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Collected Articles of Kishori Lal Catalogue no. 13-598-XIE Collected Articles of Kishori Lal Statistics Statistique Canada Canada Collected Articles of Kishori Lal Associate Assistant Chief Statistician National Accounts and Analytical Studies Field Statistics Canada June 2003 PREFACE How does one summarize a lifetime of professional accomplishment? In some instances, one good way is to compile a book, as we have done here. This volume brings together in one place the substantial number of papers written by Kishori Lal during his lengthy career as a national accounts statistician at Statistics Canada. Kishori's papers cover a range of subject matter, responding to the twisting current of events through parts of five decades. They have one thing in common: All of the papers focus on one or another aspect of the development of Canada's System of National Accounts. Kishori believes deeply in and is utterly devoted to that system. It grew and evolved quite radically during Kishori’s long career. The changes Canada’s SNA went through followed closely, or in some cases led the development of the international SNA standard. He has left his mark indelibly on both. The advent of the 1993 SNA gave the impetus for several papers. These examined the implications of the new standard for Canada’s national accounts and explored issues associated with its practical implementation in the 1997 historical revision. ‘Production’ was always a central focus of his work and many of the papers in this volume consider aspects of Canada’s input-output accounts. Over the years he also turned his attention to several specific production measurement issues, such as the treatment of ‘financial intermediation services indirectly measured’ (FISIM) and inventory change. International comparisons were a special interest. Indeed one of his best papers, written in the year before he retired, contrasted the United States national accounts with the Canadian accounts. This detailed and authoritative paper was widely acclaimed south as well as north of the border. Subsequently the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicated they intended to prepare a similar paper, extending the comparison to include the Australian national accounts, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris asked if they could publish Kishori’s work to give the study even wider exposure. On a personal note, I reported to Kishori for eight full years, when I was Director of the National Accounts and Environment Division and he was the Director-General of the System of National Accounts Branch. I could not ask for a better boss. The man knows, understands and loves the national accounts more profoundly than anyone else in Canada and a better mentor-teacher on the mysteries of this subject one could not hope to find. He is a true professional, yet also a kind and supportive person. On behalf of all of us at Statistics Canada, I wish him well in his retirement. On behalf of all my fellow citizens, I thank him for his contribution to Canada’s statistical system. Philip Smith Assistant Chief Statistician National Accounts and Analytical Studies Field June 2003 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Preliminary Papers on the 1993 International System of National Accounts, September 1994 1.1 Preliminary Comments on the 1993 System of National Accounts vis-à-vis the Canadian System of National Accounts (1992) ........................................................... 3 1.2 The 1993 International System of National Accounts: Its Implementation for Developing Countries................................................................................................ 43 1.3 The 1993 International System of National Accounts: Preliminary Views on its Implementation in Canada ......................................................................................... 63 2. Papers on Measurement of Production, March 1998 2.1 Papers on Measurement of Production: Gross Domestic Product ............................. 75 2.2 Services Industries in the Business Sector of the Canadian Economy....................... 85 2.3 Financial Intermediation Services Indirectly Measured (FISIM) and the Canadian System of National Accounts (CNSA) ...................................................................... 97 2.4 FISIM Revisited: Calculating and Allocating FISIM: Canadian Approach............. 113 2.5 Recording of Change in Inventories in the SNA and in the Business Accounts: A Case Study of Canadian Practices........................................................................ 119 2.6 A Note on the Measurement of Industrial Production ............................................. 133 3. Remaining Differences Between the 1997 Canadian System of National Accounts and the 1993 International System of National Accounts, September 1998.................... 141 4. The 1997 Historical Revision of the Canadian System of National Accounts: Record of Changes in Classification of Sectors and Transactions, Concepts and Methodology, October 1998.................................................................................................................. 165 5. Value Added by Industry: A Problem of International Comparison, June 1999 ... 247 6. Papers on Canadian Input-Output Tables, August 2000 6.1 Input-Output Accounts: The Rectangular Format.................................................... 257 6.2 Compilation of Input-Output Tables: Canada.......................................................... 275 6.3 Canadian Input-Output Tables and Their Integration With Other Sub-Systems of the National Accounts.................................................................................................... 295 6.4 Canadian System of National Accounts: An Integrated Framework ....................... 307 6.5 The 1993 International System of National Accounts and The Canadian Input-Output Tables....................................................................................................................... 327 6.6 Evolution of the Canadian Input-Output Tables 1961 to date ................................. 345 7. The 2001 Revision of the Canadian System of National Accounts: Record of Revisited Issues, September 2001 ................................................................................................. 351 8. Implementation of the 1993 SNA in Canada Backcasting Issues, June 2002 .......... 383 9. Aggregating Sub-Annual Current Price Value of Changes in Inventories to Annual Totals Under Condition of Inflation: An Inherent Dilemma, July 2002.................. 389 10. Measurement of Output, Value added, GDP in Canada and the United States: Similarities and Differences, February 2003 .............................................................. 399 Preliminary Comments on The 1993 System of National Accounts vis-à-vis The Canadian System of National Accounts by Kishori Lal Director General System of National Accounts Statistics Canada The International System of National Accounts 1993 (1993 SNA) was published in 1993. This voluminous document, spread over 760 pages, comprising 21 chapters and 6 annexes, was prepared under the auspices of the Inter-Secretariat Working Group on National Accounts, consisting of the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Statistical Division (UNSTAT) and regional commissions of the United Nations Secretariat, and the World Bank. Adoption of the 1993 SNA was unanimously recommended to the United Nations Economic and Social Council by its Statistical Commission at its twenty-seventh session, held in New York from February 22 to March 3, 1993. This paper examines the 1993 SNA through the experience of the Canadian System of National Accounts (CSNA). Our comments are organized to highlight certain important areas where the CSNA will need to revise its present practices to conform to the 1993 SNA. The impact of these revisions on the CSNA is noted and an implementation strategy is summarized. There are some areas where we may not be able to implement the recommendations of the 1993 SNA; in such cases, our reasons are stated and alternatives are suggested. Our occasional departures from the 1993 SNA guidelines are primarily prompted by pragmatic considerations. We fully recognize the importance of promoting international comparability, but it should also be recognized that the specific circumstances existing at a given time in different countries can vary, often substantially. General comments The last UN SNA manual was published in 1968 and the balance sheet guidelines were published in 1977. An Expert Group Meeting on the Review and Development of the SNA, held in New York in 1982, recommended that a long term review of the SNA be undertaken to produce a revised SNA. The Group recommended that the main objectives of the SNA Review be clarification and simplification of concepts, further harmonization with other international guidelines, such as the IMF Balance of Payments Manual and A Manual on Government Financial Statistics, and updating of the system to fit new circumstances. The 1993 SNA has met these objectives. The framework of the CSNA bears a close relationship to the one described both in the last UN SNA manual and the 1993 SNA manual. The CSNA, like the 1993 SNA, is both a comprehensive and an integrated system, in the sense that all aspects of the economy are included and all of its components are interrelated. The CSNA comprises production accounts, income and outlay accounts, capital
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