Alternative aggregations 279 2. Content and media sector definition 221. The following general principle (definition) is used for the identification of activities in the content and media sector: “The production (goods and services) of a candidate industry must pri- marily be intended to inform, educate and/or entertain humans through mass communication media. These industries are engaged in the production, pub- lishing and/or the distribution of content (information, cultural and entertain- ment products), where content corresponds to an organized message intended for human beings.” 222. The list of ISIC, Rev.4 industries that comply with this definition is pro- vided in table 4.4. Table 4.4 Content and media sector 581 Publishing of books, periodicals and other publishing activities 5811 Book publishing 5812 Publishing of directories and mailing lists 5813 Publishing of newspapers, journals and periodicals 5819 Other publishing activities 591 Motion picture, video and television programme activities 5911 Motion picture, video and television programme production activities 5912 Motion picture, video and television programme post-production activities 5913 Motion picture, video and television programme distribution activities 5914 Motion picture projection activities 592 Sound recording and music publishing activities 60 Programming and broadcasting activities 6010 Radio broadcasting 6020 Television programming and broadcasting activities 639 Other information service activities 6391 News agency activities 6399 Other information service activities n.e.c. C. Alternative aggregation for data reporting on the informal sector 223. The household enterprises in the informal sector encompass a wide range of different activities. In order to describe the heterogeneity of the informal sector, analyse the differences between the various segments regarding their employment- and income-generating potential, constraints and other characteristics, and devise appropriate actions for them, policy makers and analysts need data that reveals the structure and composition of the informal sector. While kind of economic activity is not a criterion by which to define the informal sector, it is an important variable by
International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Revision 4 280 which to describe its characteristics. It is thus used as one of the standard variables for statistics on the informal sector. It is also often used as a variable for the stratification of the informal sector segment in drawing a representative sample. 224. Informal sector activities tend to be concentrated heavily in the following sections or some part thereof: A (Agriculture, forestry and fishing), C (Manufactur- ing), F (Construction), G (Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles), H (Transportation and storage), I (Accommodation and food service activities), and S (Other service activities). Because of this, it is suggested that, for sta- tistics on the informal sector, an alternative highest level of aggregation be introduced, with a smaller number of categories obtained by and large through the aggregation of the existing ISIC, Rev.4 sections. 225. Within the informal sector, manufacturing, repair services and trade are groups of activities that are numerically important. These groups of activities are undertaken in the informal sector of developing countries by different units, which differ significantly in terms of the characteristics of the persons engaged in them, including gender. Therefore, these groups of activities should not generally be grouped together at any level when presenting statistics on production units of the informal sector by economic activity. This aggregation presents these three activities separately. In addition, Manufacturing has been shown separately as a sub-item of category II due to its importance. Similarly, retail trade activities via stalls and markets, as well as door-to-door and other direct forms of retail sale, are identified separately as a sub- item of category IV due to their importance in the informal sector. 226. The repair and installation of machinery and equipment has been grouped in category II with other manufacturing activities because units engaged in these activities do not have the same logic of production of “repair and maintenance” that is included in ISIC division 95. The maintenance and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles has been identified in category V. To avoid the splitting of an ISIC class code, the complete ISIC class 4540 (Sale, maintenance and repair of motorcycles and related parts and accessories) has been assigned to this repair category, taking into account the fact that for informal sector activities the sale activities of motorcycles will be small compared to the repair activities. 227. Since the definition of the informal sector does not make reference to spe- cific types of activities, in principle all activities classified in ISIC could be carried out in the informal sector. In some cases, however, this is highly unlikely due to the nature of the activity. For instance, public administration activities (section O) are not car- ried out by informal sector units due to the nature of these activities. The same holds for activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies (section U). For that reason, sections O and U have been excluded from this alternative aggregation. 228. Units classified in ISIC section T (Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use) are outside of the scope of the informal sector since a production unit in the informal sector must by definition produce at least some goods or services for sale or barter. Therefore, ISIC section T is not included in this alternative aggregation. 229. In general, an ISIC section has been included in this alternative aggrega- tion if at least some of its components (divisions, groups or classes) cover informal sec- tor activities. It is still possible that within such a section, divisions, groups or classes exist that do not cover informal sector activities. 230. For instance, insurance activities (ISIC division 65) are in principle not carried out by informal units. However, other activities in ISIC section K (Financial and insurance activities) are sometimes carried out by informal sector units. Since this
Alternative aggregations 281 alternative aggregation is primarily based on the section level of ISIC, the complete section K, including division 65, has been included in the aggregate. Similar argu- ments apply for instance for class 6411 (Central banking), or group 942 (Activities of trade unions). 231. At the highest aggregate level, the alternative aggregate of ISIC, Rev.4 proposed for the informal sector consists of 11 categories, designated by the Roman numerals I to XI, as described in table 4.5. Table 4.5 Alternative ISIC aggregation for analysis and reporting on informal-sector statistics Category Title ISIC sections ISIC divisions ISIC groups ISIC classes I Agriculture, forestry and fishing A 01–03 011–032 0111–0322 II Mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water supply, waste management B, C, D, E 05–39 051–390 0510–3900 II a of which: Manufacturing C 10–33 101–332 1010–3320 III Construction F 41–43 410–439 4100–4390 IV Wholesale and retail trade G * 45,* 46, 47 451, 453, 461–479 4510, 4530, 4610–4799 IV a of which: Retail trade not in stores a G * 47 * 478, 479 * 4781–4789, 4799 V Repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; repair of computers and personal and household goods G,* S * 45,* 95 452, 454, 951–952 4520, 4540, 9511–9529 VI Transportation and storage H 49–53 491–532 4911–5320 VII Accommodation and food service activities I 55–56 551–563 5510–5630 VII a of which: Restaurants, mobile food service activities and event catering I * 56 * 561, 562 * 5610, 5621 VIII Professional, scientific and technical activities; administrative and support service activities; arts, entertainment and recreation M, N, R 69–82, 90–93 691–829, 900–932 6910–8299, 9000–9329 IX Education; human health and social work activities P, Q 85–88 851–889 8510–8890 X Other personal service activities S * 96 960 9601–9609 XI Other activities J, K, L, S * 58–68, 94 581–682, 941–949 5811–6820, 9411–9499 * Denotes a split of a section, division or group. a Not including retail trade via mail order houses or via Internet. 232. This alternative aggregation is intended only as a tool for a standardized way of presenting data on informal sector activities. It does not intend to define the informal sector through ISIC.
International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Revision 4 282 D. Alternative aggregation for data reporting on the non- profit institutions sector 233. The Handbook on Non-Profit Institutions in the System of National Accounts30 is the product of a major initiative undertaken by the United Nations Statis- tics Division in cooperation with the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, to aid national statistics agencies in portraying nonprofit institutions, philanthropy and volunteering more explicitly in national economic statistics. The Handbook defines the non-profit institutions sector as follows. “Thus, for the purpose of the satellite account on non-profit institutions, we define the non-profit sector as consisting of (a) organizations; that (b) are not-for-profit and, by law or custom, do not distribute any surplus they may generate to those who own or control them; (c) are institutionally separate from government; (d) are self-governing; and (e) are non-compulsory.”31 234. Because non-profit institution status is determined by legal, structural and operational characteristics rather than by production or revenue characteristics, the NPI sector cannot be defined as an aggregate over a particular set of ISIC classes. Even though non-profit institutions are concentrated in such service activities as education, human health and social work, in principle non-profit institutions may be found any- where in the ISIC structure. Furthermore, not all units in a particular ISIC class will necessarily be non-profit institutions even though the majority may be. 235. To disaggregate the sector along activity lines, the Handbook recom- mends a special classification, the International Classification of Non-Profit Organi- zations (ICNPO), which has been and continues to be used in a number of statistical programmes and analytical studies of the NPI sector. Most countries implementing the Handbook have used ICNPO to report the results in their satellite accounts. In addition, several other national statistical programmes also have employed ICNPO. Examples include the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating,32 the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations,33 and Italian censuses of non-profit institutions34 and social cooperatives,35 all of which use ICNPO to classify their data. 236. ICNPO was developed and incorporated into the Handbook because ISIC, Rev.3 had too little detail on membership organizations, social work without accom- modation and other areas in which non-profit institutions have been found to be active.36 Although ISIC, Rev.4 represents a considerable improvement over ISIC, Rev.3 in the ease with which it can be mapped into ICNPO, the level of detail recommended for two ISIC groups is still insufficient to capture all the major differences among the types of non-profit institutions identified in previous research on this sector and to avoid one-to-many relationships between ISIC classes and ICNPO subgroups. The two groups are ISIC groups 889 (Other social work activities without accommoda- tion) and 949 (Activities of other membership organizations). 237. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) provides more detailed categories in these two areas. Tables 4.6 and 4.7 present NAICS-inspired alternative structures for ISIC, Rev.4 groups 889 and 949, respectively; the proposed new classes are shown in bold. Annexes D.1 and D.2 provide the language needed for describing the additional subcategories of groups 889 and 949. Essentially, these descriptions pick up the language for the various sub-classes that can be identified in classes 8890 and 9499 in the present ISIC, Rev.4 structure and break them out as sepa- rate classes that can be mapped to ICNPO on a one-to-one basis. 30 Statistical Papers, Series F, No. 91 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.XVII.9). 31 Ibid., para. 2.14. 32 Statistics Canada (2006). Caring Canadians, Involved Canadians: Highlights from the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating. Catalogue no.71- 542-XIE. 33 Statistics Canada (2005). Cornerstones of Community: Highlights of the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations. Catalogue no. 61-533-XIE. Revised edition. 34 Istat (2001). Istituzioni nonprofit in Italia. 35 Istat (2006). Le cooperative sociali in Italia. 36 Statistical Papers, Series F, No. 91, para. 3.10.