1 / 11

The value added of official statistics: an overview of possible methods for Monetisation

This overview explores five different methods for monetising official statistics, including cost-based, market pricing, stated preference, revealed preference, and impact assessments. Pros and cons of each method are discussed, with examples provided. While the cost-based, stated preference, and revealed preference methods are preferred for coverage and ease of application, the revealed preference method and impact assessments offer compelling stories on the value added of statistics. More experience and application of these methods are encouraged.

dnealy
Download Presentation

The value added of official statistics: an overview of possible methods for Monetisation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The value added of official statistics: an overview of possible methods for Monetisation Peter van de Ven Head of National Accounts, OECD CESS-conference, October 20 - 21, 2016 Session A3

  2. Starting point • UNECE Task Force on the Value of Statistics • Preliminary report discussed at the 2016 meeting of the Conference of European Statisticians • More fundamental remark: further expand the report to include (im)possibilities to monetise official statistics • A draft report has recently been finalised, for consultation among members of the Task Force • Five different approaches described, with pros and cons

  3. Five approaches • Cost-based approach • Market (equivalent) pricing • Stated preference methods • Revealed preference methods • Impact assessments Short discussion of the first three methods, Thilo Klein will present some examples of the latter two methods Shortly address the main pros and cons of each of the methods

  4. Cost-based approach (1) • Monetary value = operational costs to produce statistics (compensation of employees, intermediate consumption and depreciation of fixed assets) • Method similar to national accounts • Represents the willingness to pay for statistics by the society at large • Some measurement issues: • Coverage of official statistics: including costs of all statistical authorities; including/excluding costs incurred by respondents, database providers and users? • Treatment of one-off budgets (census, investment for improving statistics, etc.)

  5. Cost-based approach (2) • However …, this valuation does not truly represent the output value of statistics • So, what’s the value added? • Showing the relatively low costs (per capita, as % of GDP) • Monitoring of developments of inputs over time, also allowing for comparisons with some output indicators • Comparisons across countries, but … • Comparisons with the monetary values derived from the other methods (returns on expenditures related to statistics)

  6. Market (equivalent) pricing • Various private companies exploit statistics commercially: • CPI: Premise and Pricestats • Business data: Bureau van Dijk • Macro-economic statistics: CEIC and Haver Analytics • General: Statista.com • Use the market prices charged to monetise official statistics • However … • The relevant companies exploit certain commercial niches • They may also provide additional services • Limited to specific areas of statistics • Underemphasising the use for policy and research • But … it may be a useful approach for certain areas

  7. Stated preference method • Basically, asking users of statistics directly, via surveys, what they would be “willing to pay” for or “willing to accept” in return for official statistics • Main advantages: • Flexible and straightforward • Potential to arrive at a relatively complete coverage • Most widely accepted method • Main disadvantages: • Willingness to pay can differ substantially from what people would be willing to pay in practice • Survey can be expensive and time-consuming

  8. Revealed preference method and impact assessments • Examples, see presentation by Thilo Klein • Main difference between stated preference and revealed preference: instead of asking people about their willingness to pay, inferring their preferences from actual choices • Main advantages: • Very compelling stories • Standardised methodology (advertisement method) • Main disadvantages: • Coverage issues: only focused on general public (advertisement method), problematic to generalise the methodology, difficult to replicate (school choice) • Other factors impacting on the analysis (school choice)

  9. Overall conclusions • For reasons of coverage and ease of application, the cost-based approach, the stated preference method and the revealed preference method (advertisements) are to be preferred, • Although … stated preference method may be quite expensive and time-consuming, also lacking external validation • However … revealed preference method (school choice) and impact assessment are able to provide very compelling stories on the value added of statistics • More experience needed, encourage countries to apply certain methods, to be put in a repository

  10. A health warning!

  11. Thank you for your attention!

More Related