Socio-economic accounts in the Netherlands and the interrelationship with statistics of income distribution and national accounts

Abstract

Some years ago, the Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics started work on the development of Socio-economic Accounts. This paper describes the present state of affairs of these Accounts in the Netherlands, and concentrates on the conceptual and methodological interrelationship among Socioeconomic Accounts, Statistics of Income Distribution and National Accounts. The Socio-economic Accounts are placed within the context of a proposed System of Social Accounts. The scope and structure of the Socio-economic Accounts are discussed. Special attention is paid to the classification of transactions and population subgroups (household types) and the concepts of income and consumption used in the accounts. Also the sources and methods used in the compilation of the accounts are described. Special reference is made to the calculation of data on household income and to the adjustments made to the micro data. The reconciliation with macro data from the National Accounts is discussed as well. The paper closes with some numerical results and an overview of work in progress.