Enterprise statistics in centrally planned economies

Article type: Research Article

Abstract: The practics followed in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the USSR in the field of enterprise statistics can be summarized as follows. Enterprises cover all economically independent units the primary function of which is producing material goods or rendering services at prices usually covering their current expenditure. In addition to state enterprises, co-operatives are also included in enterprise statistics. Enterprises are classified according to their main characteristics: by kind of activity, size, legal form, region, level of efficiency, etc. Enterprises are registered in a central register; composite establishments pursuing different economic activities are identified as separate units in a few countries only. Two types of report are used to collect statistical information from enterprises. The first type ‘financial report’ relates to receipts and outlays which are connected with production activity. The core ‘financial reports’ consists of a balance sheet and a profit and loss account. The other type of report (‘statistical report’) relates to specific aspects of the production activity, mostly measured in physical terms, e.g., quantity of goods produced or materials used; capacity of engines, etc. Efforts are made to harmonize and integrate these two types of report. The ‘financial reports’ provide the main basis for the compilation of the balances and supporting tables of the System of Balances of the National Economy (MPS). However, the ‘statistical reports’ are also used for this purpose to a great extent. The compositions of final consumption and of fixed capital formation according to type of goods are calculated primarily from ‘statistical reports’, while the magnitude of output and generation of income are based on ‘financial reports’. Although the ‘book value’ recorded in the ‘financial reports’ does not fully meet the requirements of the national accounting system, the central regulations of concepts and methods used in the ‘financial’ and ‘statistical reports’ provide a relatively high level of data harmonization between micro- and macro-categories of economic measurement.

DOI: 10.3233/SJU-1982-1204

Journal: Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 171-185, 1982