Statistical Databases: OECD Statistics on Measuring Globalisation Online Database

OECD Statistics on Measuring Globalisation Online Database - The Role of Multinationals in OECD Economies: Manufacturing and Services

Previously titled: Activities of Foreign Affiliates in OECD Countries

The need to assess the role and impact of direct investment not only in financial terms but also in the context of its impact on jobs, sales and trade has underlined the importance of having data indicative of the industrial activity of multinational firms.

The Measuring Globalisation database has been created to analyse the performance of foreign affiliates in OECD countries, and to compare them with that of all firms, particularly in the areas of production, employment, international trade and research. It draws attention to the potential benefits of hosting foreign firms for countries.

This electronic product complements the biennial publication Measuring Globalisation: the Role of Multinationals in OECD Economies by providing more complete historical data series than contained in that publication.

This year’s edition includes for the first time data on the activity of affiliates of national firms abroad (outward investment) and also presents data on inward and outward investment for services (FATS).

As regards the manufacturing sector, the 18 variables requested in the OECD questionnaire are broken down by industrial sector and by partner country, and are covered in a somewhat uneven manner among countries. Data in this electronic product relate to the years 1983 onwards and are classified according to ISIC Revision 2 or Revision 3 or both depending on the year.

As regards the services sector, five variables are covered:

• employment
• turnover
• value added
• exports and imports.

The time period covered (1990-onwards) is also more limited than for the manufacturing sector, given that the data collection, using a survey prepared jointly with Eurostat, is more recent.

The publication gives not only basic data but also the share of an industry that is “controlled” by foreign multinationals in each country. To obtain these percentages, the same surveys were used to collect data on the activity of all firms (domestic and foreign) in each country and for each of the variables
available. This has been essential since the data on the “national total” and on multinational firms are not always based on the same statistical unit. While most of the industrial variables correspond to “establishments”, data on multinational firms are collected at a higher level, i.e. “firms”, each of which may include several establishments. This means that the figures for a sector’s production or employment, for instance, will differ depending on whether the sectoral data refer to “establishments” or “firms”.

For certain variables, in particular exports or imports, it has not been possible to produce data on the activity of multinational firms and on all of the firms in a country on a comparable basis (firms or establishments). Work is under way in the countries concerned to solve this problem.

All prices are shown in million national currency units.

The CD-ROM also includes a user guide (PDF) and extensive HTML-based methodology notes, definitions and country source information.

Also, visit the web site for more information.