2006 BEA Government Statistics Users Conference The Government Division’s Research Program: 2004 – 2006 and Beyond Brooks B. Robinson Chief, Government Division Washington, DC September 14, 2006

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

3 Developments Since 2004  Continued production of high-quality NIPA estimates -Two years of hurricanes -Two Federal Budget Translations -Two annual NIPA revisions

4 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)

5 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

6 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

7 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.

8 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

9 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

10 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

11 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

12 Conclusion Research Topics  Accrual accounting  New measures of government output  NIPA-FOFA Integration  Military equipment and inventory timing  Insurance  Capital transfers  Territorial adjustments  Enterprise and pension plan sectoring  New inventory account Requirements for Success  Accelerate the pace of the research  Do not expand the scope of the research  Complete proposals and estimates early

2006 BEA Government Statistics Users Conference The Government Division’s Research Program: 2004 – 2006 and Beyond Brooks B. Robinson Chief, Government Division Washington, DC September 14, 2006