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IV.
Foreign affiliates trade in services statistics
A. Introduction
4.1. For both goods and services, international sales may
be effected not only through the transactions between
residents and non-residents that are recorded in balance
of payments accounts as specified by BPM5 (and in the
1993 SNA’s external account for goods and services),
but also through direct investment enterprises or
affiliates established in the countries of foreign
customers.
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For services, this method of serving
foreign markets is particularly
important because it is
often the only method that permits the close and
continuing contact between service providers and their
customers necessary to compete effectively with
indigenous firms.
4.2. In the present
Manual, statistics describing the
overall operations of affiliates are termed “foreign
affiliates trade in services statistics”, or “FATS
statistics”. Consonant with the
Manual’s theme and
purpose, its recommendations for compiling these
statistics have been designed and presented with services
in mind. However, except for the particular activity and
product breakdowns suggested, most of the
recommendations are equally applicable to goods or
services and may be considered in developing a
generalized framework
for statistics on affiliate
operations.
4.3. The most pertinent information on the operations of
affiliates may be considered to be that on their sales.
Services delivered through transactions between
residents and non-residents are measured in terms of
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Here, “affiliate” is used synonymously with “direct
investment enterprise”, which, following BPM5, is an
incorporated or unincorporated enterprise in which a direct
investor who is resident in another economy owns 10 per cent
or more of the ordinary shares or voting power (for an
incorporated enterprise) or the equivalent (for an
unincorporated enterprise). As will be explained below, most
of the present chapter is concerned with only those affiliates
in which the direct investor has a majority ownership interest.
These may be termed “majority-owned affiliates”; however,
in what follows, these affiliates may––for ease in exposition––
also be referred to simply as “affiliates”, where the limitation
to the majority-owned subset of affiliates is clear within the
context of the discussion.
sales (apart from any services that may have been
donated), and a comparable measure must be available
for affiliates in order to measure services delivered
through them on a parallel basis. Although, as discussed
below, the present
Manual recommends a broader
programme of
data collection, it recognizes that some
countries may, at least initially, limit themselves to the
collection of statistics on sales because these most
directly support the monitoring of commitments under
GATS.
4.4. While sales may thus be considered to be the most
important information to collect for FATS, additional
information is generally required for an adequate
assessment of the economic effects of affiliate
operations and of measures to liberalize the delivery of
services through the commercial presence mode of
supply. For example, information on value added allows
output originating within the affiliate to be distinguished
from output originating in the firms that supply it with
intermediate inputs. Similarly, information on
employment is required to assess
the impact of affiliates
on labour markets. Accordingly, the
Manual
recommends multiple indicators, or variables, for FATS,
rather than only sales.
4.5. FATS statistics may be developed for both foreign-
owned affiliates
in the compiling economy (inward
FATS) and foreign affiliates
of the compiling economy
(outward FATS). Because, under GATS, countries
make commitments with respect to the supply of
services in their own economies rather than services they
supply abroad, the most directly related data with respect
to commercial presence may be those on the activities of
foreign-owned affiliates in the domestic economy.
Nonetheless, the reason countries make these
commitments is to secure commitments on the part of
other countries, with a view
to enhancing the ability of
their firms to supply services in those countries. For
commercial presence, this supply is tracked by data on
outward FATS, which therefore must also be considered
relevant.
4.6. In addition to being more directly related to the
compiling country’s own commitments under GATS,
data on inward FATS are often easier to collect than data
on outward FATS. The entities covered are located in
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the compiling country, and data for them would
ordinarily already be included in the country’s domestic
enterprise statistics. Thus, compiling data for them may
involve only identifying the foreign-owned subset of
domestically located firms and tabulating existing data
for them. For outward FATS, in contrast, the entities
covered are located outside the compiling economy and
generally would not be covered by existing data.
Furthermore, there may be legal
or practical obstacles to
surveying them directly; generally, the data would have
to be collected from resident direct investors rather than
from the foreign affiliates themselves. The present
Manual recognizes that for these reasons, many
countries may initially limit their FATS statistics to
those related to inward investment. Nonetheless, it notes
that some countries have successfully compiled data for
outward FATS as well.
4.7.
Because one country’s inward FATS statistics
provide information on the outward FATS of partner
countries, exchanges of information among partner
countries have the potential to provide countries that do
not collect data on outward FATS with information on
the overseas activities
of their own multinational
companies. For such data to be useful, it is important
that they be compiled using standardized definitions and
methodologies, and in this regard the
Manual can play
an important role in promoting comparability. In
addition, international organizations can, by republishing
member country data, serve as clearing houses for such
information. The value of such clearing houses can be
considerable, inasmuch as they can help to achieve
consistency in presentation and greatly reduce the
number of contacts required to assemble the data.
4.8. Foreign direct investment financial transactions and
related investment position (stock) and income measures
are not, strictly speaking, FATS variables because they
do not pertain to the overall operations of foreign
affiliates but relate only to transactions between and
positions with direct
investors and their foreign
affiliates. In addition, FDI measures are ordinarily
compiled with respect to transactions and positions with
all foreign affiliates, whereas FATS variables are, as
discussed in paragraphs 4.17-4.24 below, to be compiled
only with respect to affiliates in which the direct investor
holds a majority interest.
4.9. Notwithstanding those differences, FDI statistics
should be considered an important adjunct to FATS
statistics. Countries that cannot implement the
compilation of FATS statistics immediately may find
that FDI statistics can provide an alternative interim
indicator of commercial presence. In addition, FDI
statistics can be used in conjunction with FATS statistics
to indicate the extent to which the operations of affiliates
were financed with
funds from direct investors, as well
as the extent to which the income generated by affiliates
accrues to direct investors. The present
Manual
recommends that FDI statistics be compiled as specified
by BPM5 and BD3. For convenience, those guidelines
are summarized in box 7.
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