Latest developments in the evolution of short-term indicators in the ICBS

1. Latest developments in the evolution of short-term indicators in the ICBS Yoel Finkel Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel

2. New Short-Term Indicators for theLabor Market • Use of Administrative Data for labor statistics: • Administrative Data for Statistical Purposes: Pros and Cons • Integration of the administrative data and survey data • International Experience • Tax Authority Records in the ICBS • New statistical indicators produced • Integration process • Job-Vacancy Survey: • Overview • Goals • Evaluation Survey • Problems met

3. Benefits of using administrative records • Source of rich and relatively cheap data for research. • Administrative files are of census type, covering the whole population. • Administrative records can substitute (or be complementary) for survey data and hence • reduce response burden cost on the citizens • relief the bureaus’ workload created by direct data collection.

4. Downside of using administrative records • Privacy and human rights issues: creating the ability to trace the activity of each individual in the society • The mere existence of a cheap data source may tempt statistical bureaus to collect data that are not really needed • Administrative records tend to be biased according to the priorities and policies of the agency in charge • Changes of definitions and content can occur without prior notice and without having a grace period in which the new and the old definitions are reported simultaneously • Administrative records include only variables of interest that the collecting agency needs • Do not include answers to subjective and hypothetical questions that may be of interest to the statistical bureau

5. Additional Properties • Administrative records include all the population. • On the other hand, it may increase the risk of illegal access to the information on a specific person by unauthorized workers / hackers • Administrative records are available only after the collecting process is completed – a delay of a year or two. • On the other hand, online collection reduces this effect.

6. Integration of administrative and survey data • The two rely on different sources that can be biased • Difference in definitions • Different time structure and time coverage • Different types of errors • In Survey data - The collecting agency is the sole decision-maker concerning what to collect, how to collect and when. In Administrative records • Collection of the data can be abruptly stopped • Changes are not always reported in advance • No period in which two datasets are collected simultaneously

7. Administrative data serving national statistics: international experience • Netherlands: • Demographic data on individuals and households from the local authorities. • Employment connections from social security and tax authorities. • Norway: employer-employment connections from tax and industry records. • France: population and employment register. • Sweden: linked database of demographic and employment records.

8. Administrative Records from theTAX AUTHORITY in the ICBS • Valuable data source on incomes. • Can be merged with other sources, like population and business register. • The integrated dataset comprises the information on the Labor Market, its supply and demand. • Databases for 1999-2005 already received and are being processed.

9. EMPLOYEES records From Population Register EMPLOYER records From BusinessRegister Tax Authority Records Merged Database Employer-Employee The merged employer-employee database

10. Main Uses • Creation of the database on the tax reported incomes of all the individuals in the country. • Construction of the otherwise costly and complicated panel, supplying data on social and employment mobility. • Priceless addition to wage and employment statistics: • Employees and Employee Posts by sex, age, marital status; • Employees and Employee Posts by wage and employment duration; • Women employed, by number of children; • Wages, by experience, or demographic parameters; • Compensations on retirement / firing, by experience, age, sex and sector; • Estimation of employer’s size by number of employees months.

11. Both tables are also available separately for Men / Women

12. Employee Posts by seniority, age and sex

13. Post salary, by seniority, age and sex

14. Employed Women and their wages, by number of children

15. Employers, by sector and years in business

16. Employees, by sector and years in business of the employer

17. What has been done to match the statistical needs of the ICBS? • Number of records checked: to assure the file is complete and refers to the period defined. • Field properties defined in order to analyze the goodness of the data: extreme or not permitted values located. • The database was linked to the population register to fill additional demographic data. • Logical checks: for example, duration of work against the dates of beginning / end of work.

18. Job Vacancy Survey

19. Job Vacancy Survey: Overview • The Job Vacancy Survey launched following the OECD demands as part of the accession process. • It is designed to evaluate the demand part of the labor market – the number and nature of the job vacancies. • Its scope is planned to be the largest out of the business surveys the ICBS produces.

20. Development of a Job Vacancy Survey: Goals • Estimating the demand for labor (stock / flow) • Labor supply is estimated by the (already existing) Labor Force Survey • Evaluating the demand for labor by • Industries • Establishment size • Occupation etc. • Spotting the sub-groups in the labor force mostly influenced by market changes • Defining the parameters assisting the labor force (education), thus permitting to design appropriate training programs.

21. Survey Specifications • Monthly survey. • 6,000 establishments surveyed each quarter. • 1,000 large establishments (of 250 employees or more) surveyed repeatedly each month, others on the rotation basis. • The survey is planned to be launched on January 2009. • NOT included: public offices,

22. What has been done? • Consultation with the future users of the survey: • The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor • Central Bank of Israel • Manufacturers Association of Israel • Pre-test survey successfully completed. • Now in the process of the evaluation survey.

23. Evaluation Survey: WHY NEEDED? • To define the final population of the survey • By sectors (esp. construction and agriculture) • Establishment size bound (what is the magnitude of the bias from setting the specific bound) . • To determine the appropriate data collection methods (post, telephone, field) and the establishments reaction time. • To evaluate the questionnaire suitability. • To examine the availability of the necessary data among the respondents. • To access the problem of locating the establishments. • To estimate the time input by the surveyor.

24. Evaluation Survey • 1100 establishments surveyed for 2 months: • 400 small businesses (up to 5 employees) • 300 large (of 250 employees and more) • 400 medium-sized • 2 stages • Locating the establishment (March-April) • Whether the establishment exists? Who is the right person to contact? Are the establishment details correct? • Data collection (May-June)

25. Main Methodological Problems • “Kibbutz”: – problematic issue because they appear more than once in the business register: once as a joint cooperative, and as several separate establishments. Thus, they could be sampled more than once, without us being able to identify they are the same entity. • Conglomerates / joint firms: – how to deal with them? • Public organizations: whether they belong to the government sector or a specific industry? Whether to survey them separately – or through the Civil Service Authority which concentrates their activity? • Public hospitals (health sector). • Broadcasting companies (communication sector) etc. • Teachers: part of them employed through the Ministry of Education, while others – through local authorities.