INDICSER

Discussion Paper 2

Output Measurement in Market Services: Case Studies for Retail Trade and Banking

Robert Inklaar (RUG) and Marcel Timmer (RUG)

Introduction

International comparisons of output and productivity can be compromised if the underlying data partly reflect differences in measurement methods. Part of the remit of workpackage 1 of the INDICSER project is to review the methodologies currently used to measure service sector output. The emphasis is on cataloguing differences in order to flag up potential comparability problems in existing National Accounts measures of output. This paper considers methods employed in two important sectors, retail trade and banking. Here the focus is on differences in measurement comparing the EU with the US. Each of these two sectors are considered in turn.

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Paper published on private website February 2011, released onto public website March 2011