Transcript The statistical organization

Strengthening Statistics
Statistical organization
Principles and models
Part 1
Produced in Collaboration between World Bank Institute and
the Development Data Group (DECDG)
Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved.
Structure of the subject matter departments (1)
• The subject matter-part of the NSO can be organized in a variety of
ways:
• One is by source (business, household, institutions and public
sector), which has the merit of coinciding with the structure
suggested for the field organization
• An alternative is to organize the subject-matter area by user
constituency, which has the merit of coinciding with the structure
of that part of the agency responsible for such activities as
marketing and anticipating user needs
• The subject-matter part of the NSO can also be structured by
process; for example, it can be made up of one department that
specializes in surveys of business accounting records, and
another that deals with brief monthly surveys administered to
businesses and households alike
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Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved.
Structure of the subject matter departments (2)
• An alternative is to organize economic statistics by industry
• However, prices, exports of goods and services, investments,
employment, and research and development cut across industries
• Similar difficulties exist for social statistics. One might create
divisions based on the source of information (institutions concerned
with education, health and welfare), but within e.g. the category
‘health’ there is interest both in the activities of health care providers,
and in the outcomes of health care activities (patients as part of
households).
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Structure of the subject matter departments (3)
• If the focus is on emphasizing relevance, adaptability and
understanding of user needs, the most effective division of labor is
one in which the departments are defined by user constituency.
• In some cases there is hardly room for choice. When the information
source is unique (e.g., international trade in goods, usually largely
based on Customs’ information), little opportunity exists for
combining it with other matters .
• The solution is always a compromise between these principles.
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Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved.
Structure of the subject matter departments (4)
• In some countries research departments of central banks or
specialized departments in national ministries of finance compile the
national accounts
• Macroeconomic statistics have certain unique attributes:
• Macroeconomic statistics are not the result of direct
measurement; they are jointly derived from basic economic
statistics and public accounts
• Balancing supply and demand for each industry, required for the
estimation of total supply (GDP) will necessarily result in
differences and gaps. Review of these differences constitutes
essential feedback for the managers of basic economic
statistics.
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Structure of the subject matter departments (5)
• Whether or not the macroeconomic accounts department should
also be responsible for balance of payments depends on the
capacity of the statistical agency to access and interpret financial
transactions; in many cases the responsibility for the balance of
payments remains with the central bank
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Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved.
Statistical infrastructure/1
• The departments responsible for statistical infrastructure have three
main functions:
• Developing scientific methods and their application in the
measurement of variables of social and economic processes
• Drafting codes that ensure both internal consistency in the way
variables are defined and classified and a certain degree of intercountry comparability
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Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved.
Statistical infrastructure/2
• Creating and maintaining the databases required to sample
businesses, households, and physical facilities
• The department in charge of the development and application of
scientific methods also acts as the professional conscience of
the statistical system
• The department in charge of standards and classifications
should possess sufficient authority to set standards against
which there is limited appeal
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Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved.
Technical infrastructure/1
• Developments in technology have greatly expanded the capabilities
of a statistical agency in the following four areas:
• All staff members in many statistical offices now have access to
powerful, relatively inexpensive computer equipment
• User-friendly applications software has given staff members
control over a number of key statistical functions ranging from
questionnaire design to collection, editing, tabulating, mapping
and publishing
• Computer networking has facilitated internal access to data and
metadata through client/server environments
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Technical infrastructure/2
• Information technology has made access to external sources of
information feasible for staff members, thereby making it possible to
conduct research, gather general information and perform other
relevant tasks at all levels of an organization.
• As a result of these and related changes, new concerns have
emerged regarding the management of the information technology
environment
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Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved.
The analytical function/1
• The analytical function cuts across all areas of a statistical agency
• However, as the NSO bears a heavy operational burden, its staff
cannot engage in analysis all the time
• Therefore, part of the analytical function is often put in a separate
unit
• There are two major types of analytical activities to consider:
One (research) seeks to improve the efficiency of operations; to
refine the concepts underlying measurement activities; and to
innovate with methods that minimize error
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Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved.
The analytical function/2
• The other analytical activity seeks to make sense of the results
obtained; to place them in meaningful social or economic contexts;
to relate them to other events and processes; and generally to make
them more valuable to users
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Example of an organization model
• The previous slides dealt with organizational considerations
• The next slides present a simple model that could be applied to a
medium-sized or large NSO
• It is based on 5 organization tiers (Chief Statistician, Director,
Branch chief, Division chief, work floor)
• For larger offices, the model may have be slightly more complex
• Obviously, there are many possible alternatives
• Actual solutions may also depend on national conditions (e.g. does
the NSO take care of its own transportation, maintenance,
procurement, etc.)
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Main organization structure
CS Office
Chief Statistician
• Planning, incl. development of work programmes
• Quality Management
• Public and International Relations
• Secretariat of Advisory and Coordination Committees
• Legal Affairs
• Internal and External Coordination
Deputy Chief Statistician
• Replaces SG in his/her absence
•Assists SG in such specific areas as SG decides
Division for Economic and
Financial Statistics
Division for Demographic and
Social Statistics
Division for Statistical
and Technical Services
Division for Financial and
Human Resources Management
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Economic and Financial Statistics
Division Director
Macro-Economic Statistics branch
National Accounts
• Annual and quarterly accounts
• Financial accounts
• Government Finance Statistics
Price Statistics
• Consumer Price Index
• Producer Price Index
International Trade Statistics
• Commodity trade statistics
• Trade in services statistics
Production Statistics branch
Annual and short term
business collections, incl. agriculture
Agriculture, Fisheries,
Forestry, Environment
Manufacturing, Mining,
Construction, Utilities
Domestic trade, Services,
Transport, Communications,
Tourism
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Demographic and Social Statistics
Division Director
Population Statistics branch
Demography, vital statistics and census
Demographic Statistics
Social Statistics branch
Household sample surveys
• Public service provision statistics
Labour statistics
• Population statistics
• Population projections
Labor Force Survey
•Labour cost (establishment survey)
Vital and Migration Statistics
Living conditions statistics
•Births, deaths, marriages, divorces
•Domestic and international migration
Census
• Decennial census
• Inter-census surveys
HIES, DHS, LSMS, MICS
•Gender statistics
Service provision statistics
Health, education, crime, science,
culture etc.
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Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved.
Statistical and Technical Services
Division Director
Statistical Services branch
Methods and GIS
•Methodology, classifications, metadata
•Cartography
Technical Services
Branch
Equipment and transport
•Equipment, procurement, maintenance
•Transport, carpool
Registers
ICT
• Business register
•Other statistical registers
Software, Databases, Network,
& Website Management
Dissemination
Publications, website
•Library, documentation, archiving
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Financial and Human Resources
Management
Division Director
Financial
Management branch
Human
Resources Management branch
Planning, budgeting
and costing
Recruitment, Training
and HR development
Accounting
Administration and payroll
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Final considerations/1
• Regardless of its organization structure, the functions of a statistical
agency can be described under five comprehensive headings:
• Ascertaining user requirements and ensuring that they are met
• Ensuring that statistical information meets quality standards
• Determining, in conjunction with respondents, the least intrusive
and most convenient ways of gathering basic information
• Ensuring adaptability and uniformity of the products of the
statistical process
• Reviewing and learning from practices to ensure cost
effectiveness
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Final considerations/2
•
Corporate spirit and possibilities for personal development are as important
as organization
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