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.
Balancing the GDP Account
Expansion Strategies of U.S. Multinational Firms
Recent theoretical work tends to characterize multinational enterprises as arising through either horizontal or vertical foreign direct investment (FDI). Empirical research tends to find stronger support for the former than for the latter. In this paper, we use recent, detailed data on U.S.… Read more
International Accounts Data Needs: Plans, Progress, and Priorities
BEA’s International Accounts Directorate is responsible for preparing the nation’s estimates of the international transactions accounts, international investment position, and operations of U.S. parent companies and U.S. and foreign affiliates, and for preparing analyses of major developments… Read more
Priorities for Industry Accounts at BEA
The U.S. economy is undergoing significant structural change that economists and policymakers would like to study from an industry perspective. BEA’s industry accounts--the input-output (I-O) accounts, the gross product originating (GPO) accounts, and the gross state product (GSP) estimates--… Read more
Treatment of Employee Stock Options in the U.S. National Economic Accounts
U.S. companies increasingly use the granting of employee stock options as part of an overall compensation package. What was originally an executive perk is now often provided to all employees. This growth has added significance to several questions on the treatment and valuation of these stock… Read more
Current and Future Directions for the U.S. Industry Accounts
This paper provides an overview of the Industry Accounts for the United States, which are prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in the U.S. Department of Commerce. It includes a brief history of the programs with emphasis on the past 10 years, as well as a discussion of plans for future… Read more
United States Statistics on Trade in Services
This paper provides an overview of the Industry Accounts for the United States, which are prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in the U.S. Department of Commerce. It includes a brief history of the programs with emphasis on the past 10 years, as well as a discussion of plans for future… Read more
Using Input-Output Analysis to Measure U.S. Economic Structural Change Over a 24 Year Period
Many studies have been prepared on structural change in the U.S. economy using input-output analysis. These include, among others, Carter's examination of U.S. economic technological change over the 1939-1963 period and, more recently, Sonis’ new decomposition approaches to visually display… Read more
Principles and Practices for Making Statistics Relevant for Economic Decision Making
One of the most important goals of agencies producing economic statistics is that those statistics be relevant and regularly used by public and private decision makers. Achieving this goal requires several elements including accuracy, timeliness, and sound concepts and methods. However, perhaps… Read more
Recognition of Business and Government Expenditures for Software as Investment: Methodology and Quantitative Impacts, 1959-98
The comprehensive benchmark revision of the national income and product accounts (NIPA’s), released in October of last year, newly recognized business and government expenditures for computer software as investment. This paper describes the methodology for annual and quarterly estimates of… Read more