1. Dissemination of Business Demography data - Balancing data needs with confidentiality
Roundtable on Business Survey Frames
17-21/10/2005
Hartmut Schrör, Eurostat

2. Contents Current state of the data collection
Dissemination of business demography data
Demand for data
Confidentiality and its implementation

3. Current state of the data collection
Voluntary data collection established since 2002 (old Member States), new Member States joined in 2004.
Basic elements: enterprise births, deaths, survival up to 5 years, and related employment.
Some Member States missing
Latest available data
Enterprise births 2002
Survivals into 2002
Deaths 2001
Common methodology
Business demography recommendations manual

4. Current state of the data collection
Legal basis
New Annex IX to Council Regulation on Structural Business Statistics
Scope and definition of the data collection remains largely the same

5. Dissemination of demography data
Eurostat website
All publishable data can be downloaded free of charge
Multidimensional datasets in proprietary format
Extraction to CSV, Excel
Two datasets on business demography
Breakdown by legal form (without survival data)
Breakdown by employee size class (including survival data)
No access to confidential data for researchers

6. Dissemination of demography data
Publications
Statistics in Focus
12 pages in English, French, German
Demographic events and related employment
Activity focus on ICT
Detailed tables
Last one published in 2004
PDF versions available free of charge on Eurostat website

7. Demand for data
Data extractions from Eurostat website, first half of 2005
size class table (including survivals): 891
among the top 10%
legal form table
Specific requests
Structural Indicators
Commission reports, policy documents
Various external requests

8. Demand for data Unfulfilled desires
More detailed activity breakdown (NACE 4-digit level)
More detailed size class breakdown
Regional breakdown

9. Confidentiality requirements
Data on individual enterprises may be declared confidential by Member States.
Different rules among Member States concerning…
Indicators
Number of enterprises usually publishable
Employment data often confidential
Thresholds
Aggregates consisting of less than 3…6 enterprises
Dominance
1 or 2 enterprises dominate an aggregate value
Percentage of the dominance (75 % to 90 %)

10. Confidentiality – dataset design
2 multidimensional datasets
Country, year, NACE, legal form, indicator
Country, year, NACE, employee size class, indicator
Example:
Spain, 2002, NACE C, 5-9 employees, persons employed in births
Value = 549
Confidentiality concerns reflected in the level of detail of the aggregated data
NACE activity: mostly 2 or 3 digit level
3 legal forms
5 size classes

11. Confidentiality - implementation
Confidentiality flags used in the data collection
Rule
flag
Too few enterprises A
One enterprise dominates the data B
Two enterprises dominate the data C
Confidential data due to secondary confidentiality D
Data is non-confidential
Blank

12. Confidentiality - example
Number of newly born enterprises
employee size class
size class
total
1 to 4
5 to 9
10 to 19
20 or more
NACE
K72 total
344 27
155 42 84 39
721 66
2~A 23 17 16 8
722 53
3~A 12 10 24 7
723 72 4 43 6 13
724 49 5
725 58 31
726 46 19 9

13. Confidentiality - example
Number of persons employed in newly born enterprises
(internal database)
employee size class
size class total
1 to 4
5 to 9
10 to 19
20 or more
NACE
K72 total
3039 27
352 98
1310
1140
721
632
2~A 50
120~D
260
200
722
537
3~A 37
70~D
320
180
723
558 4
100 44
250
160
724
405
5~D 65
15~A
190
150
725
403 6 45 32
170
726
504 7 55 22
140
280

14. Confidentiality - example
Number of persons employed in newly born enterprises
(dissemination database)
employee size class
size class total
1 to 4
5 to 9
10 to 19
20 or more
NACE
K72 total
3039 27
352 98
1310
1140
721
632
:~c 50
260
200
722
537 37
320
180
723
558 4
100 44
250
160
724
405 65
190
150
725
403 6 45 32
170
726
504 7 55 22
140
280

15. Confidentiality - challenges
Two tables with partial overlap of dimensions
Country, year, NACE, legal form, indicator
Country, year, NACE, employee size class, indicator
Values may belong to multiple aggregates
NACE hierarchy
Special activity aggregates (ICT, services)
Keeping higher aggregates publishable (“top down”)

16. Confidentiality – software tools
Manual work
Good case-by-case judgement
Time consuming
Risk of error
Software tools tested at Eurostat
CIF (Confidentiality InterFace)
GHMITER
Over-protective

17. Confidentiality – software tools
Τ-Argus
GHMITER
Can partially automate confidentiality treatment
Limitations: special aggregates, setting flags, dominance rules

18. Conclusions
Business Demography project at European level has been successful
Demand for data and confidentiality requirements can be balanced
Software tools: T-Argus most promising
Suggestion to Member States to carry out confidentiality treatment themselves.
Compliance with confidentiality rules
Harmonization with results published at national level