Papers
This page provides access to papers and presentations prepared by BEA staff. Abstracts are presented in HTML format; complete papers are in PDF format with selected tables in XLS format. The views expressed in these papers are solely those of the authors and not necessarily those of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis or the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Supplemental Poverty Measure: A Comparison of Geographic Adjustments with Regional Price Parities vs. Median Rents from the American Community Survey
One of the innovations of the Supplemental Poverty Measure is to make adjustments in the official poverty threshold to account for geographic price level differences, particularly for differences in the cost of shelter as measured by rents. A more recent initiative is to estimate thresholds that… Read more
Domestic Trade in Services in Regional Input-Output Models
Lack of statistical data on interregional trade in services often leads regional input-output (I-O) models to rely on assumptions about the degree to which services are imported from other regions. One advantage of using an I-O model is that it provides the flexibility to tailor the basic model… Read more
University Contribution Studies Using Input-Output Analysis
Many universities report results based on input-output (I-O) analysis to promote the contribution that they make to a regional economy. How these results are obtained is not always clear. Nor are they always based on best practices. This paper presents best practices when using a regional I-O… Read more
State and Local Government Defined Benefit Pension Plans: Estimates of Liabilities and Employer Normal Costs by State, 2000-2011
In the 2013 comprehensive revision of the National Income and Product Accounts, BEA introduced a new accrual treatment of defined benefit pension plans based on actuarial estimates of liabilities and normal costs. Accrual accounting is the preferred method for compiling national accounts because… Read more
Calculating Disease-Based Medical Care Expenditure Indexes for Medicare Beneficiaries: A Comparison of Method and Data Choices
Disease-based medical care expenditure indexes are currently of interest to measurement economists and have been the subject of several recent papers. These papers, however, produced widely different results for medical care inflation and also varied in the datasets and methods used, making… Read more
Accounting for Intellectual Property Products: International Guidelines for National Economic Accounting and U.S. Rules for Financial Accounting
The international guidelines for national economic accounting recommend capitalizing expenditures related to intellectual property products (IPPs) in some cases where U.S. rules for financial accounting require immediate expensing of the same expenditures. This paper outlines the international… Read more
Recent Research on Disease-Based Price Indexes: Where Do We Stand?
Copyright-Protected Assets in the National Accounts
In 2007, we estimate that US businesses and governments invested $278 billion in software and US artists produced $71 billion worth of long-lived entertainment originals. These copyrighted materials will yield useful services for years to come. Because of their long working life, the… Read more
Miscellaneous Artwork as Capital Assets
In 2007, I estimate that playwrights, artists, photographers and designers created miscellaneous artwork worth $3.3 billion. By category, theatrical play scripts were $1.4 billion, greeting card designs were $0.5 billion and commercial stock photography was $1.4 billion. Taken individually, each… Read more
Theatrical Movies As Capital Assets
In 2007, I estimate that studios spent $20.0 billion producing original theatrical movies. These movies were shown in theaters in 2008 and will be sold on DVD and broadcast on television for decades to come. Because of their long working life, the international guidelines for national accounts… Read more