6. Other variables 4.67. Although not included as priority items, there are
other FATS variables of significance, perhaps for certain
countries of equal or greater importance than some of
those previously discussed. As is the case for the
priority items, comparisons with the total economy and
with specific sectors can be effected and used for
assessing the impact of foreign-controlled enterprises on
home and host economies.
4.68. Among such variables are the following, which
are already collected by some countries (definitions are
drawn from the 1993 SNA, which may be consulted for
additional details):
(a) Assets: entities over which ownership rights are
enforced and from which economic benefits may be
derived by their owners by holding or using them,
including both financial assets and non-financial assets,
whether produced or non-produced;
(b) Compensation of employees: the total
remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an
enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the
employee during the accounting period;
(c) Net worth: the difference between the value of
all assets––produced, non-produced, and financial––and
all liabilities;
(d) Net operating surplus: measured as value added
(gross), less compensation of employees, consumption
of fixed capital and taxes on production, plus subsidies
receivable;
(e) Gross fixed capital formation: measured by the
total value of a producer’s acquisitions, less disposals, of
fixed assets during the accounting period, plus certain
additions to the value of non-produced assets realized by
productive activity (fixed assets are defined as produced
assets that are themselves used repeatedly or
continuously in processes of production for more than
one year);
(f) Taxes on income: these consist of corporate
income taxes, corporate profit taxes, corporate surtaxes
etc. as well as taxes that accrue to owners of
unincorporated enterprises as a result of the income of
those enterprises. Taxes on income include only taxes in
the host country of the affiliate and not any taxes paid by
the parent in the home country as a result of income
earned or distributed by the affiliate. Taxes on income
are usually assessed on the total income of corporations
from all sources and not simply on profits generated by
production;
(g) Research and development expenditures: expenditures for activities undertaken for the purpose of
discovering or developing new products (goods and
services), including improved versions or qualities of
existing products, or discovering or developing new or
more efficient processes of production.