Price index for business and management consultancy services, accounting, book-keeping and auditing activities, Q4 2008

National

Frequency: Quarterly

Timeliness: The statistics is published within 3 months after the end of the period

The statistics will be reported to EUROSTAT

Data at a micro level, information about the sample and population are stored temporary in the programme language SAS. Data are long-term stored as text files on UNIX.

The purpose is to measure the price development for business and management consultancy activities. The indices will also be used to deflate the National Accounts. The statistics comply with the short-term statistics regulation. The statistics has been published since 2008, with figures from 1st quarter of 2007.

The indices are used to analyse and survey the development in prices and costs in the industry, and in the National Accounts. Others with an interest in the market for the subjects in question also use it, for example institutions within research and development, and media.

The index is used in National Accounts. There is also produced a value index (only at a 3-digit level) and structural business statistics for this industry group. There is a difference in detailing level between preliminary and final figures.

The Statistics Act, Sections 2-1, 2-2 and 2-3

Regulation (EC) No 1158/2005 of the European Parliament and the Council of July 6 2005 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 concerning short-term statistics

For business and management consultancy services the population are all establishments in Norway with the NACE code Business and management consultancy services (SIC 2002: 74.14). For accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities the population are all establishments in Norway with NACE code accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities (SIC 2002: 74.12) The statistical unit is establishment.

Statistics Norway’s Business Register is used to draw the sample. Price data are collected via separate questionnaire-based surveys. The establishment’s turnover is based on figures from the questionnaire and Statistics Norway’s own business structural statistics.

Business and management consultancy services: The sample consists of about 160 establishments, and covers about 33.5 per cent of the total turnover. Accounting and bookkeeping: The sample consists of about 90 establishments, and covers about 10 per cent of the total turnover. Auditing activities: The sample consists of about 90 establishments, and covers about 50 per cent of the total turnover. We divide the establishments into size groups, determined by the number of employees. We use a PPS-sample (Probability Proportional to Size), i.e. larger establishments are more likely to be included in the sample.

The survey is based on a quarterly questionnaire. We offer both a postal and electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire is posted by the end of the quarter, with a three weeks deadline. Respondents that have not returned the questionnaire by the deadline, are given a postal reminder together with a one-week extension of the deadline. If the questionnaire still is not returned, the respondent is given a fine and a one-week final extension of the deadline.

The postal questionnaires are read optically, and the electronic questionnaires are automatically loaded into the revision application. Every questionnaire are afterwards controlled and revised, both automatically and manually. If price changes seems unlikely large, the respondents are contacted.

The establishments are divided into three size strata. For each establishment we calculate price changes (ratios) from the price reference period to the statistical period. The individual price changes are aggregated and weighed according to the establishment’s size stratum, type of employee and field of activity in that order. All price changes are included in the total index. The weights being used are calculated from turnover in each of the categories mentioned above. Turnover data are collected every other year in connection with rotation of the sample. To meet the demands from Eurostat, that the base period in the indices should be 2006, we have used the wage developments in the industry to estimate data for the quarters in 2006.

It is impossible to identify sensitive information from the statistics. The use of collected data from respondents will be in accordance with the demands in the Statistics Act provisions. The information will be stored properly and kept confidential.

The time series goes back to the 1st quarter of 2006, where the data for 2006 are based on wage developments in the industry. From the 1st quarter of 2007 and forward real price data from the sample are used. For business and management consultancy services there has been no change in the calculation method. For accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities, a change in the questionnaire was made before sending out the forms for the 1st quarter of 2008. For 2007 we asked the establishments for turnover and hours worked, while we from 2008 asked for average charged-out rates per hour.