Back to STES Timeliness Framework

This page contains links to detailed documentation on how the analysis of revisions of short-term economic statistics can assist in improving the quality of preliminary (timely) estimates.  The papers below provide detailed information on techniques relevant to this topic which have been used by statistical organisations.  Issues covered include:

•   Identification of systematic biases and adjusting estimation methods to minimise revisions for preliminary estimates
•   Simulation studies to assess the expected size of revisions as a function of release date
•   Strategies for publishing revisions for transparency and user evaluation

Primary papers

The papers below focus primarily on the issue of analysis of revisions.  They may also contain information on other statistical processes defined in the STES Timeliness Framework .

OECD Revisions Analysis Studies (2006)

Analysis of Revisions to Advanced Estimates for US Retail Trade  (1998)

Revision Analysis Using Statistical and Econometric Methods  (2001)

Secondary papers

The papers below refer to the issue of analysis of revisions to some extent.  They also provide more detail on other statistical processes defined in the STES Timeliness Framework .

Improvement in Timeliness for Turnover in Other Services and Production in Construction at Statistics Finland (2005)

Improving Timeliness of Industrial Short-Term Statistics Using Time Series Analysis at Statistics Netherlands  (2003)

Sub-Sample Based Preliminary Estimates of Retail Trade at ISTAT  (2003)

Queries and the submission of new papers

Questions on the content of or how to use this framework should be sent to stat.contact@oecd.org