Research Spotlights

New Approach to Measuring the Digital Economy

Measuring the digital economy is a high priority for analysts of economic growth, but it is a difficult task. A working paper by Benjamin Bridgman, Tina Highfill, and Jon Samuels, all of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), offers a new approach that augments the measures in BEA's Digital Economy Satellite Account to include digital services provided by high-tech consumer durables.

July 13, 2023

Multinational Firms in the U.S. Economy: New Insights

The economic significance of multinational enterprises (MNEs) necessitates a greater understanding of their impacts on domestic firms, workers, and local economies. Fariha Kamal and Wei Ouyang of the U.S. Census Bureau and Jessica McCloskey of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis describe the construction of two confidential crosswalks that permit a comprehensive identification of MNEs operating in the United States.

July 13, 2023

An Updated Look at Government Enterprises

Using Census of Governments data for 1967–2017, a working paper by Tina Highfill of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that housing and urban renewal as well as public transit should no longer be classified as state and local government enterprises in the National Income and Product Accounts as of 1972 and 1982, respectively. Additionally, hospitals and solid waste management should be classified as state and local government enterprises beginning in 1977 and 1992, respectively.

July 13, 2023

Measuring Infrastructure: Highways and Streets

Recent debates on increased infrastructure spending have highlighted the need to measure infrastructure and its effects on economic growth and well-being. That's the topic of a working paper by Robert Kornfeld of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and Barbara Fraumeni of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

July 13, 2023