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Measuring GDP in a Digitalised Economy

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  • Nadim Ahmad
  • Paul Schreyer

Abstract

Recent years have seen a rapid emergence of new disruptive technologies with new forms of intermediation, service provision and consumption, with digitalisation being a common characteristic. These include new platforms that facilitate Peer-to-Peer transactions, such as AirBnB and Uber, new activities such as crowd sourcing, a growing category of the ‘occasional self-employed’ and prevalence of ‘free’ media services, funded by advertising and ‘Big data’. Against a backdrop of slowing rates of measured productivity growth, this has raised questions about the conceptual basis of GDP and output, and whether current compilation methods are adequate to capture them. This paper frames the discussion under an umbrella of the Digitalised Economy, covering also statistical challenges where digitalisation is a complicating feature such as international transactions and knowledge based assets. It delineates between conceptual and compilation issues and highlights areas where further investigations are merited. The overall conclusion is that, on balance, the accounting framework for GDP looks to be up to the challenges posed by digitalisation. Many practical measurement issues remain, however, in particular concerning price changes and where digitalisation meets internationalisation. Les dernières années ont été marquées par l’apparition de nouvelles technologies de rupture, donnant lieu à de nouvelles formes d’intermédiation, de fourniture de services et de consommation. La caractéristique commune de ces activités est la numérisation. Elles incluent de nouveaux sites web facilitant les transactions entre particuliers comme AirBnB et Uber, de nouvelles activités telles que la production participative (crowdsourcing), une catégorie croissante de ‘travailleurs indépendants occasionnels’ et la prévalence de services de média ‘gratuit’ mais financés par la publicité et par les mégadonnées (Big Data). Dans un contexte de ralentissement des taux de croissance de la productivité mesurée, la question a été évoquée de savoir si les fondements conceptuels du PIB et de la production étaient encore valables et si les pratiques de collecte de données restaient adéquates pour mesurer ces nouvelles activités. Ce document présente cette question sous l’angle de l’économie numérisée tout en évoquant d’autres défis statistiques liés à la numérisation, telles que les transactions internationales et les actifs de la connaissance. Ce papier établit la distinction entre les problèmes conceptuels et les problèmes de collecte et identifie les domaines nécessitants davantage de travaux. La conclusion générale est que, tout compte fait, le cadre comptable du PIB semble être à la hauteur des défis posés par la numérisation. De nombreuses questions demeurent pourtant sur les mesures pratiques, en particulier concernant les mesures de variation des prix et dans les domaines statistiques où la numérisation s’inscrit dans un contexte international.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadim Ahmad & Paul Schreyer, 2016. "Measuring GDP in a Digitalised Economy," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2016/7, OECD Publishing.
  • Handle: RePEc:oec:stdaaa:2016/7-en
    DOI: 10.1787/5jlwqd81d09r-en
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    Cited by:

    1. Diewert, Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2019. "Productivity Indexes and National Statistics: Theory, Methods and Challenges," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2019-8, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 25 Apr 2019.
    2. Diewert, Erwin & FOX, Kevin J. Fox & SCHREYER, Paul, 2017. "The Digital Economy, New Products and Consumer Welfare," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2017-12, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 14 Dec 2017.
    3. Md. Hamid Uddin & Md. Hakim Ali & Mohammad Kabir Hassan, 2020. "Cybersecurity hazards and financial system vulnerability: a synthesis of literature," Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 239-309, December.
    4. Guo, Xuefan & Xu, Dingyi & Zhu, Kunfu, 2023. "Measuring digitalization effects in China: A global value chain perspective," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Eva Zamrazilová, 2019. "Měnová politika - kudy dál? [Monetary Policy - the Way Forward?]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2019(6), pages 655-671.
    6. Brynjolfsson, Erik & Collis, Avinash & Diewert, Erwin & Eggers, Felix & FOX, Kevin J., 2019. "GDP-B: Accounting for the Value of New and Free Goods in the Digital Economy," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2019-6, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 27 Mar 2019.
    7. Marina D. SIMONOVA & Irina P. MAMIY, 2019. "Online transport services market in Russia amid economy digitalization," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 10(3), pages 94-103, July.
    8. Izabela Mlynarzewska-Borowiec, 2022. "Digital Competitiveness Gap between the US and EU Member States in the 21st Century," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 364-380.
    9. Wen, Ting & Qi, Sinan & Qian, Yue, 2024. "Index measurement and analysis on spatial-temporal evolution of China's new economy based on the DPSIR model," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 252-264.
    10. Anderton, Robert & Jarvis, Valerie & Labhard, Vincent & Morgan, Julian & Petroulakis, Filippos & Vivian, Lara, 2020. "Virtually everywhere? Digitalisation and the euro area and EU economies," Occasional Paper Series 244, European Central Bank.
    11. Lorraine Aeberhardt & Florian Hatier & Marie Leclair & Benoît Pentinat & Jean-Denis Zafar, 2020. "Does the Digital Economy Distort the Volume-Price Split of GDP? The French Experience," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 517-518-5, pages 139-156.
    12. Duc, Dang Thi Viet & Dat, Tran Tho & Linh, Dang Huyen & Phong, Bui Xuan, 2024. "Measuring the digital economy in Vietnam," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3).
    13. Alexandre Bourgeois, 2020. "Free Services from the Digital Economy: Do We Need to Measure Their Value and How?," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 517-518-5, pages 157-172.
    14. José M. Ordóñez-de-Haro & José L. Torres, 2019. "Sharing Economy in Macroeconomics: Collaborative Consumption and Durable Goods," Working Papers 2019-01, Universidad de Málaga, Department of Economic Theory, Málaga Economic Theory Research Center.
    15. Marysol McGee & Barbara J. Robles, 2016. "Exploring Online and Offline Informal Work : Findings from the Enterprising and Informal Work Activities (EIWA) Survey," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2016-089, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    16. Wang, Zhe & Jiang, Dianchun & Zhang, Ming, 2024. "Seeking new location advantages: Analysis of emerging digital cross-border M&As—Based on TIMG index," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2).
    17. Lei Lv & Zhixin Liu & Yingying Xu, 2019. "Technological progress, globalization and low-inflation: Evidence from the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-19, April.

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