## Revisions Policy for Official Statistics: A Matter of Governance

_IMF Working Papers, May 1, 2004_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Carol S Carson, Sarmad Khawaja, Thomas K. Morrison
- Published: May 1, 2004
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451851052.001

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### Overview
- Title: Revisions Policy for Official Statistics: A Matter of Governance
- Authors: Carol S Carson, Sarmad Khawaja, Thomas K. Morrison
- Date: May 1, 2004
- Core proposition: Revisions are a routine part of disseminating quality macroeconomic data and national statistical agencies should have explicit revisions policies.
- Rationale: Revisions arise not only to correct errors but also to incorporate better source data, update base periods, and make other improvements.
- Evidence base: Country examples and views from policymakers and other users are used to support the argument for explicit revisions policies.

### Key findings
- Revisions are routine and integral to maintaining data quality.
- Revisions occur for multiple reasons:
  - To correct errors.
  - To incorporate better source data.
  - To update base periods.
  - To implement other methodological or data-source improvements.
- Users (including policymakers) benefit from transparency and predictability in revision practices.
- The paper presents good practices for the revision of macroeconomic data.

### Policy recommendations (implied good practices)
- National statistical agencies should adopt explicit revisions policies.
- Revisions policies should address:
  - The types of revisions that will occur (error corrections, source-data updates, base-period updates, methodological improvements).
  - Communication and transparency to data users and policymakers about revisions.
  - Procedures to ensure reproducibility and accountability in revision processes.

### Subject coverage and keywords
- Subject: Balance of payments statistics, Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF), Government finance statistics, Labor, National accounts
- Keywords: current account, data user, revised data, revisions policy, WP

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2016/12/30/revisions-policy-for-official-statistics-a-matter-of-governance-17379_