The Meaning of Balance of Payments Statistics in an Interdependent World
November 1, 1994
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Summary
The relevance of the standard measures of international transactions in goods and services as reflected in the fifth edition of the IMF Balance of Payments Manual (BPM) and in the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA) has been questioned in several recent studies and articles. Alternative measures have been proposed, that either (i) substitute an ownership basis for transactions for the long-established residency basis; (ii) maintain the residency basis but combine net direct, investment income with goods and services; or question the validity of any measures in the form of net balances as a guide to policy. This paper affirms the central role of residency in the international accounts, discusses the supplementary value of alternative proposals, and notes the importance of international efforts to improve and refine the measurement of external transactions based on the principles of the BPM and SNA.
Subject: Balance of payments, Balance of payments statistics, Economic and financial statistics, Foreign direct investment, International trade, National accounts, Trade balance, Trade in goods
Keywords: Balance of payments statistics, earnings, enterprise, establishment data, establishment trade, foreign direct investment, Foreign direct investment, Global, goods, resident enterprise, Trade balance, trade data, Trade in goods, WP
Pages:
14
Volume:
1994
DOI:
Issue:
131
Series:
Working Paper No. 1994/131
Stock No:
WPIEA1311994
ISBN:
9781451933260
ISSN:
1018-5941
