, May 25-26, Mesenbourg, Thomas, L., Jr., Measuring Electronic Business, presentation to the Digital Economy Working Group, July 15, 1999, Washington, DC. Moulton, Brent R., GDP and the Digital Economy: Keeping Up with the Changes, presented at the Digital Economy Conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce, on May 25, Moulton, Brent R., Robert P. Parker and Eugene P. Seskin (1999), A Preview of the 1999 Comprehensive Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts, Definitional and Classificational Changes, Survey of Current Business, Vol. 79, No. 8, pp Murphy, Summary BLS draft for program office review, April 20, Parker, Robert P. and Eugene P. Seskin (1997), Annual Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts: Annual Estimates, ; Quarterly Estimates, 1993:I-1997:I, Survey of Current Business, Vol. 77, No. 8, pp Parker, Robert P. (1997), Note on Alternative Measures of Gross Product by Industry, Survey of Current Business, Vol. 77, No. 11, pp Taub, Leon W. and Robert P. Parker (1997), Preview of Revised NIPA Estimates for 1992 From the 1992 I-O Accounts, Survey of Current Business, Vol. 77, No. 12, pp Yuskavage, Robert E.(1996), Improved Estimates of Gross Product by Industry, , 16

19 Survey of Current Business, Vol. 76, No. 8, pp U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, (1990), Personal Consumption Expenditures, Methodology Paper, Methodology Paper Series M-5 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government), pp and U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (May 1990), The Balance of Payments of the United States, (Washington, DC: U.S. Government). U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, (1998), Benchmark Input-Output Accounts of the United States, 1992 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government). U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (1998), Updated Summary NIPA Methodologies, Survey of Current Business, Vol. 78, No. 9, pp U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, Office of Policy Development, (June 1999), The Emerging Digital Economy II (Washington, DC: U.S. Government). U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Development of NAICS, (accessed on August 18, 1999). 17

20 APPENDIX A 18

21 14 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September 1998 Updated Summary NIPA Methodologies THIS REPORT PRESENTS summary descriptions of the principal source data and methods used to prepare the current-dollar estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) and the estimates of real GDP. 1 These descriptions have been updated to reflect the methodological improvements that were introduced in the annual revision of the national income and product accounts (NIPA s) that was released in July Current-dollar estimates Table 1 lists the components of current-dollar GDP starting with the components on the product side and proceeding to those on the income side. The subcomponents, with their dollar values for 1997, are grouped according to the methodology used to prepare them. The column for the annual estimates covers the revision cycle for those estimates and notes the major differences in methodology as the estimates move through the three annual revisions to a comprehensive, or benchmark, revision. 3 Forexample,for most goods in personal consumption expenditures (the first item on the product side), the table indicates one methodology for benchmark years and another for all other years. The column for the quarterly estimates covers only the advance estimate for the current quarter that is, the estimate prepared about a month after the end of the quarter. That estimate, rather than the preliminary or final quarterly estimate, is described because more attention focuses on the first look at the quarter. In addition, the column lists only the source data and methods; it does not indicate how many months of source data are available or whether the data are subject to revision by the source agency. Information on the key monthly source data appears each month in the Business Situation in the SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS. Additional information on the monthly source data used for the advance estimate is available online from the Department of Commerce s Economic Bulletin Board. 4 The source data listed consist of a variety of economic measures, such as sales or receipts, wages and salaries, unit sales, housing stock, insurance premiums, expenses, interest rates, mortgage debt, and tax collections. For most components, the source data 1. BEA has prepared a series of papers that provide detailed descriptions of NIPA concepts and methodologies. The methodologies described in these papers are subject to periodic improvements, which are typically introduced as part of annual and comprehensive revisions; these improvements are described in the articles in the SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS that cover these revisions. For more information, see appendix B at the back of this issue. 2. See Annual Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts, SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS 78 (August 1998): For additional details on the release schedule for the NIPA estimates, see A Guide to the NIPA s, SURVEY 78 (March 1998): For additional information about the Economic Bulletin Board, call STAT USA at are value data ; that is, they encompass both the quantity and price dimensions that are required for current-dollar estimates. In these cases, the methodology indicated in table 1 covers only the adjustment of the value data to derive estimates consistent with NIPA definitions and coverage. For those estimates not derived from value data, the table indicates the combination of data with separate quantity and price dimensions that is used to derive the required value estimate and the major adjustments needed to derive estimates consistent with NIPA definitions and coverage. On the product side, a physical quantity times price method is used for several components. For example, the estimate for new autos is calculated as unit sales times expenditure per auto (the average list price with options, adjusted for transportation charges, sales tax, dealer discounts, and rebates). On the income side, an employment times earnings times hours method and variations of a stock of assets/liabilities times an effective interest rate method are used for several components. Some of the source data shown in table 1 for the annual estimates are used as indicators to interpolate and extrapolate the levels established by source data that are more comprehensive, and all of the source data shown for the advance quarterly estimates are used to extrapolate the level of the preceding quarter. In addition, extrapolation and interpolation may be based on trends, as is the case when judgmental trend is listed in the table. 5 Estimating methods. Table 1 refers to four methods commodity flow, retail control, perpetual inventory, and fiscal year analysis used by BEA for estimating specific components. The commodity-flow method is used to obtain the value of final users purchases of goods and services (that is, commodities) for BEA s benchmark input-output accounts. These values serve as the benchmark for the NIPA estimates of personal consumption expenditures (PCE), of producers durable equipment (PDE), and of the commodity detail for State and local government consumption expenditures and gross investment. 6 This method is also used for PDE in nonbenchmark years, but it is implemented in an abbreviated form. An even more abbreviated commodity-flow method is used for current quarterly estimates of PDE. 5. For a few components, the final quarterly estimates are based on newly available source data that replace judgmental trends. 6. For additional information on the commodity-flow method, see U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Personal Consumption Expenditures, Methodology Paper MP 6 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990): 31 34; and U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, GNP: AnOverviewofSourceDataand Estimating Methods, Methodology Paper Series MP 4 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1987):

22 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September The retail-control method is used to estimate over one-third of the value of PCE forperiodsotherthan benchmark years. This method provides the indicator series used in extrapolating and interpolating the total of most goods and the control total to which the PCE categories and residential PDE included in this group must sum. These PCE categories consist of all goods except autos and trucks, food furnished to employees, food and fuel produced and consumed on farms, standard clothing issued to military personnel, school lunches, and net foreign remittances. 7 The perpetual-inventory method is used to derive estimates of fixed capital stock, which in turn form the basis for the estimates of consumption of fixed capital. This method is based on investment flows and a geometric depreciation formula; it is used instead of direct measurement of the capital stock because direct measurement is seldom statistically feasible on a comprehensive basis. 8 The fiscal year-analysis method provides the framework for the annual and quarterly estimates of Federal Government consumption expenditures and gross investment. The estimates of expenditures are prepared by program that is, by activity for a group of line items or for an individual line item in the Budget of the U.S. Government. For most programs, the fiscal year analysis begins by adjusting budget outlays for coverage and for netting and grossing differences between these outlays and NIPA expenditures. The expenditures total (as adjusted) for a program is then classified by type of NIPA expenditure for example, transfer payments and interest paid with nondefense consumption expenditures and gross investment determined residually. When a fiscal year analysis is completed, the detailed array of NIPA expenditures by program and by type of expenditure serves as a set of control totals for the quarterly estimates. 9 Balance of payments accounts. The source data for the foreign transactions reflected in most NIPA components such as net exports of goods and services and rest-of-the-world corporate profits are the balance of payments accounts (BPA s), which are also prepared by BEA. 10 As noted in table 1, for some NIPA components, the BPA estimates are adjusted to 7. For additional information, see Personal Consumption Expenditures, 41 54; andgnp: AnOverview, For additional information on the perpetual-inventory method, see U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Fixed Reproducible Tangible Wealth in the United States, (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, January 1993): M-2 M-15; and GNP: An Overview, For additional information on the geometric depreciation formula, see Improved Estimates of Fixed Reproducible Tangible Wealth, , SURVEY 77 (May 1997): For additional information and an illustration of the fiscal year-analysis method, see U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Government Transactions, Methodology Paper Series MP 5 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1988): See U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, The Balance of Payments of the United States: Concepts, Data Sources, and Estimating Procedures, (Washington,DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990). The methodologies described in this publication are subject to periodic improvements, which are typically introduced as part of the annual revision of the BPA s; these improvements are described in the SURVEY articles that cover conform to NIPA concepts and definitions. 11 Annual estimates of these adjustments and their definitions are shown in NIPA table 4.5, which was last published in the August 1998 SURVEY on page 69; summary quarterly estimates are shown in Reconciliation Tables in appendix A of the SURVEY. Other information. In preparing the annual estimates of several of the income-side components, BEA adjusts the source data for various coverage and conceptual differences. For each subcomponent listed below, an annual NIPA table reconciles the value published by the source agency with the NIPA value published by BEA and identifies the BEA adjustments. The following is a list of the subcomponents and their corresponding reconciliation tables, which were last published in the August 1998 SURVEY beginning on page 116: Wages and salaries, table 8.25; farm proprietors income, table 8.22; nonfarm proprietors income, table 8.21; corporate profits, table 8.23; net interest, table 8.24; and consumption of fixed capital, table Real estimates Table 2 shows which one of three methods deflation, quantity extrapolation, and direct base-year valuation is used to prepare the quantity index for each detailed product-side component of real GDP and identifies the source data with which the method is implemented. 12 Deflation is used for most of the detailed components. In deflation, the quantity index is obtained by dividing the current-dollar index by an appropriate price index that has the base year currently 1992 equal to 100 and then by multiplying the result by 100. The quantity-extrapolation and direct-base-yearvaluation methods are similar in that they both use explicit quantity data. In quantity extrapolation, quantity indexes are obtained by using a quantity indicator to extrapolate from the base-year value of 100 in both directions. In direct-base-year valuation, quantity indexes are obtained by multiplying the base-year pricebyactualquantitydatafortheindexperiodand then expressing the result as an index with the base year equal to 100. The subcomponents in table 2 are the same as those shown in table 1, but the detail differs to highlight the alternative methodologies used for calculating the real estimates. 13 Tables 1 and 2 follow. the annual BPA revisions, most recently in U.S. International Transactions, Revised Estimates for , SURVEY 78 (July 1998): These adjustments are described in U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Foreign Transactions, Methodology Paper Series MP 3 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1987): For additional information on the calculation of real GDP, see A Guide to the NIPA s, For the real estimates, the distinction between annual and quarterly methodologies is far less important than it is for the current-dollar estimates. For the relatively few cases in which the annual and quarterly source data differ, the major differences are noted in the entry.

23 16 September 1998 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Product side (GDP of $8,110.9 billion for 1997) Personal consumption expenditures ($5,493.7) Durable and nondurable goods: ($2,273.6) 1 Most goods (except subcomponents listed separately) ($1,913.8) New autos ($86.2) Net purchases of used autos ($57.3) New trucks ($69.2) Gasoline and oil 2 ($126.5) Benchmark years Commodity-flow method, starting with manufacturers shipments from Census Bureau quinquennial census and including an adjustment for exports and imports from Census Bureau foreign trade data. Other years Retail-control method, using retail sales from Census Bureau annual survey of retail trade or, for most recent year, monthly survey of retail trade. Physical quantity purchased times average retail price: Unit sales, information to allocate sales among consumers and other purchasers, and average list price with options, all from trade sources. Transportation charges, dealer discounts, and rebates, from Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly survey of auto sales prices. Sales tax rate from Census Bureau annual survey of retail trade. Benchmark years For net transactions, change in consumer stock of autos from trade sources. For dealers margin, retail sales from Census Bureau quinquennial census and margin rate from Census Bureau annual survey of retail trade. Other years except most recent For net transactions, same as benchmark years. For dealers margin, franchised dealers unit sales times sales price, from trade sources, times margin rate for independent dealers from Census Bureau annual survey of retail trade; independent dealers margin from Census Bureau annual survey of retail trade. Most recent year For net transactions, same as benchmark years. For dealers margin, for franchised dealers, unit sales and sales price from trade sources; for independent dealers, sales from Census Bureau monthly survey of retail trade. Benchmark years Commodity-flow method, starting with manufacturers shipments from Census Bureau quinquennial census and including an adjustment for exports and imports from Census Bureau foreign trade data. Other years except most recent Abbreviated commodity-flow method, starting with manufacturers shipments from Census Bureau annual survey and including an adjustment for exports and imports from Census Bureau foreign trade data. Most recent year Physical quantity purchased times average retail price: Unit sales, information to allocate sales among consumers and other purchasers, and average list price, all from trade sources. Benchmark years Physical quantity purchased times average retail price: Gallons consumed from the Department of Transportation, and information to allocate that total among consumers and other purchasers, from Federal agencies and trade sources, and average retail price from Census Bureau quinquennial census. Other years except most recent Same as benchmark years, except average retail price from the Energy Information Administration. Most recent year Physical quantity purchased times average retail price: Gallons consumed and average price, from the Energy Information Administration. Same as annual for most recent year. Same as annual. For net transactions, residual based on net sales by other sectors. For dealers margin, unit sales of franchised dealers from trade source and sales price from Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for used cars. Same as annual for most recent year. Same as annual for most recent year. See footnotes at end of table.

24 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Product side (GDP of $8,110.9 billion for 1997) Continued Personal consumption expenditures Continued Durable and nondurable goods Continued: Food furnished to employees (including military) ($9.1) Expenditures abroad by U.S. residents ($3.0) less personal remittances in kind to nonresidents ($1.3) Services: ($3,220.1) Nonfarm dwellings space rent for owner-occupied and rent for tenant-occupied ($793.5) Rental value of farm dwellings ($6.3) Motor vehicle repair, rental and other services; other repair services; other purchased intercity transportation; legal and funeral services; barbershops and beauty parlors; nursing homes; laundries; employment agency fees; accounting and tax return preparation services; recreation (except cable TV, casino gambling, parimutuel net receipts, lotteries, and computer online services); hotels and motels; commercial business, trade, and correspondence schools; educational services not elsewhere classified; research organizations and foundations. ($500.5) See footnotes at end of table. Benchmark years For commercial employees, number of employees of relevant industries from Bureau of Labor Statistics tabulations times BEA estimate of per capita expenditures for food; for military personnel, outlays from the Budget of the United States prepared by the Office of Management and Budget. Other years Same as benchmark years, except per capita expenditures for food based on Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for food. Estimated as part of the balance of payments accounts; see entry for exports and imports of services, net, under net exports of goods and services. Benchmark years Based on data on housing stock and average annual rent from Census Bureau decennial census of housing and survey of residential finance, adjusted for utilities included in rent. Other years Based on data on housing stock and average annual rent from Census Bureau biennial housing survey or on the number of households from Census Bureau monthly current population survey and Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for rent. Benchmark years Based on data on housing stock and average annual rent from Census Bureau decennial census of housing and survey of residential finance. Other years Based on data on net value of real farm housing stock from BEA capital stock series. Benchmark years Receipts and expenses from Census Bureau quinquennial census adjusted for receipts from business and governments. Other years Receipts for spectator sports from trade sources; for educational services not elsewhere classified and foundations, from Bureau of Labor Statistics annual tabulations of wages and salaries of employees covered by State unemployment insurance; for others in this group, receipts and expenses from Census Bureau service annual survey. For commercial employees, same as annual for other years; for military personnel, judgmental trend. Judgmental trend. Same as annual: For housing stock, judgmental trend; for average rent, Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for rent. Judgmental trend. For nursing homes, research organizations and foundations, employment agency fees, and clubs and fraternal organizations, wages and salaries derived from Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly employment times earnings times hours; for commercial business, trade, and correspondence schools, and educational services not elsewhere classified, employment times Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for technical and business school tuition and fees; for legitimate theaters and motion pictures, receipts from trade sources; for radio and TV repair, number of TV s based on stock and sales from trade source times Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for video and audio; for hotels and motels, rooms rented times average price per room from trade source; for others in this group, judgmental trend.

25 18 September 1998 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Product side (GDP of $8,110.9 billion for 1997) Continued Personal consumption expenditures Continued See footnotes at end of table. Services Continued: Physicians, dentists, and other professional medical services ($377.2) Private nursery schools, elementary and secondary schools, day care, welfare activities, political organization, foundations, and trade unions and professional associations ($155.2) Financial services furnished without payment by banks, credit agencies, and investment companies 3 ($190.9) Brokerage charges and investment counseling, bank service charges, intercity transportation except other, and private higher education ($165.8) Domestic services ($13.2) Benchmark years For nonprofit professional services, expenses, and for others in this group, receipts, adjusted for government consumption, all from Census Bureau quinquennial census. Other years Receipts and expenses, adjusted for government consumption, from Census Bureau service annual survey. Benchmark years For religious-affiliated schools, enrollment from the Department of Education times BEA estimate of average expenditures per pupil; for nursery schools and day care, expenditures from Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer expenditure survey; for others in this group, receipts and expenses from Census Bureau quinquennial census. Other years except most recent For nursery schools and day care, same as benchmark years; for others in this group, from Bureau of Labor Statistics annual tabulations of wages and salaries of employees covered by State unemployment insurance. Most recent year For nursery schools and day care, judgmental trend; for others in this group, from Bureau of Labor Statistics annual tabulations of wages and salaries of employees covered by State unemployment insurance. See entry for imputed banks, credit agencies, and investment companies under net interest. Years except most recent For private higher education, expenses, and for others in this group, receipts, all from annual reports of government administrative agencies. Most recent year For brokerage charges, bank service charges, and intercity transportation, receipts, from annual reports of government administrative agencies; for private higher education, enrollment from the Department of Education times price index for higher education from trade source. Benchmark years For cleaning services, receipts from Census Bureau quinquennial census; for other domestic services, number of workers times weekly hours times earnings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other years Number of workers times weekly hours times earnings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For physicians and dentists, judgmental trend; for other professional medical services, wages and salaries derived from Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly employment times earnings times hours. For political organizations and foundations, judgmental trend; for elementary and secondary schools, employment times Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for all items; for others in this group, wages and salaries derived from Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly employment times earnings times hours. Judgmental trend. For stock brokerage charges, stock exchange transactions from trade sources; for income from sales of investment company securities, sales of open-end investment company shares from trade source; for other brokerage charges and investment counseling and for bank service charges, judgmental trend; for intercity transportation, receipts from trade sources; for private higher education, employment times Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for all items. Judgmental trend.

26 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Product side (GDP of $8,110.9 billion for 1997) Continued Personal consumption expenditures Continued Services Continued: Public higher education and hospitals, water and other sanitary services, and lotteries ($163.2) Insurance, private hospitals, religious activities, cable TV, electricity, natural gas, telephone, and local transport ($746.6) Foreign travel by U.S. residents ($59.9) less expenditures in the United States by nonresidents ($86.0) Other services: Casino gambling; motor vehicle leasing; and parimutuel net receipts; other housing except hotels and motels; bridge, etc., tolls; other household operation except repairs and insurance; travel and entertainment card fees; stenographic and reproduction services; money orders and classified advertising; and computer online services ($133.9) See footnotes at end of table. Years except most recent For lotteries, net receipts from Census Bureau quinquennial census and annual surveys of State and local governments, adjusted to a calendar year basis from a fiscal year basis; for others in this group, receipts from the same sources. Most recent year Judgmental trend. Years except most recent For life insurance, expenses from trade sources; for medical and hospitalization insurance, premiums and benefits from the Health Care Financing Administration; for other insurance, premiums and benefits from trade sources; for private hospitals, receipts and expenses from Census Bureau quinquennial census (benchmark year), and expenses from trade sources (other years); for religious activities, expenses based on contributions and membership from trade sources; for cable TV and utilities, receipts from government agencies and trade sources; for local transport, receipts from trade source. Most recent year For life insurance, from Bureau of Labor Statistics annual tabulations of wages and salaries of employees covered by State unemployment insurance; for insurance other than life insurance, judgmental trend; for religious activities, expenses based on population from the Census Bureau and per capita disposable personal income from BEA; for local transport, passenger trips from trade source times Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for intracity mass transit; for others in this group, same as other years. Estimated as part of the balance of payments accounts; see entry for exports and imports of services, net, under net exports of goods and services. Various source data. Same as annual for most recent year. For life insurance, hospitals, and religious activities, wages and salaries derived from Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly employment times earnings times hours; for cable TV, number of cable TV and direct broadcast satellite subscribers from trade sources; for electricity and gas, projected quantities based on degree-day data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration times prices based on Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price indexes for electricity and gas; for cellular telephone, number of subscribers from trade source times Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for cellular telephone service; for others in this group, judgmental trend. Same as annual. For casino gambling, receipts from State agencies; for motor vehicle leasing, number of leased vehicles based on registrations and terms from trade source, and lease payments based on new vehicle prices, BEA depreciation schedules, and Federal Reserve Board interest rates on new motor vehicle loans; for others in this group, judgmental trend.

27 20 September 1998 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Product side (GDP of $8,110.9 billion for 1997) Continued Fixed investment ($1,188.6) See footnotes at end of table. Nonresidential structures: ($240.2) 4 Utilities: Telecommunications ($11.5) Utilities: Other ($22.0) Mining exploration, shafts, and wells ($22.7) Industrial buildings ($31.4) Other nonfarm buildings and structures ($147.3) Farm buildings ($4.0) Nonresidential producers durable equipment: ($620.5) Equipment, except autos ($574.8) Value put in place from Census Bureau monthly construction survey. Expenditures from Federal regulatory agencies and trade sources. Benchmark years Expenditures from Census Bureau quinquennial census. Years except most recent For petroleum and natural gas, physical quantity times average price: Footage drilled and cost per foot from trade sources; for other mining, expenditures from Census Bureau annual capital expenditure survey. Most recent year For petroleum and natural gas, physical quantity times average price: Footage drilled and 1992 cost per foot (from trade sources), extrapolated with Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price index for oil and gas well drilling. Benchmark years, except 1992 Value put in place from Census Bureau monthly construction survey and improvements from Department of Energy commercial buildings energy consumption survey. For 1992, tabulations from Census Bureau annual capital expenditure survey, adjusted for undercoverage. Other years Value put in place from Census Bureau monthly construction survey. Benchmark years Value put in place from Census Bureau monthly construction survey and improvements from Department of Energy commercial buildings energy consumption survey. Other years Value put in place from Census Bureau monthly construction survey. Expenditures for new construction from Department of Agriculture surveys. Benchmark years Commodity-flow method, starting with manufacturers shipments from Census Bureau quinquennial census and including an adjustment for exports and imports from Census Bureau foreign trade data. Other years Abbreviated commodity-flow method, starting with manufacturers shipments from Census Bureau annual survey or, for most recent year (except aircraft and trucks), monthly survey of manufactures and including an adjustment for exports and imports from Census Bureau foreign trade data. For aircraft, manufacturers shipments from Census Bureau current industrial report, adjusted for exports and imports. For trucks, domestic and North American imports, physical quantity purchased times average retail price: Unit sales, information to allocate sales among business and other purchasers, and average list price, all from trade sources; for truck trailers, shipments from Census Bureau current industrial report. Same as annual. Judgmental trend. For petroleum and natural gas, same as annual for most recent year; for mining, judgmental trend. Same as annual for other years. Same as annual for other years. Value put in place from Census Bureau monthly construction survey. For trucks, see entry for new trucks under personal consumption expenditures; for others in this group, same as annual for other years but with less detail.

28 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Product side (GDP of $8,110.9 billion for 1997) Continued Fixed investment Continued Change in business inventories ($67.4) See footnotes at end of table. Nonresidential producers durable equipment Continued New and used autos ($45.7) Residential investment: ($327.9) 5 Permanent-site new singlefamily housing units ($164.4) Permanent-site new multifamily housing units ($22.6) Mobile homes ($13.3) Improvements ($81.5) Brokers commissions ($39.7) Producers durable equipment ($8.0) Manufacturing and trade ($52.1) Other nonfarm industries ($11.0) For new autos, see entry for new autos under personal consumption expenditures; for used autos, change in business stock of autos at least 1 year old from trade source. Value put in place based on phased housing starts and average construction cost from Census Bureau monthly construction survey. Value put in place from Census Bureau monthly construction survey. Benchmark years See entry for equipment, except autos under nonresidential producers durable equipment. Other years Physical quantity shipped times price: Shipments from trade sources and average retail price from Census Bureau monthly survey. Expenditures by owner-occupants from Bureau of Labor Statistics quarterly consumer expenditure survey and by landlords from Census Bureau quarterly survey of landlords. Physical quantity times price times average commission rate: Number of single-family houses sold, mean sales price, and commission rates from Census Bureau monthly construction survey, and trade sources. See entry for most goods under personal consumption expenditures. Benchmark years Inventories from Census Bureau quinquennial censuses revalued to current replacement cost, with information on the proportions of inventories reported using different accounting methods, on the commodity composition of goods held in inventory, and on the turnover period, all from Census Bureau quinquennial censuses and annual surveys, combined with prices, largely based on Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price indexes. (The difference between Census Bureau change in inventories and BEA change in business inventories is the IVA.) Other years except most recent Inventories from Census Bureau annual surveys, revalued as described above. Most recent year For retail auto dealers, quantities times average prices from trade sources; for all other, inventories from Census Bureau monthly surveys, revalued as described above. Inventories revalued to current replacement cost (except when noted as physical quantity times price) as described for manufacturing and trade: For years except most recent, Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns; for most recent year, Census Bureau quarterly survey of mining corporations, monthly quantities from the Energy Information Administration combined with Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price indexes for electric utilities, and for all others, judgmental trend. For new autos, same as annual; for used autos, judgmental trend. Same as annual. Same as annual. Same as annual for other years. Judgmental trend. Same as annual. Same as annual. Same as annual for most recent year. For electric utilities, same as annual for most recent year; for all others, judgmental trend.

29 22 September 1998 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Product side (GDP of $8,110.9 billion for 1997) Continued Change in business inventories Continued Net exports of goods and services ( $93.4) Government consumption expenditures and gross investment ($1,454.6) Farm ($4.3) Exports and imports of goods, net ( $200.0) Exports and imports of services, net ($106.7) Federal national defense consumption of general government fixed capital ($56.3) Federal national defense, except consumption of general government fixed capital ($294.2) Federal nondefense consumption of general government fixed capital ($11.5) See footnotes at end of table. Changes in physical quantities times current prices from Department of Agriculture surveys. Estimated as part of the balance of payments accounts: Export and import documents compiled monthly by the Census Bureau with adjustments by BEA for coverage and valuation to convert the data to a balance-of-payments basis. Adjusted for balance-of-payments coverage of U.S. territories and Puerto Rico with data from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Census Bureau, and coverage of gold transactions adjusted with data from the U.S. Geological Survey and trade sources. Estimated as part of the balance of payments accounts: For government transactions, reports by Federal agencies on their purchases and sales abroad; for most others in this group (including travel, passenger fares, other transportation, and royalties and license fees), BEA quarterly or annual surveys (supplemented with data from other sources). Adjusted for balance-of-payments coverage of U.S territories and Puerto Rico, see entry above; adjusted to include financial services furnished without payment, see entry for imputed banks, credit agencies, and investment companies under net interest, and adjusted for NIPA treatment of military grants and labor income. Perpetual-inventory calculations at current cost, based on gross investment and on investment prices. Within a control total established by fiscal year analysis: For compensation, military wages from the Budget of the United States prepared by the Office of Management and Budget, civilian wages and benefits from the Office of Personnel Management, and employer contributions for social insurance mainly from outlays from the Monthly Treasury Statement; for other than compensation, by type, based mainly on data from Department of Defense reports. Perpetual-inventory calculations at current cost, based on gross investment and on investment prices. For crops, BEA quarterly allocation of Department of Agriculture annual projections of crop output and cash receipts; for livestock, Department of Agriculture quarterly data. For territorial adjustment and coverage of gold, judgmental trend; for all others, same as annual. For territorial adjustment, judgmental trend; for all others, same as annual. Same as annual. For components of compensation, employment from the Department of Defense (military) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (civilian); for other than compensation, same as annual. Same as annual.

30 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Product side (GDP of $8,110.9 billion for 1997) Continued Government consumption expenditures and gross investment Continued Federal nondefense, except consumption of general government fixed capital ($162.8) State and local compensation of general government employees, except force-account construction ($566.7) State and local structures ($142.4) State and local brokerage charges and financial services furnished without payment ($13.9) State and local consumption of general government fixed capital ($60.5) State and local consumption expenditures and gross investment, except compensation, structures, brokerage charges and financial services furnished without payment, and consumption of fixed capital. ($150.9) See footnotes at end of table. Within a control total established by fiscal year analysis: For Commodity Credit Corporation inventory change, book values of acquisitions and physical quantities of dispositions from agency reports times average market prices from the Department of Agriculture; for financial services furnished without payment, see entry for imputed banks, credit agencies, and investment companies under net interest; for compensation, civilian wages and benefits from the Office of Personnel Management and employer contributions for social insurance mainly from outlays from the Monthly Treasury Statement; for petroleum sales (Naval Petroleum Reserve), distribution and price data from the Department of Energy; for research and development, obligations from the National Science Foundation and disbursements from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; for construction, value put in place from Census Bureau monthly construction survey; for all others, outlays from the Monthly Treasury Statement. For wages and salaries, Bureau of Labor Statistics annual tabulations of wages and salaries of employees covered by State unemployment insurance; for employer contributions for social insurance, tabulations from the Social Security Administration, other agencies administering social insurance programs, and Census Bureau annual surveys of State and local government retirement funds, adjusted to a calendar year basis from a fiscal year basis; for other labor income, trade sources, Health Care Financing Administration, and Census Bureau annual surveys of State and local governments, adjusted to a calendar year basis from a fiscal year basis. Value of construction put in place from Census Bureau monthly construction survey. See entries for brokerage charges and financial services furnished without payment under personal consumption expenditures for services. Perpetual-inventory calculations at current cost, based on gross investment and on investment prices. Years except most recent Total expenditures from Census Bureau quinquennial census and annual surveys of State and local governments, selectively replaced with source data that are more appropriate for the NIPA s and adjusted as follows: For coverage; for netting and grossing differences; to a calendar year basis from a fiscal year basis; for other timing differences; to exclude interest, subsidies, net expenditures of government enterprises, and transfer payments; and to exclude compensation and structures. Most recent year Judgmental trend. For components of compensation, employment from the Bureau of Labor Statistics; for other than compensation, same as annual. For wages and salaries, derived from Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly employment times earnings from Bureau of Labor Statistics employment cost index. For other compensation, judgmental trend. Same as annual. See entries for brokerage charges and financial services furnished without payment under personal consumption expenditures for services. Same as annual. Same as annual for most recent year.

31 24 September 1998 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Income side (Gross national income of $8,158.7 billion for 1997) Compensation of employees 6 ($4,687.2) Wage and salary accruals: Private industries ($3,232.5) Wage and salary accruals: Federal Government ($177.5) Wage and salary accruals: State and local governments ($486.7) Employer contributions for social insurance ($400.7) Other labor income: Group health insurance ($259.4) Other labor income: Pension and profit-sharing ($80.6) Other labor income: Workers compensation ($38.3) Other labor income: Group life insurance ($8.6) See footnotes at end of table. For most industries, Bureau of Labor Statistics annual tabulations of wages and salaries of employees covered by State unemployment insurance; for others, wages from a variety of sources (such as the Department of Agriculture for farms and the Railroad Retirement Board for railroad transportation), adjusted for understatement of income on tax returns and for coverage differences. For civilians, wages from the Office of Personnel Management; for military personnel, wages from the Budget of the United States prepared by the Office of Management and Budget. Mainly Bureau of Labor Statistics annual tabulations of wages and salaries of employees covered by State unemployment insurance. Years except most recent Tabulations from the Social Security Administration and other agencies administering social insurance programs, and Census Bureau annual surveys of State and local government retirement funds, adjusted to a calendar year basis from a fiscal year basis. Most recent year Census Bureau annual surveys of State retirement funds, adjusted to a calendar year basis from a fiscal year basis. Years except 3 most recent Total contributions from the Health Care Financing Administration less employee contributions from the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer expenditure survey. Three most recent years Employer costs for employee compensation from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Years except 2 most recent Tabulations from the Department of Labor. Two most recent years Employer costs for employee compensation from the Bureau of Labor Statistics or Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns. Years except most recent Employer contributions from trade sources and contributions for self-insured plans from the Social Security Administration. Most recent year Judgmental trend. Years except most recent Group premiums and estimates of employer share from trade sources. Most recent year Judgmental trend. For most industries, wages and salaries derived from Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly employment times earnings times hours; for others, judgmental trend. For civilians, employment from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and judgmental trend; for military personnel, employment from the Department of Defense and judgmental trend. Derived from Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly employment times earnings from Bureau of Labor Statistics employment cost index. For Federal programs, BEA-derived wages and salaries of employees covered by the programs; for State and local government programs, judgmental trend. Judgmental trend. Judgmental trend. Judgmental trend. Judgmental trend.

32 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Income side (Gross national income of $8,158.7 billion for 1997) Continued Proprietors income with IVA and CCAdj ($551.2) Rental income of persons with CCAdj ($158.2) Farm income with IVA ($43.0) Farm CCAdj ( $7.5) Nonfarm income ($485.3) Nonfarm IVA ($0.6) Nonfarm CCAdj ($29.9) Owner-occupied nonfarm housing ($121.2) Tenant-occupied nonfarm housing ($56.4) Farms owned by nonoperator landlords ($6.2) Nonfarm nonresidential properties ($16.3) Royalties ($8.5) CCAdj ( $50.4) See footnotes at end of table. Department of Agriculture data on net income, obtained by deriving gross income (cash receipts from marketing, inventory change, government payments, other cash income, and nonmoney income) and subtracting production expenses, adjusted to exclude corporate income from Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns and adjusted to a NIPA basis. See entry for CCAdj under consumption of fixed capital. Years except most recent Income from Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns, adjusted for understatement of income on tax returns and for conceptual differences. Most recent year For construction, trade, and services, indicators of activity (such as value of housing put in place); for most others, judgmental trend. See entry for IVA under corporate profits with IVA and CCAdj. See entry for CCAdj under consumption of fixed capital. Benchmark years Derived as space rent (see entry for nonfarm dwellings under personal consumption expenditures) less related expenses, including maintenance and repair from Bureau of Labor Statistics quarterly consumer expenditure survey; mortgage interest and property taxes from Census Bureau decennial survey of residential finance. Other years Same as benchmark years, except mortgage interest, based on mortgage debt from the Federal Reserve Board times a BEA interest rate, and property taxes from Census Bureau quarterly surveys of State and local tax collections. Same as owner-occupied nonfarm housing, adjusted to cover only rental income accruing to persons not primarily engaged in the real estate business. Prepared in conjunction with farm proprietors income; see entry for farm income with IVA under proprietors income with IVA and CCAdj. Years through 1983 Rents paid and received by business and government, adjusted for expenses associated with property (mainly depreciation, taxes, interest, and repairs) from Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns, Census Bureau surveys, and the Budget of the United States prepared by the Office of Management and Budget. Other years Judgmental trend. Years except most recent Internal Revenue Service tabulations of royalties reported on individual income tax returns. Most recent year Judgmental trend. See entry for CCAdj under consumption of fixed capital. For crops, BEA quarterly allocation of Department of Agriculture annual projections of crop output; for livestock, Department of Agriculture quarterly projections of cash receipts and inventories; for both crops and livestock, quarterly allocation of Department of Agriculture annual projections of government subsidy payments and production expenses. Same as annual for most recent year. For owner-occupied space rent, same as annual; for depreciation, interest, closing costs, real estate dealers commissions and taxes, based on NIPA estimates of those components; for other expenses, judgmental trend. Same as annual. Judgmental trend. Judgmental trend. Judgmental trend.

33 26 September 1998 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Income side (Gross national income of $8,158.7 billion for 1997) Continued Corporate profits with IVA and CCAdj ($817.9) Net interest ($432.0) See footnotes at end of table. Domestic profits before tax ($635.4) Rest-of-the-world profits before tax ($99.0) IVA ($6.9) CCAdj ($76.6) Domestic monetary, net ($71.3) Rest-of-the-world monetary, net ( $86.8) Years except most recent Receipts less deductions from Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns, adjusted for understatement of income on tax returns and for conceptual differences. Most recent year Profits from Census Bureau quarterly survey of corporate profits, regulatory agency reports, and compilations of publicly available corporate financial statements. Estimated as part of the balance of payments accounts: For direct investment income, BEA surveys; for portfolio income, Treasury Department surveys. Adjusted for NIPA coverage of U.S. territories and Puerto Rico see entry for exports and imports of goods, net, under net exports of goods and services. The IVA on the income side (for corporations and for nonfarm sole proprietorships and partnerships) and the IVA on the product side (described under the entry for change in business inventories) differ because the source data reflect different proportions of inventories reported using different accounting methods (last-in, first-out (LIFO), etc.). The income-side IVA is based on the product-side IVA, adjusted by the relationship between non-lifo inventories from Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns and non-lifo inventories from the Census Bureau. See entry for CCAdj under consumption of fixed capital. Years except most recent For farm interest paid, Department of Agriculture surveys; for residential mortgage interest paid, Census Bureau decennial survey of residential finance and mortgage debt from the Federal Reserve Board times a BEA interest rate; for most other interest paid and received by business, Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns, adjusted for misreporting on tax returns and for conceptual differences. Most recent year For farm and mortgage interest paid, same as other years; for other interest, interest receipts and payments from regulatory agencies (such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), from trade sources, or obtained by applying BEA interest rates to interest-bearing assets/liabilities from Federal Reserve Board flow-of-funds accounts. Estimated as part of the balance of payments accounts: For direct investment income, BEA surveys; for portfolio income, Treasury Department surveys. Adjusted for NIPA coverage of U.S. territories and Puerto Rico see entry for exports and imports of goods, net, under net exports of goods and services. For some industries in transportation and in finance, judgmental trend; for others, same as annual for most recent year. (Released at time of preliminary estimate of GDP for the first, second, and third quarters and of final estimate for the fourth quarter.) Same as annual. (Released on same schedule as domestic profits before tax.) Same as annual. Derived by combining estimates of (1) interest received by persons, (2) government interest paid and received, and (3) interest paid by persons. For (1), judgmental trend; for (2), Monthly Treasury Statement for Federal and judgmental trend for State and local; for (3), consumer debt from the Federal Reserve Board times BEA estimates of interest rates. (Released on same schedule as domestic profits before tax.) Same as annual. (Released on same schedule as domestic profits before tax.)

34 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Income side (Gross national income of $8,158.7 billion for 1997) Continued Net interest Continued Business transfer payments ($35.1) Indirect business tax and nontax liability ($627.2) Subsidies less current surplus of government enterprises ($21.9) See footnotes at end of table. Imputed banks, credit agencies, and investment companies ($202.9) Imputed life insurance carriers and private noninsured pension plans ($244.6) Federal Government ($93.8) State and local governments ($533.4) Federal Government ($32.5) State and local governments ( $10.6) Property income earned on investment of deposits and monetary interest paid to depositors (and for mutual depositories, profits from Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns) from annual reports of regulatory agencies and the Federal Reserve Board. Imputed interest (financial services furnished without payment) is allocated to persons, government, and the rest of the world on the basis of deposit liabilities from the same sources. Property income earned (and for life insurance carriers, profits) from Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns, trade sources, and the Federal Reserve Board. Payments to persons: For charitable contributions, for years except most recent, Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns or, for most recent year, judgmental trend; for other components (such as liability payments for personal injury), for years except most recent, information from government agency reports and trade sources or, for most recent year, judgmental trend. Payments to the rest of the world: Estimated as part of the balance of payments accounts. For excise taxes, collections from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the Internal Revenue Service; for customs duties, receipts from the Monthly Treasury Statement; and for nontaxes (such as fines), receipts from the Budget of the United States prepared by the Office of Management and Budget. Receipts from Census Bureau quinquennial census and annual and quarterly surveys, adjusted to a calendar year basis from a fiscal year basis. For subsidies, payments by the Commodity Credit Corporation from agency reports and, for most other agencies, outlays from Monthly Treasury Statement; for current surplus, mainly reports of various agencies, such as the Postal Service, and consumption of fixed capital estimates derived with perpetual-inventory calculations at current cost, based on gross investment and on investment prices. For subsidies, limited to railroad, Census Bureau annual surveys of expenditures, adjusted to a calendar year basis from a fiscal year basis. For current surplus: For current operating receipts, mainly revenue data from Census Bureau annual surveys of State and local governments, adjusted to a calendar year basis from a fiscal year basis; for current operating expenditures, see entries for State and local consumption of general government fixed capital and State and local consumption expenditures and gross investment, except compensation, structures, brokerage charges and financial services furnished without payment, and consumption of fixed capital under Government consumption expenditures and gross investment. Judgmental trend. Judgmental trend. (Released on same schedule as domestic profits before tax.) Judgmental trend. For customs duties, Monthly Treasury Statement; for most excise taxes, derived from indicators of activity (such as gasoline production for gasoline tax); for others in this group, judgmental trend. Judgmental trend. For subsidies, Commodity Credit Corporation reports and judgmental trend; for current surplus, judgmental trend and consumption of fixed capital estimates derived with perpetual-inventory calculations at current cost, based on gross investment and on investment prices. Judgmental trend.

35 28 September 1998 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS Table 1. Principal Source Data and Estimating Methods Used in Preparing Estimates of Current-Dollar GDP Continued Component (billions of Subcomponent (billions of Annual estimates: Source data and methods used to determine level for benchmark and other years or used to prepare an extrapolator or interpolator Advance quarterly estimates: Source data and methods used to prepare an extrapolator Income side (Gross national income of $8,158.7 billion for 1997) Continued Consumption of fixed capital ($871.8) Government: ($151.6) General government ($128.3) Government enterprise ($23.4) Private: ($720.2) Capital consumption allowances ($760.5) Less: CCAdj ($40.4) Perpetual-inventory calculations at current cost, based on gross investment and on investment prices. Perpetual-inventory calculations at current cost, based on gross investment and on investment prices. Perpetual-inventory calculations at current cost, based on gross investment and on investment prices. Years except most recent For depreciation of corporations and of nonfarm sole proprietorships and partnerships, Internal Revenue Service tabulations of business tax returns, adjusted for conceptual differences; for other depreciation (including noncorporate farms, nonprofit institutions, and owner-occupied houses), perpetual-inventory calculations; for accidental damage to fixed capital, losses reported to insurance companies and government agencies. Most recent year For depreciation of corporations and nonfarm sole proprietorships and partnerships, BEA estimates of tax-return-based depreciation; for other depreciation and accidental damage to fixed capital, same as other years. For corporations and nonfarm sole proprietorships and partnerships, the difference between tax-return-based calculations and perpetual-inventory calculations; for others (including noncorporate farms, nonprofit institutions, and owner-occupied houses), the difference between perpetualinventory calculations at historical cost and current cost. Same as annual. Same as annual. Same as annual. Judgmental trend. Judgmental trend. 1. Includes $9.9 billion for food produced and consumed on farms, standard clothing issued to military personnel, and used trucks. 2. The retail-control method cited under personal consumption expenditures (PCE) for most goods is based on retail trade sales data that include sales of gasoline service stations. Estimates of PCE for gasoline and oil are derived separately and are deducted from the retail-control totals (that include goods sold by gasoline service stations) to derive the estimates for PCE for most goods. 3. Also referred to as services furnished without payment by financial intermediaries, except life insurance carriers and private noninsured pension plans. 4. Includes $1.3 billion for brokers commissions on sale of structures and net purchases of used structures. 5. Includes $1.7 billion for other structures (dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses, nurses homes, etc.) and net purchases of used structures. 6. Includes $3.1 billion for wage and salary accruals: Rest of the world, net, and $6.0 billion for other labor income: Supplemental unemployment, directors fees, and judicial fees. CCAdj Capital consumption adjustment IVA Inventory valuation adjustment NIPA National income and product account Source: 1997 estimates SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS, August 1998.

36 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September Table 2. Methodology Used in Preparing Estimates of Real GDP Deflation, using price based on Using quantity for Component Subcomponent Components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Producer Price Index (PPI) Other Extrapolation Direct valuation Personal consumption expenditures See footnotes at end of table. Durable and nondurable goods: Most goods (except subcomponents listed separately). New autos... Net purchases of used autos. New trucks... Gasoline and oil... Food furnished to employees (including military). Expenditures abroad by U.S. residents less personal remittances in kind to nonresidents. Services: Nonfarm dwellings space rent for owner-occupied and rent for tenant-occupied. Rental value of farm dwellings. Except as noted, CPI; military clothing, PPI. CPI Used autos, in two parts: (1) Margin, unit sales from trade sources with dealer margins from Census Bureau and trade sources; (2) net transactions, net change in unit stock of autos held by consumers by year of original sale, valued by depreciated original value in base-year dollars. CPI CPI CPI... Foreign consumer price indexes (exchange-rate adjusted). CPI Net value of farm housing stock from BEA capital stock series.

37 30 September 1998 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS Table 2. Methodology Used in Preparing Estimates of Real GDP Continued Deflation, using price based on Using quantity for Component Subcomponent Components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Producer Price Index (PPI) Other Extrapolation Direct valuation Personal consumption expenditures Continued Services Continued: Motor vehicle repair, rental and other services; other repair services; other purchased intercity transportation; legal and funeral services; barbershops and beauty parlors; nursing homes; laundries; employment agency fees; accounting and tax return preparation services; recreation (except cable TV, casino gambling, parimutuel net receipts, lotteries, and computer online services); hotels and motels; commercial business, trade, and correspondence schools; educational services not elsewhere classified; research organizations and foundations. Physicians, dentists, and other professional medical services. Private nursery schools, elementary and secondary schools, day care, welfare activities, political organizations, foundations, and trade unions and professional associations. Financial services furnished without payment by banks, credit agencies, and investment companies. 1 Brokerage charges and investment counseling, bank service charges, intercity transportation except other, and private higher education. Domestic services... See footnotes at end of table. Except as noted, CPI; private for-profit nursing homes and employment agency fees, PPI. Private nonprofit nursing homes, composite index of input prices from the Health Care Financing Administration; clubs and fraternal organizations, and nonprofit research and foundation expenses, BEA composite indexes of input prices. Except as noted, CPI; physicians, home health care, and medical laboratories, PPI... BEA composite indexes of input prices Paid employee hours of relevant financial institutions. Except as noted, CPI. CPI Airline transportation, BEA index based on revenue per passenger mile from the Department of Transportation and trade source, and CPI for airline fares; private higher education, BEA composite index of input prices. Stock brokerage charges, BEA orders, derived from volume data from the Securities and Exchange Commission and trade sources; mutual fund sales charges, value of new sales deflated by CPI.

38 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September Table 2. Methodology Used in Preparing Estimates of Real GDP Continued Deflation, using price based on Using quantity for Component Subcomponent Components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Producer Price Index (PPI) Other Extrapolation Direct valuation Personal consumption expenditures Continued Services Continued: Public education and hospitals, water and other sanitary services, and lotteries. Insurance, private hospitals, religious activities, cable TV, electricity, natural gas, telephone, and local transport. Foreign travel by U.S. residents less expenditures in the United States by nonresidents. Other services: Casino gambling; motor vehicle leasing; parimutuel net receipts; other housing except hotels and motels; bridge, etc., tolls; other household operation except repairs and insurance; travel and entertainment card fees; stenographic and reproduction services; money orders and classified advertising; and computer online services. Except as noted, CPI; public hospitals, PPI. Except as noted, CPI; private for-profit hospitals, PPI. Expenditures in the United States, CPI. Except as noted, CPI. Life insurance and religious activities, BEA composite indexes of input prices; private nonprofit hospitals, composite index of input prices from the Health Care Financing Administration. Foreign travel, BEA composite index of foreign consumer price indexes (exchange-rate adjusted). Auto and truck leasing, BEA index based on CPI s for new vehicles and Federal Reserve Board interest rates on new-car loans by auto finance companies. Auto insurance, premiums deflated by CPI; health insurance, benefits deflated by CPI Parimutuel net receipts, gross winnings deflated by CPI. Fixed investment See footnotes at end of table. Nonresidential structures: Utilities... Mining exploration, shafts, and wells. Gas and petroleum pipelines, PPI. Casing, oil and gas well drilling, oil and gas field services, and geophysical exploration, PPI. Telecommunications, cost index from trade source; railroads, BEA price index; other, cost indexes from government agencies and trade sources. Mines, implicit price deflator for nonfarm nonresidential buildings. Drilling, footage by geographic area from trade source.

39 32 September 1998 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS Table 2. Methodology Used in Preparing Estimates of Real GDP Continued Deflation, using price based on Using quantity for Component Subcomponent Components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Producer Price Index (PPI) Other Extrapolation Direct valuation Fixed investment Continued Nonresidential structures Continued: Nonfarm buildings and structures.... Buildings, BEA index based on cost index from trade source and on Census Bureau price deflator for single-family houses under construction; structures, cost indexes from government agencies. Farm buildings Implicit price deflator for nonfarm nonresidential buildings. Nonresidential producers durable equipment: Equipment, except autos, telephone and telegraph installation, and telephone switching equipment. Domestic components, except as noted, PPI; imported transportation equipment, PPI. Imported components, except computers and transportation equipment, Bureau of Labor Statistics import price indexes; domestic and imported computers, BEA price index, Bureau of Labor Statistics import price indexes, and PPI. New and used autos... New autos, CPI Used autos, in two parts: (1) Margin, unit sales from trade sources with dealer margins from Census Bureau and trade sources; (2) net transactions, net change in unit stock of autos held by business by year of original sale, valued by depreciated original value in base-year dollars. Telephone and telegraph installation.... BEA cost index. Telephone switching equipment.... BEA price index. Residential investment: Permanent-site new singlefamily housing units. Permanent-site new multifamily housing units. Mobile homes... See footnotes at end of table.... Census Bureau price deflator for single-family houses under construction.... BEA price index. PPI

40 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September Table 2. Methodology Used in Preparing Estimates of Real GDP Continued Deflation, using price based on Using quantity for Component Subcomponent Components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Producer Price Index (PPI) Other Extrapolation Direct valuation Fixed investment Continued Change in business inventories Net exports of goods and services 2 See footnotes at end of table. Residential investment Continued:. Improvements Major replacements, BEA composite index of input prices; additions and alterations, BEA index based on Census Bureau price deflator for single-family houses under construction and BEA index for major replacements. Brokers commissions... PPI. Producers durable equipment. CPI. Nonfarm: Purchased goods, all industries. Nonfarm: Work-in-process and finished goods, manufacturing. Except as noted, PPI. Except as noted, PPI; some overhead cost items, CPI. Crude petroleum, index from the Energy Information Administration; computers, BEA price index, Bureau of Labor Statistics import price indexes, and PPI; imported goods purchased by trade industries, Bureau of Labor Statistics import price indexes. BEA indexes of unit labor cost. Farm Department of Agriculture average market prices. Exports and imports of goods. 2 Gold; transportation equipment; selected agricultural foods, feeds, and beverages; and selected imports of refined petroleum, PPI. Bureau of Labor Statistics export and import price indexes; electric energy exports and imports, and petroleum imports, unit-value indexes based on Census Bureau values and quantities; computer and semiconductor exports, BEA price indexes, Bureau of Labor Statistics export price indexes, and PPI; computer and semiconductor imports, BEA price indexes and Bureau of Labor Statistics import price indexes.... Quantities and prices of stocks of coal, petroleum, and natural gas for utilities from the Energy Information Administration.

41 34 September 1998 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS Table 2. Methodology Used in Preparing Estimates of Real GDP Continued Deflation, using price based on Using quantity for Component Subcomponent Components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Producer Price Index (PPI) Other Extrapolation Direct valuation Net exports of goods and services Continued 2 Government consumption expenditures and gross investment See footnotes at end of table. Exports and imports of services. 2 Federal national defense consumption of general government fixed capital. Federal national defense, except consumption of general government fixed capital. Federal nondefense consumption of general government fixed capital. Travel receipts, medical receipts, and students expenditures, CPI. Military transfers and direct defense expenditures abroad, selected deflators for Federal national defense, except consumption of fixed capital (see below); passenger fares, Bureau of Labor Statistics export and import price indexes; travel payments and U.S. Government payments for miscellaneous services, BEA composite index of foreign consumer price indexes (exchangerate adjusted); other transportation, Bureau of Labor Statistics export and import price indexes, and PPI; royalties and fees, and other private services, BEA price indexes, CPI, PPI, and implicit price deflator for final sales to domestic purchasers. Exports of financial services furnished without payment, 1 paid employee hours of relevant financial institutions Perpetual-inventory calculations, based on gross investment. Selected goods, PPI; utilities and communications, CPI and PPI. Some goods, some services, and most military structures, BEA indexes based on Department of Defense prices paid; some services, Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly earnings; computers, BEA price index, Bureau of Labor Statistics import price indexes, and PPI; nonmilitary structures, cost indexes from trade sources and government agencies. Military compensation, fulltime equivalent employment by rank and length of service; civilian compensation, fulltime equivalent employment by grade, adjusted for change from base year in hours worked. Many goods, some services, and a few military structures, quantities and prices from Department of Defense reports; electricity and natural gas quantities from the Department of Energy Perpetual-inventory calculations, based on gross investment.

42 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS September Table 2. Methodology Used in Preparing Estimates of Real GDP Continued Deflation, using price based on Using quantity for Component Subcomponent Components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Producer Price Index (PPI) Other Extrapolation Direct valuation Government consumption expenditures and gross investment Continued Federal nondefense, except consumption of general government fixed capital. State and local compensation of general government employees. Most goods, PPI; rent, utilities, and communications, CPI. Structures, cost indexes from trade sources and government agencies; computers, BEA price index, Bureau of Labor Statistics import price indexes, and PPI; most services, Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly earnings. Compensation, full-time equivalent employment by grade, adjusted for change from base year in hours worked; financial services furnished without payment, 1 paid employee hours of relevant financial institutions Employees in education, full-time equivalent employment by education and experience, adjusted for change from base year in hours worked; other employees, full-time equivalent employment, adjusted for change from base year in hours worked. State and local structures.... Cost indexes from trade sources and government agencies. State and local brokerage charges and financial services furnished without payment. State and local consumption of general government fixed capital. State and local consumption expenditures and gross investment, except compensation, structures, brokerage charges and financial services furnished without payment, and consumption of fixed capital. Net purchases of agricultural commodities by the Commodity Credit Corporation, quantities by crop from agency reports with Department of Agriculture prices; selected petroleum transactions, quantities and prices from the Department of Energy.... See entries for brokerage charges and financial services furnished without payment under personal consumption expenditures for services Perpetual-inventory calculations, based on gross investment. Services, except as noted, CPI; electricity, hospitals, most professional services, and goods, except as noted, PPI. Transportation, books, and postal services, BEA indexes based on Department of Defense prices paid; computers, BEA price index, Bureau of Labor Statistics import price indexes, and PPI; elementary and secondary education, welfare and libraries, BEA composite indexes of input prices; maintenance and repair services, BEA composite price index for State and local construction. 1. Also referred to as services furnished without payment by financial intermediaries, except life insurance carriers and private noninsured pension plans. 2. Estimates of real exports and imports of goods and services are prepared separately. Real receipts and payments of factor income from the rest of the world the difference between GDP and GNP are prepared by deflation using the implicit price deflator for final sales to domestic purchasers except for imputed interest paid to nonresidents, which is prepared by extrapolation using paid employee hours of relevant institutions.