2006 BEA Government Statistics Users

ConferenceThe Government Division’s Research Program: 2004 –

2006 and Beyond

Brooks B. RobinsonChief, Government Division

Washington, DCSeptember 14, 2006

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2004 Users Conference Research Topics

New measures of government output Integration of the National Income and

Product Accounts (NIPAs) with Flow-of-Funds Accounts

Military equipment and inventory timing and a new government inventory account

Enterprise and pension plan sectoring Accrual accounting

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Developments Since 2004

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

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New Research Topics Surfaced

Adopting private-sector treatment of insurance for government-owned business enterprises (Mandel)

Improving the classification and estimation of capital transfers

Improving the treatment of territorial adjustment transactions (Tsehaye)

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Research Methods Formed research teams Considered national accounts international

guidelines (System of National Accounts, 1993 (SNA) / Government Finance Statistics Manual, 2001 (GFS))

Developed a research plan and timetable Conducted consultations Considered data requirements Proposals to be prepared by spring of 2007

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New Measures of Government Output

Purpose: To improve the measurement of government output in order to measure government productivity change

Research by State and Local Branch staff on the output of health services using Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services data

Christian et al. (2006) IARIW paper on educational services output and health services prices

Plans to explore using PART statistics to estimate Federal Government output

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NIPA - Flow of Funds Integration

Purpose: To complete the full system of national accounts; to meet international guidelines; and to facilitate international comparability

Presentation forthcoming from Bond this morning.

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Military Equipment & Inventory Timing

Purpose: To ensure the proper recording of inventories

Research design completed Internal consultations with estimators of

private inventories to confirm the nature of possible inconsistencies

Data requested from the Census Bureau’s Manufacturing and Construction Division

Revised estimates will be produced using the MCD data

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New Inventory Account Purpose: To create a new government inventory

account and improve the recording of transactions

Two data sources identified: - Financial Report of the United States Government- Supply System Inventory Report

Issues- Estimate consistency - Insufficient detail to prepare constant-price estimates

Earmarked for the 2013 NIPA revision

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Enterprise and Pension Plan Sectoring

Purpose: To separate market from non-market institutional units and transactions

Clear direction on Federal enterprises Certain state and local enterprises

problematic:- Identifying separate institutional units- Identifying required statistics on transactions (receipts, expenses, income receipts on assets, subsidies, etc.)

Consultations with STATCAN in October

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Accrual Accounting Purpose: To more appropriately align

transactions in the NIPAs Team developed a working document

- Includes criteria and methods for converting series from a cash to an accrual accounting basis- BEA analysts can use the document as a guide for series conversion

Team will continue to serve as consultant on accrual conversions

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ConclusionResearch Topics

Accrual accounting New measures of

government output NIPA-FOFA Integration Military equipment and

inventory timing Insurance Capital transfers Territorial adjustments Enterprise and pension

plan sectoring New inventory account

Requirements for Success

Accelerate the pace of the research

Do not expand the scope of the research

Complete proposals and

estimates early

2006 BEA Government Statistics Users

ConferenceThe Government Division’s Research Program: 2004 –

2006 and Beyond

Brooks B. RobinsonChief, Government Division

Washington, DCSeptember 14, 2006