Project on Historical Financial Accounts Time Series
Michèle Chavoix-Mannato, OECD
Teresa Sbano, PGAM Economic Research,
WP TS&W n. 13/06
The OECD, jointly with the Economic Research Unit of Pioneer Global Asset Management and UniCredit, has presented the first results of a new research: the extension of the currently available time series of the Financial Accounts for a group of OECD countries (Italy, Germany, France, UK, Spain, U.S., Canada, Japan).
This effort fills a relevant gap: following the introduction of the new method of classification based on the SNA-93 during the 1990s, the publication of time series had been interrupted. We now have again consistent time series covering a reasonably long time horizon. These will be useful to many researchers and practitioners, for example for studying the changes in the allocation of wealth over time and for comparing the main trends across different countries.
The first results confirm that wealth accumulation has proceeded at different paces across industrialized nations. Rankings are stable but growth rates are very different, possibly because of the different saving rates and the historical asset composition. There are many other preliminary results, concerning not only Household but also Non- Financial Corporations, the analysis of which will be developed over time.
The paper is organized as follows. In the second paragraph we present the general methodology, with special focus on the difference between the Golden Book and SNA93 classification. Section 3 summarizes for each country the most important issues. The fourth paragraph presents the first feedbacks by Central Banks. In paragraph 5 we explain how we addressed data processing. In paragraph 6 we present and comment briefly the provisional time series sketch based on the preliminary estimates we have. The last paragraph presents some concluding remarks.
Quick Access