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F107 Edited.Pdf ST/ESA/STAT/SER.F/107 Department of Economic and Social Affairs Statistics Division Statistical Papers Series F No. 107 International Recommendations for the Index of Industrial Production 2010 United Nations • New York, 2013 The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat is a vital interface between global policies in the economic, social and environmental spheres and national action. The Department works in three main interlinked areas: (i) it compiles, generates and analyses a wide range of economic, social and environmental data and information on which States Members of the United Nations draw to review common problems and to take stock of policy options; (ii) it facilitates the negotiations of Member States in many intergovernmental bodies on joint courses of action to address ongoing or emerging global challenges; and (iii) it advises interested Governments on the ways and means of translating policy frameworks developed in United Nations conferences and summits into programmes at the country level and, through technical assistance, helps build national capacities. Note Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document. ST/ESA/STAT/SER.F/107 United Nations Publication Sales No. E.10.XVII.16 ISBN 978-92-1-161532-6 eISBN 978-92-1-055341-4 Enquiries should be directed to: Sales Section Publishing Division United Nations New York, NY 10017 Copyright © United Nations 2010 All rights reserved Preface Comparison of economic performance over time is a key factor in economic analysis and a fundamental requirement for policymaking. Short-term indicators play an important role in this context by providing such comparison indicators. Among these short-term indicators, the Index of Industrial Production has historically been one of the most well known and well used. The Index of Industrial Production measures volume changes in the production of an economy and is therefore free of the influences of price changes, making it an indicator of choice for many applications. Not only is the Index of Industrial Production an important indicator in its own right, but it also plays an important role in the System of National Accounts, since it reflects temporal changes in value added for individual industries, besides having a strong relationship with the performance of the economy as a whole. The present publication is a revision of the original manual entitled Index Numbers of Industrial Production , published by the United Nations in 1950. It takes into account methodological developments in the field of index number calculation that emerged over the past decades and describes new recommended methodological standards for the compilation of index numbers of industrial production. The development of these standards has taken into account other recently revised statistical standards and recommendations and contributes to a coherent set of international guidelines, which include System of National Accounts 2008 , International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) Rev.4 , the Central Product Classification Version 2 (CPC Ver.2) , International Recommendations for Industrial Statistics 2008 , the Producer Price Index Manual: Theory and Practice and the Consumer Price Index Manual: Theory and Practice . The updated methodology described in this publication, used together with that of the Compilation Manual for an Index of Services Production , published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, currently provides assistance to data producers in the compilation of volume indices for the majority of goods- and services-producing industries. In addition to outlining the standard methodology, this publication also provides practical guidance on the actual steps to be taken in index number calculation and presents recommended methods for each industry within its scope with a view to assisting countries in producing high-quality short-term economic indicators that are also internationally comparable. iii Acknowledgements The present publication draws from or makes direct use of text material from a number of sources, in particular the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Compilation Manual for an Index of Services Production ; various Eurostat manuals; the International Monetary Fund Producer Price Index Manual ; and the International Labour Office Consumer Price Index Manual . The United Nations Statistics Division acknowledges the contributions made by those organizations through allowing the above-mentioned volumes to be used in the preparation of this publication. The standards presented here are closely aligned with those of the OECD Compilation Manual , which details concepts and methodology related to the compilation of index numbers for the services sector of the economy. Wherever possible, the structure, concepts and terminology of the two publications have been harmonized. The United Nations Statistics Division could not have completed this work without the cooperation and input of the members of the United Nations Expert Group on Industrial Statistics. This topic was discussed at the 2005 and 2007 Expert Group meetings and the publication was reviewed in detail at the Group’s 2008 meeting. Expert Group members who attended the 2008 meeting were: Mr. Cristiano Santos (Brazil), Ms. Teofana Genova (Bulgaria), Mr. Michel Girard (Canada), Mr. Peter Lys (Canada), Mr. Jean-Francois Loue (France), Mr. Norbert Herbel (Germany), Mr. Anthony Kofi Krakah (Ghana), Mr. S. K. Nath (India), Mr. Masato Hisatake (Japan), Ms. Mika Sawai (Japan), Ms. Violeta Kunigeliene (Lithuania), Mr. Eduardo Romero (Mexico), Mr. Leenhert Hoven (Netherlands), Ms. Esther Foo (Singapore), Ms. Wai San Cheng (Singapore), Ms. Wai Yee Yen (Singapore), Mr. Norman Morin (United States of America), Mr. Robert Yuskavage (United States of America), Mr. Eun-Pyo Hong (OECD) and Mr. Shyam Upadhyaya (United Nations Industrial Development Organization). In addition, Mr. Richard McKenzie (OECD), Mr. Brian Newson (Eurostat), Ms. Isabelle Remond-Tiedrez (Eurostat) and Mr. Marius Reitsema (Netherlands) provided additional input or reviewed earlier drafts of this publication. Within the United Nations Statistics Division, the initial version was drafted by Mr. Marcel van Kints, with guidance and review provided by Mr. Ralf Becker and Mr. Ivo Havinga. Additional drafting and editing were carried out by Mr. Becker and Mr. Thierno Aliou Balde. iv Contents Page Preface .................................................. ..................... iii Acknowledgments .................................................. ............ iv Acronyms and abbreviations used ................................................. ix I. Introduction .................................................. ................. 1 1.1 Index of Industrial Production (IIP) ........................................... 1 1.2 Historical background .................................................. 2 1.3 Purpose and scope of this publication .......................................... 4 1.4 Organization of this publication ............................................... 5 1.5 Summary list of recommendations in this publication ............................. 6 1.5.1 Statistical units, classifications and the business register ..................... 6 1.5.2 Scope and frequency .................................................. 6 1.5.3 Sources and methods .................................................. 7 1.5.4 Index compilation .................................................. 7 1.5.5 Presentation and dissemination .......................................... 8 Part one International recommendations ................................................. 11 II. Fundamental concepts and uses of the IIP ........................................... 12 2.1 Industrial production .................................................. 12 2.2 Measuring industrial production .............................................. 13 2.3 Presenting industrial production volume measures as index numbers ............... 15 2.4 IIP compilation frequency .................................................. 15 2.5 Uses of the IIP .................................................. .......... 15 III. Statistical units, classifications and business registers ................................. 17 3.1 Statistical units .................................................. .......... 17 3.1.1 Statistical unit: definitions .............................................. 17 3.1.2 The recommended statistical unit ........................................ 18 3.2 Classifications .................................................. ........... 18 3.2.1 The recommended classifications ........................................ 19 3.2.2 Classification of statistical units: a special case — Outsourcing/activities carried out on a fee or contract basis ............................................ 19 3.3 The business register and the IIP .............................................. 21 3.3.1 The recommended approach ............................................ 22 v IV. Sources and methods .................................................. .......... 23 4.1 Approaches used to measure industrial production ............................... 23 4.1.1 Measures of output for industrial production ............................... 23 4.1.2 Measures of input for approximating industrial production
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