Challenges of Globalization in the Measurement of National Accounts

An essential collection at the intersection of globalization, production supply chains, corporate finance regulation, and economic measurement.

The substantial increase in the complexity of global supply chains and other production arrangements over the past three decades has challenged some traditional measures of national income account aggregates and raised the potential for distortions in conventional calculations of GDP and productivity. This volume examines a variety of multinational business activities and assesses their impact on economic measurement. Several chapters consider how global supply chains complicate the interpretation of traditional trade statistics and how new measurement techniques can provide information about global production arrangements. Other chapters examine the role of intangible capital in global production, including the output of factoryless goods producers and the problems of measuring R&D in a globalized world. The studies in this volume also explore potential ways to enhance the quality of the national accounts by improving data collection and analysis and by updating the standards for measurement.

Nadim Ahmad is deputy director at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities.

Brent R. Moulton is senior economist at the International Monetary Fund.

J. David Richardson is professor emeritus in the department of economics at Syracuse University and a research associate of the NBER.

Peter van de Ven is former head of national accounts at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Lead Editor of the 2008 System of National Accounts.