Development Account Project on the IS:implementation of the ‘1-2 Survey’
in the ESCWA region
Giovanni Savio, Statistics Division, UN-ESCWA
Expert Group Meeting on National AccountsCairo, 12 – 14 May 2009
Scheme of presentation
1. General overview
2. Project on “Interregional Cooperation on the Measurement of Informal Sector and Informal Employment”
3. Activities carried out in Pilot Countries
4. Outcomes, lessons learned and future steps
UN Regional Commissions
Budget of RCs from the following sources1. Regular Budget2. Regular Program for Technical Cooperation3. Extra Budget (i.e. DA Projects)
DA projects aim at capacity-building through sub-regional, regional and inter-regional Technical Cooperation for developing countries
Implemented as individual projects aimed at achieving distinct development impacts
Budgetary Issues
Overall Budget: $ 800,000 Duration: 4 years, 2006 - 2009 Implementing agencies: ECLAC, ESCAP
(leading agency), ESCWA ESCWA budget: $ 179,000 Steering Committee: UNSD, Regional
Commissions, ILO and Delhi Group
Project Facts
Project Countries
ESCAP
ESCWA
ECLAC
Informal sector (employment & contribution to GDP) mostly not covered in official statistics
Consequence: lack of exhaustivity Data collection typically based on ad hoc
studies (i.e. not part of regular collection system) and with limited scope/coverage
Data collected not internationally comparable Consequence: lack of coherency over time and
across areas Finally, poor analysis and dissemination
Reasons for DA Project
REGIONContributions of informal sector as %
of non-agricultural …
Employment GDPNorthern Africa 48 27
Sub-Saharan Africa 72 41
Latin America 51 29
Asia 65 31
Source: ILO (2002), Women and Men in the Informal Sector: A Statistical Picture
Reasons for DA Project
Reasons for DA Project
Informal Sector (Production)Informal Sector (Production)• Significant underestimation of GDP Significant underestimation of GDP • Lack of info on characteristics of Lack of info on characteristics of informal sector enterprises, use of informal sector enterprises, use of technology, access to credit, training, technology, access to credit, training, markets, etc.markets, etc.• Lack of info on input-output relations Lack of info on input-output relations between formal and informal sector between formal and informal sector enterprisesenterprises
Informal Sector (Employment)Informal Sector (Employment)• Implausibly low labor participation rates, Implausibly low labor participation rates, especially for women especially for women • Lack of info on differentials in earnings Lack of info on differentials in earnings and working conditions between and working conditions between formal/informal employment (poverty)formal/informal employment (poverty)• Lack of info on different social protection Lack of info on different social protection arrangements covering formal/informal arrangements covering formal/informal employmentemployment
Weaken the formulation, implementation and evaluation of
policies and programmes aimed at promoting gender equality,
eliminating child labour, generating decent work for all and
reducing poverty
Overall Goal
Improve the availability of informal sector and informal
employment data
1. Raise awareness among stakeholders (NSOs, the Governments etc.) of developing countries on importance of collecting and disseminating data on informal sector
2. Improve technical capacity of NSOs to collect, compile, analyze and disseminate data on informal economy in line with international methods and standards
A. AdvocacyB. Capacity
building C. Data collection
D. Data analysis & Dissemination
E. Knowledge management
Objectives and Instruments
Partnership approach (RCs and other entities), and …
… integration as far as concerns: Scope, coverage, definitions etc. Activities carried out
However, adaptation of activities to the level of development of the NSSs
Coordination with national and global statistics initiatives
Consistency with international standards (e.g. 2008 SNA, Delhi Group, ILO etc.)
Strategy of the Project
Raise awareness in stakeholders (concern on funding and sustainability of the approach for the future)
Data on informal employment and informal sector GDP
Country reports on: “1-2 Survey” methodology and its implementation “1-2 Survey” data analysis
Dissemination
Expected Outcomes
Sketch of Approach
1. Household Sector
2. Unincorporated enterprises owned by households
3.a Own-account enterprises3.b Enterprises of employers
4. Informal sectorenterprises
1. Size2. Registration3. Others
Unifying definition of the IS (XV ICLS Res.)
Sketch of Approach
Informal own-accountenterprises
Other enterprises ofemployers
Other own-accountenterprises
Enterprises of informal employers
Own-accountenterprises
Enterprises ofemployers
Informal sectorCriteria: size, registration,
others
(1)
(2)
Unifying definition of the IS (XV ICLS Res.)
Concretely, how to go from step 3 to 4? Problems undermining comparability and coherence
of IS estimates, for example: Registration requirements change over time, across
countries and often registration is made with more entities In some countries all units should be registered with tax
authorities Registration criterion reduces response rate and quality Registration of enterprise vs employees Cut-off size of employees may change over time, across
countries (i.e. different levels of technology), may refer to empl. on continuous basis or total empl. or empl. observed in the reference period, and may depend on legislation and statistical considerations
Sketch of Approach
Main dilemma: trade-off between flexibility and comparability
The flexibility in delineating the IS according to ICLS Resolution hampers comparability of outcomes across countries and over time. However, flexibility in the adaptation of the criteria is an important characteristic
Main features of the Unified Data Collection Strategy for the Informal Sector (UDCS-IS) Expanded scope of data collection, and flexibility ex-
post non ex-ante (comparative analysis on criteria) Coherency with international recommendations Comprehensiveness (all areas, activities etc.)
Sketch of Approach
Sketch of Approach
Household Enterprises
Producing at least some goods & services
for market
Producing goods & services only for own final use
Non-agricultural Agricultural Goods Services
Formal sector
Informal sector
Formal sector
Informal sector
Agriculture, forestry, fishing
Paid domestic services
Other activities Owner occupied dwelling services
HUEMs, starting point for Phase 2 data collection. Blue area, after (3) screening criteria applied in the LFS
HUEM1: Legal organization Production units that are not constituted as separate
legal entities independently of their owners
HUEM2: Book-keeping or accounting practice Production units that do not keep a complete set of
accounts
HUEM3: Product destination At least some of the products are sold/bartered in the
market
Sketch of Approach
Data colleted through variant of mixed household-enterprise survey called ‘1-2 Survey’
First phase: Household Survey, on which the sampling frame for the second phase is made Possibly build upon existing surveys with small
changes, preferably LFS (extended)
Second phase: Enterprise Survey Designed as a household-enterprise independent
module based on outcomes of the extended LFS
Sketch of Approach
Sketch of Approach
Participation in the ESCAP Workshop on Informal Employment and Informal Sector Data Collection: Strategy, Tools and Advocacy, Bangkok, September 2007
ESCWA Workshop on Informal Employment and Informal Sector Data Collection: Strategy, Tools and Advocacy for PCBS staff, with participation of Jordan DoS, Amman, April 2008
Signature of ESCWA-PCBS LoA to participate in the DA Project as Pilot Country, June 2008
Activities Completed
August 2008: Pilot “1-2 Survey” carried out by PCBS in West Bank
September 2008: ESCWA Advisory mission to study results of the Pilot Survey
September 2008: Preparation for the Survey (training)
October 2008 - March 2009: Conduct of the “1-2 Survey” in West Bank and Gaza Strip
Activities Completed
Quarterly LFS carried out by PCBS since 1995 Last survey samples based on 1997 Census
updated in 2003 About 7,500 households interviewed each
quarter, questionnaires completed about 6,000 each quarter
“1-2 Survey”: Carried out during Q4, 4 October – 31 December 2008 on 11,338 households (7,644 in West Bank, 3,694 in
Gaza Strip)
PCBS LFS and ‘1-2 Survey’
Due to war, only 70% of Gaza sample was interviewed (2,553 over 3,694)
Phase 2, before war: 735 HUEMs found in West Bank, 163 in Gaza Strip interviewed
Second Round, after war: Completed collection for Gaza Strip, extended the sample in the same region to Q1 2009
Final results expected by mid-April 2009 Second advisory mission of ESCWA to PCBS:
end of April 2009 to analyze results
PCBS LFS and ‘1-2 Survey’
Activities PlannedESCWA Timeline of Activities (Revised January 2009)
Quarter Year Responsible
Advocacy/Dissemination Workshops
1 Customize workshop design and produce materials Q3 2009
ESCWA - PCBS2 Conduct of advocacy/dissemination workshop in country Q4 2009
3 Preparation and submission of reports on workshop Q4 2009
Data Collection
1 Data collection in Palestine Q4 2008 - Q1 2009 PCBS
2 Prepare and submit final reports on data collection Q2 2009 PCBS
Data Editing, Analysis and Dissemination
1 Data checking and editing, preparation of dataset for analysis Q1 2009
ESCWA - PCBS
2 Preparation of tables Q2 2009
3Generation of estimates of informal employment and employment in the
IS and national accounts and related country reports Q3 2009
4 Country report on analysis of 1-2 Survey data for dissemination Q3 2009
5 Development of country database Q3 2009
Training Workshops
I. Workshops for project country All RCs and PCBS1 Interregional Workshop for Sharing Results and Project Evaluation Q3 2009
II. Workshops for project country and other countries in the region ESCWA, PCBS
and other1
Regional Workshop on the Measurement of the Informal Sector and Informal Employment Q2 2009
Knowledge Management
1 Prepare country report Q4 2009 ESCWA - PCBS
Consistency with international recommendations Great flexibility and adaptability Ex-post analysis and identification of IS Expanded scope Easy applicability, reduced costs for collecting
information Information gathered possibly for use in various
socio-economic studies and analyses Reliability of final results Ambition: extend application to other countries in
the region
Lessons learned (so far)