10
United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to Issues related to ISIC Rev.4 ISIC Rev.4

United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to ISIC Rev.4

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to ISIC Rev.4

United Nations Statistics Division

Issues related toIssues related toISIC Rev.4ISIC Rev.4

Page 2: United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to ISIC Rev.4

UNSD has been monitoring feedback on ISIC Rev.4 since its release in 2008 (a) identify any problems with the current

version, i.e. text, of the classification (b) identify issues that have arisen in the

implementation of the classification in different countries highlighting cases where the (generic) ISIC text

is difficult to apply to national specific cases indicating a need for revision of ISIC

Feedback was gathered through workshops, Hotline, website feedback

Page 3: United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to ISIC Rev.4

Issues that need to be addressed

1. Outsourcing (esp. FGPs) 2. On-line activities 3. "Retail sale of services" 4. Internet sales issues

Page 4: United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to ISIC Rev.4

1. Outsourcing Common theme in workshops Explanation of current rule with

examples is usually sufficient

New issues: First counter-proposal is from ECE Task

Force (May 2013) triggered by factoryless goods producers

Complete outsourcing in mining etc. Non-statistical applications (e.g.

licensing)

Page 5: United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to ISIC Rev.4

1a. Factoryless goods producers (FGPs) Company A:

designs a product holds copyrights Contracts actual manufacturing to

company B Oversees the manufacturing process, but

is not directly involved Has no production facilities

Is this still manufacturing?

Page 6: United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to ISIC Rev.4

1a. FGPs Current ISIC rule is based on

ownership of input materials New suggestion:

Use copyrights as criterion

Proposals range from “create new high-level categories” over “add low-level detail” and “redefine input materials” to “no change”

Page 7: United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to ISIC Rev.4

2. On-line activities Mostly received as Hotline questions, seeking

interpretation of activities with on-line presence Standard recommendation agreed by TSG:

Treat the same as non-Internet based equivalent

Problem: In some cases such equivalent is difficult to identify

Examples: Social media activities, like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr On-line dating sites, either general or for specific

segments of the population Photo-, music and other content-sharing websites Professional networks, like Linked In

Page 8: United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to ISIC Rev.4

3. "Retail sale of services" Conceptually, "retail sale of services" does not exist We treated similar arrangements before as "agents" for the

respective service industry and classified them with the service industry or in a special class (insurance agents, travel agents)

This works if a single service is being "sold" What to do if a large variety of services is involved?

Top-down would not be meaningful Placing in retail sale would be conceptually wrong Are they just handling payments?

Is there a solution that's consistent with old treatment?

Examples: Groupon, Sodexho

Page 9: United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to ISIC Rev.4

4. Internet sales issues Standard treatment for goods: ISIC 4791

(Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet)

Many sites have similar appearance, but their involvement in the sale may differ

Examples: Amazon vs. Google Shopping vs. Groupon vs.

Advertising placement

In addition, problems arise when goods and services get mixed

Page 10: United Nations Statistics Division Issues related to ISIC Rev.4

Next steps

Technical Subgroup has been created Online exchanges Meeting in October 2014 Consultation with National Accounts

(especially on FGPs)