Transcript From a system of national accounts to a process of national

Session 2 : incorporating
Well-Being into the SNA (II)
From a system of national accounts to a process of national wellbeing
accounting
Paul Allin and David J. Hand, Imperial College London, UK
Accounting for Care: a Reseach and Survey Design Agenda, Nancy Folbre,
University of Massachussets, Amherst
The unpaid activities and Well-Being: the measurement issues, Challenges
and Limitations
Harpreet Kaur and Anupama Uppal, Punjabi University
Discussant : Fabrice Lenglart, Insee
From a system of national accounts to a process of national wellbeing
accounting
Paul Allin and David J. Hand, Imperial College London, UK
From a system of national accounts to a process of national wellbeing accounting
Paul Allin and David J. Hand, Imperial College London, UK
Overview
• The issue: to go ‘Beyond GDP’, both in
measurement and in policy terms
• Proliferation of indicators and accounts but
significant measurement challenges
• More critical than measurement is whether the
new measures will actually be used
• Propose dynamic and multi-staged approach for
developing SNA into process for accounting for
national wellbeing, embracing the production
and the use of measures
From a system of national accounts to a process of national wellbeing accounting
Paul Allin and David J. Hand, Imperial College London, UK
Going ‘Beyond GDP’: W(h)ither SNA?
• GDP has been widely used as a totemic symbol, both by
supporters and by opponents
• Debate interweaves a number of measurement issues
(including unmet needs) with how economic, social and
environmental policy and operational decisions are made
using available measures, or could be made with new
measures
• Take it as axiomatic that the SNA should embrace the wider
measures and call for broader system around SNA,
including satellite accounting and SEEA, to be integrated
and developed holistically
• Conclude that a fuller understanding of user requirements
for ‘beyond GDP’ is needed
From a system of national accounts to a process of national wellbeing accounting
Paul Allin and David J. Hand, Imperial College London, UK
Measurement challenges
• Meeting the Stiglitz et al recommendations
need for distributions as well as aggregates
measuring non-paid work
measuring natural, human and social capital
• Integrating non-market social and environmental
stocks, costs and benefits with existing national
accounts data eg monetarising by proxy or by
Wellbeing Valuation approach?
… or more pragmatic approach eg parsimonious
dashboard?
… or shifting to subjective wellbeing, as the basis
for national wellbeing accounts not considered
suitable ?
From a system of national accounts to a process of national wellbeing accounting
Paul Allin and David J. Hand, Imperial College London, UK
Options for SNA
1.
The ‘do-nothing’ option (as far as wider measures of wellbeing go)
beyond SNA updates within its existing scope and coverage
2.
Address the classical GDP recommendations of Stiglitz, but not embrace
the full remit of measuring national wellbeing in its widest sense
more focus on HH sector, distributional national accounts
3.
Full evolution from SNA into a process for national wellbeing accounting, to
address all the Stiglitz recommendations
•
Statistical offices should publish a single set of national wellbeing accounts
that are accepted for use
•
User requirements need to be joined up: eliminating poverty, ensuring green
growth or sustainable development
•
The issue of cross-national comparability needs special attention
From a system of national accounts to a process of national wellbeing accounting
Paul Allin and David J. Hand, Imperial College London, UK
Discussion
• SNA should not be ‘producer-driven’ but ‘user-driven’ OK
• Address all the Stiglitz recommandations… OK
… but they cannot all fit into a united national well-being
account framework (and the Stiglitz report says so!)
• 1st part of the Stiglitz report :
– core SNA is ok (GDP is measuring what it should measure)
– more focus should be give to HH account
– DINA
– Take into account non-paid work (at least in additional tables)
This can be fully integrated in SNA (equivalent of option 2)
Note only DINA but also SAM : HH accounts by categories (gender,
age, socio-economic classification, types of families,
rural/urban…)
From a system of national accounts to a process of national wellbeing accounting
Paul Allin and David J. Hand, Imperial College London, UK
Discussion
• 2nd part of the Stiglitz report : Well-being in intrinsically
multidimensional
Material living standards
Education
Health
Personal activities including work
Political voice and governance
Social connections and relationships
Environment
Insecurity, an economic as well as a physical nature
+ Subjective well-being
 Develop satellite accounts on some (not all) of these
dimensions (eg health, material living standards…), that would
include both NA figures taken from SNA central framework and
other types of data (in particular HH and individual survey results,
presented by appropriate and internationally standardised
categories – the same categories to be chosen in SAM)
From a system of national accounts to a process of national wellbeing accounting
Paul Allin and David J. Hand, Imperial College London, UK
Discussion
• 3rd part of the Stiglitz report : sustainability
Dashboard of indicators, that could be interpretable as variations
of some underlying ‘stocks’
Monetary index of sustainability not a priority
Physical indicators for environmental pressures
eg Carbon footprint of input-output and supply-use tables can
be developed in coherence with the core SNA
To do so, a strong international statistical coordination and
cooperation is crucial: otherwise no carbon footprint of
imports/exports hence no carbon footprint of final demand
Introduction of Nature as a new ‘agent’ in SNA, with a capital
transfer from Nature to Economy in order to ‘re-balance’ the gap
between production (usual valuation) and consumption (new
valuation that includes hidden costs due to environment
depletion)
Accounting for Care: a Reseach and Survey Design Agenda, Nancy Folbre,
University of Massachussets, Amherst
Accounting for Care: A research and Survey Design Agenda
Nancy Folbre, University of Massachussetts, Amherst
Overview
• In the core SNA framework, unpaid activities
are hardly taken into the ‘production frontier’
• However, families make important
contributions to output
• Measurement and valuation of non-market
work
• Measurement and valuation of intra-family
transfers
Accounting for Care: A research and Survey Design Agenda
Nancy Folbre, University of Massachussetts, Amherst
Measurement and valuation of non-market work
• Long standing debates :
– Feminist activism 19th century, in UK and US: recognising the
economic value of women’s family work
– NBER 1921: 31% of GNI in 1909, 25% in 1918
– Nordhaus Tobin 1972 “is growth obsolete?”
Link between omission of non-market work and omissions of
other non-market processes such as natural ressource depletion
– Opportunity cost vs replacement costs
– Development of time use surveys
– Restriction of women’s employment: a guarantee for an
inexpensive albeit exploitative supply of family care?
– Equalizing effect on distribution of income and consumption in
level. And in evolution?
– Payoff to public investment underestimated if family care is not
factored in
Accounting for Care: A research and Survey Design Agenda
Nancy Folbre, University of Massachussetts, Amherst
Measurement and valuation of intra-family transfers
• The issue: taking into account transfers of resources other than time to
dependent family members
• Reluctance to view family as important site of production
• Non-market work does not provide merely satisfaction or utility for those
who perform it: it generates goods and services consumed by other family
members
• Married homemakers enjoy a share of their husband’s market income in
return for their work (no altruism)
• Income that women bring into the family more spent on children
• Income transfers from government to HH are excluded from GDP:
debatable ?
(payments for care services provided by the market enter GDP, even if
financed by government…)
Accounting for Care: A research and Survey Design Agenda
Nancy Folbre, University of Massachussetts, Amherst
Measurement of individual income
Yi = wmiMi + Ki +whiHi + Fi + Gi + Ei
wmi: market wage
Mi: market work
whi: shadow wage of non-market work
Hi: non-market work
Ki: personal capital income
Fi : net transfers from family members (direct and in-kind)
Gi : net transfers from government (direct and in-kind)
Ei: net transfers from unpriced environmental assets and services
‘Over time, increase in wmiMi + Ki partially countervailed by whiHi
and increase in Gi partially countervailed by Fi ‘
Accounting for Care: A research and Survey Design Agenda
Nancy Folbre, University of Massachussetts, Amherst
A Research and Survey Design Agenda
• Going from a measure of individual extended income to a measure of
extended output
Intra-family input-output tables ?
Production of human capital (ie capabilities)?
Tentative measurement of inputs into human capital ?
• Enhancing Time Use Surveys
Capturing supervisory care for children
Collect data for more than one person per HH
• Measuring intra-HH transfers
• Designing a single instrument assessing time use, HH assets, consumption
expenditures and government in-kind services
Respondents should be paid
• Difficulty of measurement no excuse : imputations on heroic assumptions
already in the core SNA framework !
Accounting for Care: A research and Survey Design Agenda
Nancy Folbre, University of Massachussetts, Amherst
Discussion
‘Intra-family transfers should be taken into account because they reveal ownaccount production’ Really ?
Can we take into account all intra-family transfers ?
If we really wanted to, then the statistical unit of interest in the HH sector should
not be HH, but individuals
Obstacles :
– some consumptions of goods or services cannot be easily attributed to a given
individual (rent, car, washing machine, internet access)
– some assets and liabilities can be detained by HH only, not individuals
Should we ?
‘Beckerian’ vision of family, where every decision is based on a purely individual
utilitarian vision
Married homemakers enjoy a share of their husband’s market income in return for
their work (no altruism) : really ?
No clear evidence in the French TUS that includes a module on decision-making within the
family
Symptomatic example : a unique survey covering time use, consumption, assets,
gov transfers in kind, that would anyhow be feasible : all is a matter of price !
Really, have you ever tried ?
Accounting for Care: A research and Survey Design Agenda
Nancy Folbre, University of Massachussetts, Amherst
Discussion
Increase in Gi partially countervailed by Fi
Let’s take the example of child/elder care
Today, in core accounts:
- no care production
- if government help: D7  increase of B6 and B8 for HH but no
increase of production
Alternative accounting:
- Care production for own account: P1 and P3 of HH (and within the
HH, an intra-family transfer in kind D7 = gift of love)
 increase of B6 and P3, neutral for B8
-If government helps: P31 for gov, no intra-family transfer in kind
anymore, no P3 of HH anymore, increase of B8
double increase of B7 and increase of P4 ? More preferable to
stick to D7
The unpaid activities and Well-Being: the measurement issues, Challenges
and Limitations
Harpreet Kaur and Anupama Uppal, Punjabi University
The unpaid activities and Well-Being: the measurement issues, Challenges and
Limitations
Harpreet Kaur and Anupama Uppal, Punjabi University
Overview
• In the core SNA framework, unpaid activities are hardly
included within the production boundary (exceptions :
goods produced for self-use and imputed rents)
• This leads to an underestimation of production, as
most of domestic work is not taken into account
• This problem is all the more important in developing
countries, such as India, where women participation to
the labour market remains quite low
• The paper delivers valuations of domestic activities, by
using a time use survey conducted in Punjab State. The
results are presented by gender, by location of
residence (rural vs urban) and by social group (general
categories vs marginalised sections)
The unpaid activities and Well-Being: the measurement issues, Challenges and
Limitations
Harpreet Kaur and Anupama Uppal, Punjabi University
Data base and methodology
• Labour force participation vs work force participation :
Survey on “employment and unemployment situation
in india 2011-2012
• Time Use Survey, selection of 3 districts of Punjab on
basis of agro-climatic conditions. 300 households
interviewed (multi stage random sampling with one
village and one city selected in each district)
• Value of extended SNA activities =
average time spent for activity X wage rate X nb of
persons
• Calculating a well-being index for men and women,
combining ranks for level of education attainment,
personal income and inverse of work intensity
The unpaid activities and Well-Being: the measurement issues, Challenges and
Limitations
Harpreet Kaur and Anupama Uppal, Punjabi University
Results
• Labour force participation vs work force participation
rural
urban
rural+urban
Female
Male
All
Female
Male
All
Female
Male
All
LFPR
24
77
51
17
76
48
21
76
50
LFPR
ext.
83
79
81
83
77
80
83
78
81
LFPR ext = LFPR + domestic duties (+ beggars etc.)
The global picture is totally different if domestic
activities are taken into account
The unpaid activities and Well-Being: the measurement issues, Challenges and
Limitations
Harpreet Kaur and Anupama Uppal, Punjabi University
Results
• Average time allocation in all activities
Rural
urban
rural+urban
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
LM
Work
6
24
17.5
33
10.5
29.5
HH
Work
35
2
27
2
32
2.5
Leisure
8
17
7.5
14
7.5
15
Pers.
Care +
Sleep
51
57
48
50
50
53
100
100
100
100
100
100
The unpaid activities and Well-Being: the measurement issues, Challenges and
Limitations
Harpreet Kaur and Anupama Uppal, Punjabi University
Results: distribution of domestic activities by women
The unpaid activities and Well-Being: the measurement issues, Challenges and
Limitations
Harpreet Kaur and Anupama Uppal, Punjabi University
Results
• Value of extended SNA activities by woman (ages 15-59 years) :
between 24% and 35% of SDP, depending upon the hypothesis
taken for level of wage
• Well-being index
Females
Males
rural
urban
rural
urban
general
Margina
-lised
all
general
Marginalised
all
general
Margina
-lised
all
general
Marginalised
all
WBI
0.46
0.27
0.36
0.46
0.18
0.41
0.50
0.35
0.41
0.51
0.47
0.49
educ
0.72
0.38
0.54
0.66
0.09
0.56
0.60
0.43
0.49
0.59
0.47
0.52
Income
0.36
0.15
0.24
0.55
0.32
0.51
0.41
0.24
0.30
0.57
0.40
0.49
0.31
0.28
0.29
0.17
0.12
0.16
0.51
0.37
0.42
0.36
0.53
0.45
1-work
intensity
The unpaid activities and Well-Being: the measurement issues, Challenges and Limitations
Harpreet Kaur and Anupama Uppal, Punjabi University
Discussion
• Very interesting paper, presenting empirical results
• 300 HH interviewed. Is it sufficient?
• Is imputed income generated by domestic work included in the
income dimension of the well-being index?
It would be interesting to compare the results under the
alternative hypothesis.
• Are individuals weighted in the well-being index calculations ?
• Taking into account domestic activities increases GDP by 25% to
33%.
This order of magnitude seems to be the same in a lot of studies,
conducted in OECD countries.