15 Oct 2010

With the recent report of the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission, the discussion on going beyond GDP as a measure of development has regained momentum. The Canberra Group Handbook on Household Income Statistics, which is being revised by a UNECE Task Force, addresses issues related to valuating income from household production of goods and services that are not sold or bartered on the market.

In an effort to collect information on the main data sources and definitions of household income, the Task Force conducted a survey across Conference of the European Statisticians (CES) member countries in early 2010. According to the results, information on the net value of goods produced for own consumption and of services from owner-occupied dwellings is collected by half of the 46 respondents. Most countries obtain the latter by imputing a value for such services at the household level. On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of respondents do not have information on income from home produced services and on the net value of services from other consumer durables. These figures essentially portray the scarcity of data that can be used for valuating household services produced for own final use.

The updated Canberra Group Handbook discusses the methodological possibilities and some case studies regarding the valuation of own-account produced services. However before clear practical guidelines can be provided, the international statistical community has to agree on a shared understanding of definitions and methods in this area

Source:  UNECE Task Force Questionnaire, 2010