Federal Register Comments received regarding the 2017 Economic Census

Attachment I
Department of Commerce
United States Census Bureau
OMB Information Collection Request
2017 Economic Census
OMB Control Number 0607-XXXX
Federal Register Comments Received Regarding the 2017 Economic Census Federal Register
Notice

From: Bailey, Keith 
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2015 4:55 PM
To: EWD EC FRN17 (CENSUS/ OTHER)
Cc: Bailey, Keith
Subject: 2017 Economic Census
Pennsylvania’s Center for Workforce Information & Analysis offers the comments below for
consideration regarding the Census’ 2017 Economic Census. Please contact me with any questions or
need for clarification.
Regards,
Keith
Specific comment:
• In the section on Employment and Payroll (Section 7) add the following after the question
on number of employees but before payroll: Of that number, how many were part-time
(This may refer to the entire year or the first quarter depending on industry).
• Also of interest in this section would be the following: Number of employees earning at or
below the minimum wage (survey specifies). (Ideally this would be asked for total
employment and part-time employment separately).
General comments:
• Any information about what companies pay out in subcontracting work or contracting in
general would be very useful. With so many companies contracting work out that used to
be done by in house employees, it would be valuable to get some information on this
process, associated costs, as well as the number of jobs and workers it impacts.
• Some of the industry sectors include personnel breakouts by occupation, but not all of
them. It would be great if we could get that information for all of them. It’s noticeably
absent from Goods Producing industries.
• It would be interesting to know how long the company has been in business, not just how
long they have been in business in that year.
• Collect worker demographics.
• Compile a list of different certifications that companies require would be valuable.
• Solicit current vacancies.
• Request expenditures on training.
Keith A Bailey | Director
Center for Workforce Information & Analysis
PA Department of Labor & Industry
651 Boas Street | Room 220 | Harrisburg, PA 17121
Phone: 717.787.3266 | Fax: 717.772.2168
www.paworkstats.pa.gov

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC POLICY

October 4, 2015
Kevin Deardorff, Chief
Economy Wide Statistics Division
U.S. Census Bureau, Room 8K154
Washington, DC 20233
Via: ec.frn17@census.gov
Re: 2017 Economic Census
Dear Mr. Deardorff,
I am pleased to respond to the Federal Register notice of August 4, 2015 concerning the Census
Bureau’s request for comments on the design of the 2017 Economic Census. As a research
professor at the George Washington Institute of Public Policy, I focus on federal policies that
promote U.S. economic competitiveness. From this perspective, I find that the 2017 Economic
Census is highly important to the nation’s economic health because it is the basis for multiple
national economic series, models, and indicators that guide federal policy and corporate
investment decisions.
One potential important use for the 2017 Economic Census is in supporting emerging federal
efforts to describe global value chains (GVCs) and measure international trade in value-added
(TiVA). Gaining the capacity to map the place of U.S.-based establishments in GVCs, by nation of
ownership, and measure the contributions of foreign direct investment to U.S. TiVA is highly
attractive. Such capacity will enable federal and state governments to design more effective
business attraction efforts and business development strategies and multi-national firms to
make U.S. and foreign investments that have a higher likelihood of success.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the U.S. International Trade Commission
(USITC) are representing the United States in a series of multi-national efforts to create and
implement a framework and methods for mapping GVCs and measuring TiVA. These efforts are
hosted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United
Nations (UN) Statistical Commission, the UN Economic Commission for Europe, and Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC). I summarize the various efforts in the appendix to this letter.
I believe it is important to ensure that the 2017 Economic Census supports the emerging GVC
and TiVA measurement initiatives. Consequently, I ask that the Census Bureau’s Economy Wide
Statistics Division consult with the BEA and USITC liaisons to these efforts, as well as with
former BEA Director Steve Landefeld (now consultant to the UN Statistical Commission),
regarding how Economic Census questions 5, 17, 22, and 26 might be designed to support and
align with GVC and TiVA measurement efforts. (These questions concern the buying and selling
of goods and services to domestic and foreign suppliers and customers.)
805 21ST STREET, NW
MEDIA AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS BUILDING, SIXTH FLOOR
WASHINGTON, DC 20052
202-994-0970
FAX 202-994-8913 WEB www.gwu.edu/~gwipp

I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the 2017 Economic Census, hope that my
suggestion is useful, and look forward to seeing the Census Bureau’s survey design decisions.
Sincerely,

Andrew Reamer
Research Professor

2

Multi-national Organization Efforts to Measure GVCs, TiVA, and Trade in Services
and U.S. Points of Contact
Efforts to Measure GVCs, TiVA, and Trade in Services

 OECD-World Trade Organization (WTO):
•
•

Provides current TiVA estimates by nation -- this is the database that all efforts
are seeking to improve
Is enhancing these estimates through work of an expert group creating
"extended national supply-use tables" with TiVA characteristics

 Trade Statistics Branch, United Nations Statistical Division-•

As directed in March 2015 by the UN Statistical Commission (pp. 20-22),
overseeing implementation of December 2014 report of the Friends of the Chair
on the Measurement of International Trade and Economic Globalization (FOC).
Key tasks:
o Draft a handbook on a system of extended international and global accounts
as the measurement framework for international trade and economic
globalization
o Establish an expert group tasked with the development of the handbook on a
system of extended international and global accounts—the U.S. is part of this
group
o Implement a program of work for the measurement of international trade
and globalization, namely:
 Promoting and advancing the creation of a global enterprise group
register, building on and taking into account lessons learned from the
ongoing EuroGroups Register project;
 Improving the measurement of firm heterogeneity based on alternative
aggregations of microdata and by further developing a classification of
business functions, while cautioning against any change in the
International Standard Industrial Classification;
 Addressing asymmetries in bilateral trade and foreign direct investment
while building on work already undertaken in several countries and
coordinating this effort with work already being done by the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development;
 Mainstreaming the development of recurrent global supply-use and
input-output tables as undertaken by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development in collaboration with other regional and
international organizations, with the aim of increasing the coverage of
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-World
Trade Organization database on trade in value-added
3

 Conference of European Statisticians (CES), UN Economic Commission for Europe

(UNECE)
• Commissioned the Guide to Measuring Global Production, prepared by the Task
Force on Global Production in March 2015:
o "Global production has evolved and now encompasses a broad range of
business arrangements and organizational forms. Today, multinational
enterprises (MNE) account for a large share of international trade between
countries. National Statistical Institutes (NSI) need to keep track of the
changing forms of global production and their effects on international trade
relationships. It is important to identify best practices developed by countries
and agree internationally on the practical guidelines needed to foster
international comparability."
• Issued a report of its June 2015 meeting that "affirmed" the Guide, encouraged
its use by nations, "supported the research agenda," and "agreed that the Guide
would be updated once the above further work has been completed and in light
of the practical evidence collected by that time."
• In July 2015, the UNECE Group of Experts on National Accounts held a meeting
on Measuring Global Production
o "In April 2014, the CES . . . decided to create a forum for exchanging
experience on data collection and compilation methods in respect to global
production arrangements. The CES asked UNECE and the Group of Experts on
National Accounts to provide such a forum. The collected country examples
and good practices will be used for future updates of the Guide to Measuring
Global Production."

 Technical Group on Measurement of APEC Trade in Value added (TiVA) under Global

Value Chains, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
• At the APEC meeting in the Philippines, May 2015, the ministers issued a joint
statement:
o "We welcome the first meeting of the Technical Group on Measurement of
APEC Trade in Value added (TiVA) under Global Value Chains and progress in
completing the construction of the APEC TiVA Database by 2018. We
endorse the Terms of Reference on the Operational Mechanism and work
plan of the Technical Group. We urge officials and experts to collaborate with
international organizations and institutions to enhance synergies in policy
making, technical assistance and capacity-building."
• Prepared "Draft Terms of Reference on the Operational Mechanism of the
Technical Group on Measurement of APEC TiVA under GVCs."

4

U.S. Points of Contact
At BEA, Erich Strassner (Erich.Strassner@bea.gov, 202–606–9539) and Raymond Mataloni
(Raymond.Mataloni@bea.gov, 202-606-9867) serve as U.S. liaisons to the OECD, UN, and
UNECE efforts.
The USITC is the U.S. liaison to the APEC TiVA technical committee, which is co-chaired by
the U.S. and China. The U.S. co-chair is Bill Powers, Acting Chief, Economic Research
(william.powers@usitc.gov, 202-205-3216). Dr. Powers can provide the technical
committee’s terms of reference and work plan.
For the UN Statistical Division, Steven Landefeld, former BEA director, is overseeing the
development of the handbook on a system of extended international and global accounts called
for by the FOC report. At the July UNECE meeting, he gave an overview of forthcoming work.

5