Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Session 2 – Quality of the statsitical Business Registers

Claude Macchi, Federal Statistical Office FSO Group of Experts on Business Registers, Geneva, 03.09.2013

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

Summary

• The statistical Business Register at FSO • The codification of the economic activities “before” • The revision • The outcome

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 2

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 3

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 4

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

BUR – Business Register

• Operation of the register • Operation of the UID Register • Profiling • Multinational enterprises (link to the EGR) • Guarantee of the coordination for the sample draw • …

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 5

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

URD – Business Register Data

• Collection and transformation of administrative data (social security, VAT, customs data) • Survey of new ENT / Local units • Economic classifications (definition and quality check) • Production of the Structural and Demographic Business Statistics • Preparation of frames for the statistical production

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 6

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

General nomenclature of the economic activities – NOGA

• NOGA 2008 -> Swiss national version of the NACE Rev. 2 • Counts 794 positions at 5-digit level (NACE Rev. 2 counts 615 positions at its lowest level) • Split in national positions mainly in wholesale and retail trade, monetary intermediation and human health activities • http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/infothek/nomenklat uren/blank/blank/noga0/revision_noga_2007.html

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 7

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

The codification of the economic activities – “before” (1/2)

First codification of Local Units / ENT • If registered in the Register of Commerce, a unit receives a provisional NOGA code given by a private FSO partner  This code becomes final within the scope of the ERST survey • For other sources (administrative data, other registers, cantons…), provisional codifications are done by BUR and confirmed / actualised by the ERST survey

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 8

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

The codification of the economic activities – “before” (2/2)

Update of the codification of Local Units / Enterprise • National census of enterprises ( …, 2001, 2005, 2008) • Profiling • Some units inform the Register of Commerce themselves of changes of their activity -> same procedure as new units • Input to FSO directly from the units themselves

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 9

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

What about the quality of the codification of units in BUR?

• Monthly samples of 500 units between July 2009 and August 2010 (based on a total population of 640’000 local units, which corresponds to 557’500 ENT) • At NOGA 2-digit level: 3% error (precision +/- 1%), at NOGA 5-digit level: 6% error (precision +/- 2%) • In comparison, in the census of the enterprises, the error rate was around 15%

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 10

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

A revision of the codification system?

• Change to an administrative data based Structural and Demographic Business Statistic • Reduction of the administrative burden for businesses • Regular update of the activity codes • Increase of the quality level of the codification (reach 99% of correct codes for the 2-digit level and 97% at the 5-digit level) • Professionalise the codification activities

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 11

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

The new codification system – first codification

Provisional codification of new Local Units / Enterprises • If registered in the Register of Commerce, a unit gets a provisional NOGA code given by a private FSO partner • For other sources (administrative data, other registers, cantons…), provisional codifications are done by BUR people Final codification of new Local Units / Enterprises • This code becomes final within the scope of the ERST survey (max. 6 months after the provisional codification)

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 12

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

Update of the codification

Use of existing sources • Profiling -> 30’000 ENT with more than one Local Unit are surveyed once or 4 times per year • Specific statistical surveys (census of the agricultural ENT structure, hospital statistic, pension fund statistic, bank sector statistics) • Branch registers (e.g. Swiss Medical Professions register, Cantonal Lawyer and Notary Registers) • Sample surveys (additional questions on activity)

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 13

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

.. and the rest ?

Summary of the update using existing sources: Total ENT BUR Profiling Specific statistical surveys and branch registers ERST and Register of Commerce Sample surveys Remaining Enterprises 546’928 31’452 131’473 Rate % 100 5.75

24.04

23’909 6’980 353’114 4.37

1.28

64.56

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 14

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

And the codification of the “rest”?

Basic concept: • the bigger the ENT the more frequent the check of the activity code • each ENT is checked at least once every 5 years -> 40’000 ENT/year have to be checked

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 15

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

1 2 3 4

5

The codification of the “rest”

Category Employees ENT > 100 10-99 3-9 1-2

No info or 0

4’964 50’937 148’378 216’099

126’550

3 4 5 Max. age code <1 Average age code / ENT <1

-

1.1

1.6

2.1

“Rest”-> 353’114 one unit ENT

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 16

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

Check of one unit ENT

Quarterly sample of 10’000 ENT which have not been updated through other channels If the ENT has an internet site -> codification If no internet site is available -> NOGA QS survey

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 17

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

The NOGA QS survey

• Started in October 2012 • Based on a quarterly sample of 10’000 ENT • A questionnaire is sent to the ENT – online reply possible • Four questions (description of the economic activity, beginning of the activity, existence of other units, internet address) • The description of the activity is stored electronically and printed in the following questionnaire of the same ENT

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 18

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

To optimise the system

• Maximise the use of internet for the codification • Increase the cooperation with branch registers • Definition of “stable” activities • Electronic coding support (on-line explanatory notes, indexes, full text search) -> www.kubb.bfs.admin.ch

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 19

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

Cooperation with information sellers

• Cooperation since January 2013 with economic information sellers (actually three partners) • Each of them is going to check the code of +/- 60’000 / year one unit ENT which are in the register of commerce. People are trained by FSO experts • In return FSO sends them regular updates of the economic activity code of all ENT registered in the register of commerce • This cooperation should exempt 80% of all one unit ENT registered in the register of commerce from additional surveys to check the activity code.

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 20

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO

Where are we?

• The project is still in a implementation phase • A first check of the quality of codification started in June 2013 (like in 2009-2010, monthly samples of 500 units) – first results end of 2013.

• Problems in the cooperation with the information sellers (the quality of the codification is at the moment still poor, big efforts are asked from the FSO side: training, control of the codification • The NOGA QS survey is an additional burden for businesses-> integration with the ERST survey?

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 21

Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Statistical Office FSO Many thanks for your attention!

The revision of the codification of the economic activities in the Swiss Business Register

Claude Macchi , Federal Statistical Office FSO 22