Glossary

Commodity flow method

Method used to estimate purchases of a commodity by intermediate or final users. The method generally begins with an estimate of the total supply of a commodity available for domestic uses; it then either attributes a fixed percentage of supply to an intermediate or final use, or it adjusts for intermediate purchases and attributes the residual to final uses.

Compensation of employees (paid)

Income accruing to employees as remuneration for their work for domestic production. It is the sum of wage and salary accruals and of supplements to wages and salaries. It includes compensation paid to the rest of the world and excludes compensation received from the rest of the world.

Compensation of employees (received)

Wage and salary disbursements and supplements to wages and salaries received by U.S. residents, including wages and salaries received from the rest of the world.

Consumption of fixed capital (CFC)

The charge for the using up of private and government fixed capital located in the United States. It is the decline in the value of the stock of fixed assets due to wear and tear, obsolescence, accidental damage, and aging. For general government and for nonprofit institutions that primarily serve individuals, CFC serves as a measure of the value of the current services of the fixed assets owned and used by these entities.

Contribution for government social insurance

Employer contributions for government social insurance as well as payments by employees, the self-employed, and other individuals who participate in government social insurance programs.

Corporate profits with IVA and CCAdj

This measure–profits from current production–is the income that arises from current production, measured before income taxes, of organizations treated as corporations in the national income and product accounts (NIPAS). With several differences, this income is measured as receipts less expenses as defined in Federal tax law. Among these differences are: Receipts exclude capital gains and dividends received; expenses exclude bad debt, depletion, and capital losses; inventory withdrawals are valued at current cost; and depreciation is on a consistent accounting basis and valued at current replacement cost.

Cross-border trade in services

Transactions in services between the residents of one country and the residents of another country. From the U.S. viewpoint, it consists of exports and imports of services between U.S. residents and foreign residents. It includes both trade within multinational companies (intra-firm trade in services) and trade between unaffiliated parties. It is one of two channels of delivery of services in international markets; the other is sales of services through foreign affiliates of multinational companies.

Current account (international)

Record of transactions in goods, services, income, and unilateral current transfers between residents and nonresidents.

Current surplus of government enterprises

The current operating revenue and subsidies received by government enterprises from other levels of government less the current expenses of government enterprises.

Current tax receipts

Tax revenues received by government from all sources. It is the sum of personal current taxes, taxes on production and imports, taxes on corporate income, and taxes from the rest of the world.

Current taxes and transfer payments to the rest of the world

Payments consisting of business current transfer payments to the rest of the world (net), plus nonresident taxes paid by domestic corporations to foreign governments.

Current transfer receipts

Government net transfer receipts from businesses and from persons. These receipts largely consist of deposit insurance premiums, net insurance settlements, donations, fines, fees, certain penalty taxes, and excise taxes paid by nonprofit institutions serving households.

Current-dollar estimate

The market value of an item. It reflects prices and quantities of the period being measured.

Direct investment

Investment in which a resident of one country obtains a lasting interest in, and a degree of influence over, the management of a business enterprise in another country. In the United States, the criterion used to distinguish direct investment from other types of investment is ownership of at least 10 percent of the voting securities of an incorporated business enterprise or an equivalent ownership interest of an unincorporated business enterprise.

Direct investment capital flows

Funds that parent companies provide to their affiliates net of funds that affiliates provide to their parents. For U.S. direct investment abroad, capital flows also include funds that U.S. direct investors pay to unaffiliated foreign residents when foreign affiliates are acquired and funds that U.S. investors receive from them when foreign affiliates are sold. Similarly, for foreign direct investment in the United States, capital flows include funds that foreign direct investors pay to unaffiliated U.S. residents when U.S. affiliates are acquired and funds that foreign direct investors receive from them when U.S. affiliates are sold. Foreign direct investment in the United States capital flows also include debt and equity transactions between U.S. affiliates and members of their foreign parent groups other than their foreign parents. Direct investment capital flows consist of equity capital flows, intercompany debt, and reinvested earnings. Direct investment capital flows are components of the financial account (international).

Direct investment income

Return that direct investors receive on their investment in affiliates abroad. It consists of the direct investors' share in the earnings of the affiliates, plus net interest on intercompany debt.

Direct investment position

The value of direct investors' equity in, and net outstanding loans to, their affiliates. The position may be viewed as the direct investors' net financial claims on their affiliates, whether in the form of equity (including retained earnings) or debt.

Direct investment position at current cost

A measure of the value of direct investors' equity in, and net outstanding loans to, their affiliates in which the equity portion of the position is valued based on the current cost of plant and equipment, land, and inventories. This measure values the direct investors' shares of the affiliates' investment in plant and equipment, using the current cost of capital equipment; in land, using general price indexes; and in inventories, using estimates of their replacement cost.

Direct investment position at historical cost

A measure of the value of direct investors' equity in, and net outstanding loans to, their affiliates in which the direct investors' investment is valued at book value. It largely reflects prices at the time of the investment rather than prices of the current period and is not ordinarily adjusted to reflect the changes in the current costs or the replacement costs of tangible assets or in stock market valuations of firms.

Direct investment position at market value

A measure of the value of direct investors' equity in, and net outstanding loans to, their affiliates, in which the equity portion of the position is valued at current stock market prices. This measure revalues direct investors' equity based on indexes of stock market prices.

Direct requirements table

A table in the input-output (I-O) accounts that shows the input of commodities that an industry requires to produce a dollar of output. It also shows the value-added components that an industry requires to produce a dollar of output. The input coefficients are referred to as direct-requirements coefficients.

Directly estimated method

Procedure for estimating Federal government purchases based on data from the budget and from the Monthly Treasury Statement.