GLOSSARY
Assets
Entities functioning as stores of value and over which ownership rights are enforced by institutional units, individually or collectively, and from which economic benefits may be derived by their owners by holding them, or using them, over a period of time (the economic benefits consist of primary incomes derived from the use of the asset and the value, including possible holding gains/losses, that could be realised by disposing of the asset or terminating it).
Basic price
The amount receivable by the producer from the purchaser for a unit of a good or service produced as output, minus any tax payable plus any subsidy receivable, on that unit as a consequence of its production or sale; it excludes any transport charges invoiced separately by the producer.
Capital income
Capital income is the sum of gross operating surplus and the proportion of gross mixed income that would represent a return on the owner's capital.
Capital productivity
Capital productivity estimates are indexes of real GDP per unit of capital services used in production. The have been derived by dividing the index of the chain volume measure of GDP by an index of capital services. The capital productivity indexes reflect not only the contribution of capital to changes in production, but also the contribution by labour and other factors affecting production.
Capital rent
Capital rent is the rental price multiplied by the productive capital stock.
Capital services
Capital services reflect the amount of 'service' each asset provides during a period. For each asset, the services provided in a period are directly proportional to the asset's productive capital value in the period. As an asset ages and its efficiency declines so does the productive capital value and the services the asset provides.
Chain price indexes
Annually-reweighted chain Laspeyres price indexes referenced to the same year as the chain volume measures. They can be thought of as a series of indexes measuring price change from a base year to quarters in the following year using current price values in the base year as weights, linked together to form a continuous time series. In other words, chain price indexes are constructed in a similar fashion to the chain volume indexes.
Chain volume measures
Annually-reweighted chain Laspeyres volume indexes referenced to the current price values in a chosen reference year (i.e. the year when the quarterly chain volume measures sum to the current price annual values). Chain Laspeyres volume measures are compiled by linking together (compounding) movements in volumes, calculated using the average prices of the previous financial year, and applying the compounded movements to the current price estimates of the reference year.
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. It is further classified into two sub-components: wages and salaries; and employers' social contributions. Compensation of employees is not payable in respect of unpaid work undertaken voluntarily, including the work done by members of a household within an unincorporated enterprise owned by the same household. Compensation of employees excludes any taxes payable by the employer on the wage and salary bill (e.g. payroll tax, fringe benefits tax).
Computer software
Computer software refers to computer programs, program descriptions and supporting materials for both systems and applications software. Included are purchased software and, if the expenditure is large, software developed on own-account. Large expenditures on the purchase, development or extension of computer databases that are expected to be used for more than one year, whether marketed or not, are also included.
Consumption of fixed capital
Consumption of fixed capital is the value, at current prices, of the reproducible fixed assets used up during a period of account as a result of normal wear and tear, foreseen obsolescence and the normal rate of accidental damage. Unforeseen obsolescence, major catastrophes and the depletion of natural resources are not taken into account.
Current prices
Estimates are valued at the prices of the period to which the observation relates. For example, estimates for 2002-03 are valued using 2002-03 prices. This contrasts to chain volume measures where the prices used in valuation refer to the prices of the previous year.
Cultivated assets
Cultivated assets include livestock raised for breeding, dairy, wool, etc.and vineyards, orchards and other plantations of trees yielding repeat products that are under the direct control, responsibility and management of institutional units. Immature cultivated assets are excluded unless produced for own use.
Entertainment, literary or artistic originals
Entertainment, literary or artistic originals are original films, sound recordings, manuscripts, tapes, models, etc., on which drama performances, radio and television programming, musical performances, sporting events, literary and artistic output, etc. are recorded or embodied. Included are works produced on own-account. In some cases there may be multiple originals (e.g. films). See also Intangible fixed assets.
Fixed assets
Fixed assets are produced assets that are used repeatedly or continuously in production processes for more than one year. Fixed assets consist of tangible and intangible fixed assets. See also Intangible fixed assets; Produced assets; and Tangible fixed assets.
Gross domestic product (GDP)
Is the total market value of goods and services produced in Australia within a given period after deducting the cost of goods and services used up in the process of production but before deducting allowances for the consumption of fixed capital. Thus gross domestic product, as here defined, is 'at market prices'. It is equivalent to gross national expenditure plus exports of goods and services less imports of goods and services.
GDP per capita
The ratio of the chain volume estimate of GDP to an estimate of the resident Australian population. Population estimates use data published in the quarterly publication Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0) and ABS projections.
Gross domestic product per hour worked
The ratio of the chain volume estimate of GDP to an estimate of hours worked. Hours worked estimates are derived as the product of employment and average hours worked. Movements in chain volume estimates of GDP per hour worked are commonly interpreted as changes in labour productivity. However, it should be noted that these measures reflect not only the contribution of labour to changes in production per hour worked, but also the contribution of capital and other factors (such as managerial efficiency, economies of scale, etc.).
Gross fixed capital formation - general government
Expenditure on new fixed assets plus net expenditure on second-hand fixed assets whether for additions or replacements (other than weapons of destruction and weapon delivery systems). Expenditure on new roadworks (or upgrading existing roads) is included but expenditure on road repair and maintenance is classified as government final consumption expenditure.
Gross fixed capital formation - private
Expenditure on fixed assets broken down into dwellings, non-dwelling construction, machinery and equipment, livestock, intangible fixed assets and ownership transfer costs. The machinery and equipment category includes plant, machinery, equipment, vehicles, etc. Expenditure on repair and maintenance of fixed assets is excluded, being chargeable to the production account. Additions to fixed assets are regarded as capital formation. Also included is compensation of employees and other costs paid by private enterprise in connection with own-account capital formation. Expenditure on dwellings, non-dwelling construction, and machinery and equipment is measured as expenditure on new and second-hand assets, less sales of existing assets. Ownership transfer costs comprise of stamp duty, real estate agents' fees and sales commissions, conveyancing fees and miscellaneous government charges.
Gross fixed capital formation - public corporations
Expenditure on new fixed assets plus net expenditure on second-hand fixed assets and including both additions and replacements. Also included is compensation of employees and other costs paid by public corporations in connection with capital works undertaken on own account.
Gross mixed income of unincorporated enterprises
The surplus or deficit accruing from production by unincorporated enterprises. It includes elements of both compensation of employees (returns on labour inputs) and operating surplus (returns on capital inputs).
Gross operating surplus
The operating surplus accruing to all enterprises, except unincorporated enterprises, from their operations in Australia. It is the excess of gross output over the sum of intermediate consumption, compensation of employees, and taxes less subsidies on production and imports. It is calculated before deduction of consumption of fixed capital, dividends, interest, royalties and land rent, and direct taxes payable, but after deducting the inventory valuation adjustment. Gross operating surplus is also calculated for general government and it equals general government's consumption of fixed capital.
Gross output
The total value of all output measured at basic prices. Basic prices valuation of output removes the distortion caused by variations in the incidence of commodity taxes and subsidies across the output of individual industries.
Gross value added
The value of output at basic prices minus the value of intermediate consumption at purchasers' prices. The term is used to describe gross product by industry and by sector.
Hours worked
The hours worked by all labour engaged in the production of goods and services, including hours worked by civilian wage and salary earners, employers, self-employed persons, persons working one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm, and members of the Australian defence forces. It is the product of average hours worked and total employment.
Input-output table
An input-output table is a means of presenting a detailed analysis of the process of production and the use of goods and services (products) and the income generated in the production process; they can be either in the form of (a) supply and use tables or (b) symmetric input-output tables.
Intangible fixed assets
Includes such assets as computer software, entertainment, literary or artistic originals, and mineral exploration intended to be used for more than a year.
Intangible non-produced assets
Includes such assets as purchased goodwill, 3G spectrum licences, patented entities and leases on land and subsoil assets. Estimation of these assets is in its infancy. Currently only the value of 3G spectrum licences is included in the national and sector balance sheets.
Intermediate inputs
Consists of the value of the goods and services consumed as inputs by a process of production, excluding the consumption of fixed capital. It is also known as intermediate consumption.
Inventories
Consist of stocks of outputs that are held at the end of a period by the units that produced them prior to their being further processed, sold, delivered to other units or used in other ways and stocks of products acquired from other units that are intended to be used for intermediate consumption or for resale without further processing.
Labour income
Labour income measure combines compensation of employees and the proportion of gross mixed income that would represent a return on the owner's labour.
Labour productivity estimates
Labour productivity estimates are indexes of real GDP per person employed or per hour worked. They have been derived by dividing the chain volume measure of GDP by employment (or hours worked). Estimates are also made using labour inputs adjusted for the quality and composition of labour input. Labour productivity indexes reflect not only the contribution of labour to changes in product per labour unit, but are also influenced by the contribution of capital and other factors affecting production.
Laspeyres volume index
Laspeyres volume index is a weighted arithmetic average of quantity relatives using the values of the earlier period as weights.
Livestock
Livestock assets are classified as either fixed assets or inventories. Those livestock which are used in production of other products (e.g. breeding stock, animals for entertainment, sheep for wool and dairy cattle) are fixed assets. Inventories cover all other livestock types and includes those animals raised for meat or other one-off products (e.g. leather).
Machinery and equipment
Consists of transport equipment, computing equipment and other machinery and equipment other than that acquired by households for final consumption. Tools that are relatively inexpensive and purchased at a relatively steady rate, such as hand tools, are excluded. Also excluded are machinery and equipment integral to buildings such as lifts, these being included in dwellings and non-residential buildings. Machinery and equipment acquired by households for final consumption (e.g. motor vehicles) are not treated as fixed assets. However, they are included in the memorandum item 'consumer durables' in the balance sheet for households. Houseboats, barges, mobile homes and caravans used by households as principal residences are included in dwellings.
Market output
Output that is sold at prices that are economically significant or otherwise disposed of on the market, or intended for sale or disposal on the market.
Market sector
Five industries are excluded from the market sector: Property and business services; Government administration and defence; Education; Health and community services; and Personal and other services. These are excluded because their outputs are not marketed and/or because their outputs are derived either wholly or primarily by using either deflated input cost data or hours worked as indicators of output. The chain volume measure of the production of a group of industries referred to as the market sector is defined to be the chain volume estimate of industry gross value added of all industries less the above five industries, less Ownership of dwellings (for which an index of capital services is used as the indicator of output), plus taxes less subsidies on products attributable to the market sector industries.
Mineral exploration
Mineral exploration is the value of expenditures on exploration for petroleum and natural gas and for non-petroleum mineral deposits. These expenditures include pre-licence costs, licence and acquisition costs, appraisal costs and the costs of actual test drilling and boring, as well as the costs of aerial and other surveys, transportation costs etc., incurred to make it possible to carry out the tests.
Multifactor productivity
Multifactor productivity estimates are indexes of real GDP per combined unit of labour and capital. They have been derived by dividing chain volume estimates of market sector GDP by a combined measure of hours worked and capital services.
Non-market output
Goods and services produced by non-profit institutions that are supplied free, or at prices that are not economically significant, to other institutional units or the community as a whole.
Non-produced assets
Non-produced assets are non-financial assets that come into existence other than through processes of production. Non-produced assets consist of tangible assets and intangible assets.
Other subsidies on production
Consist of all subsidies, except subsidies on products, which resident enterprises may receive as a consequence of engaging in production. Other subsidies on production include: subsidies related to the payroll or workforce numbers, including subsidies payable on the total wage or salary bill, on numbers employed, or on the employment of particular types of persons, e.g. persons with disabilities or persons who have been unemployed for a long period. The subsidies may also be intended to cover some or all of the costs of training schemes organised or financed by enterprises. Subsidies aimed at reducing pollution are also included. See also Subsidies on products.
Other taxes on production
Consist of all taxes that enterprises incur as a result of engaging in production, except taxes on products. Other taxes on production include: taxes related to the payroll or workforce numbers excluding compulsory social security contributions paid by employers and any taxes paid by the employees themselves out of their wages or salaries; recurrent taxes on land, buildings or other structures; some business and professional licences where no service is provided by the Government in return; taxes on the use of fixed assets or other activities; stamp duties; taxes on pollution; and taxes on international transactions. See also Taxes on production and imports and Taxes on products.
Output
This consists of those goods and services that are produced within an establishment that become available for use outside that establishment, plus any goods and services produced for own final use.
Perpetual inventory method (PIM)
The PIM is a method of constructing estimates of capital stock and consumption of fixed capital from time series of gross fixed capital formation. It allows an estimate to be made of the stock of fixed assets in existence and in the hands of producers which is generally based on estimating how many of the fixed assets, installed as a result of gross fixed capital formation undertaken in previous years, have survived to the current period.
Primary incomes
Consist of incomes that accrue to institutional units as a consequence of their involvement in processes of production or their ownership of assets that may be needed for the purposes of production.
Produced assets
Produced assets are non-financial assets that have come into existence as outputs from production processes. Produced assets consist of fixed assets and inventories. See also Fixed assets; Inventories.
Productive capital stock
This is a measure of productive capacity and forms the basis for the measure of capital services. Productive capital stock estimates are derived as the written down value of each asset in accordance with its decline in efficiency due to age.
Producer's prices
The producer's price is the amount receivable by the producer from the purchaser for a unit of a good or service.
Purchaser's prices
The amount paid by the purchaser, excluding any deductible tax, in order to take delivery of a unit of a good or service at the time and place required by the purchaser. The purchaser's price of a good includes any transport charges paid separately by the purchaser to take delivery at the required time and place.
Quality adjusted hours worked
This measure of labour input takes account of changes in the aggregate quality of labour due to changes in educational attainment and the length of experience in the workforce. Labour productivity and multifactor productivity estimates based on quality adjusted hours worked are also calculated. For a description of this work see the feature article, 'Further developments in the analysis of productivity growth in Australia' in the September quarter 2001 issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0).
Rental prices
This is also referred to as the user cost of capital. The rental price is the unit cost for the use of an asset for one period. That is, the price for employing or obtaining one unit of capital services.
Subsidies on products
Subsidies payable per unit of a good or service. The subsidy may be a specific amount of money per unit of quantity of a good or service, or it may be calculated ad valorem as a specified percentage of the price per unit. A subsidy may also be calculated as the difference between a specified target price and the market price actually paid by a purchaser. A subsidy on a product usually becomes payable when the product is produced, sold or imported, but it may also become payable in other circumstances, such as when a product is exported, leased, transferred, delivered or used for own consumption or own capital formation.
Supply and use tables
Supply and use tables are in the form of matrices that record how supplies of different kinds of goods and services originate from domestic industries and imports and how those supplies are allocated between various intermediate or final uses, including exports.
Tangible fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets consist of dwellings; other buildings and structures; machinery and equipment; and cultivated assets. See also Dwellings; Other buildings and structures; Machinery and equipment; and Cultivated assets.
Tangible non-produced assets
Tangible non-produced assets are non-produced assets that occur in nature and over which ownership may be enforced and transferred. Environmental assets over which ownership rights have not, or cannot, be enforced, such as international waters or air space, are excluded. Tangible non-produced assets consist of land, subsoil assets, non-cultivated biological resources and water resources. See also Non-produced assets.
Taxes less subsidies on production and imports
Defined as 'taxes on products' plus 'other taxes on production' less 'subsidies on products' less 'other subsidies on production'.
Taxes on production and imports
Consist of 'taxes on products' and 'other taxes on production'. These taxes do not include any taxes on the profits or other income received by an enterprise. They are payable irrespective of the profitability of the production process. They may be payable on the land, fixed assets or labour employed in the production process, or on certain activities or transactions.
Taxes on products
Taxes payable per unit of some good or service. The tax may be a specific amount of money per unit of quantity of a good or service (quantity being measured either in terms of discrete units or continuous physical variables such as volume, weight, strength, distance, time, etc.), or it may be calculated ad valorem as a specified percentage of the price per unit or value of the goods or services transacted. A tax on a product usually becomes payable when the product is produced, sold or imported, but it may also become payable in other circumstances, such as when a good is exported, leased, transferred, delivered, or used for own consumption or own capital formation.
Tornqvist volume index
Tornqvist volume index is a weighted geometric average of the quantity relatives using arithmetic averages of the value shares in the two periods as weights.
Total factor income
That part of the cost of producing the gross domestic product which consists of gross payments to factors of production (labour and capital). It represents the value added by these factors in the process of production and is equivalent to gross domestic product less taxes plus subsidies on production and imports.
Wages and salaries
Consist of amounts payable in cash including the value of any social contributions, income taxes, fringe benefits tax, etc., payable by the employee even if they are actually withheld by the employer for administrative convenience or other reasons and paid directly to social insurance schemes, tax authorities, etc., on behalf of the employee. Wages and salaries may be paid as remuneration in kind instead of, or in addition to, remuneration in cash. Separation, termination and redundancy payments are also included in wages and salaries. Wages and salaries are also measured as far as possible on an accrual rather than a strict cash basis.
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