Based on the country's National Accounts, an aggregate Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) will be constructed for the Portuguese economy. The full consonance between the two will be demonstrated by identifying both the items and balances of the various internal accounts of the System of National Accounts in the constructed SAM. The balance of the government budget and the balance of payments will also be identified.Blocks of sub-matrices with common characteristics will be identified and described in terms of the national accounting transactions that are included in each of them. The SAM will be shown as a complete account of the circular flow in the economy and possible disaggregations will be explored in order to construct a database for economic modelling. From the Pilot-SAM for Portugal, the focus on households and employment will be specified in order to construct a database for a SAM-based CGE model with the aim of studying income distribution in Portugal.

National income estimates date back to the late 17th century, but only in the half-century since the Second World War have economic accounts developed in their present form, becoming an indispensable tool for macroeconomic analysis, projections and policy formulation. Furthermore, it was in this period that the United Nations issued several versions of a system of national accounts (SNA) to make possible economic comparisons on a consistent basis. The latest version, SNA 1993, published in early 1994, occasioned this collection of essays and commentaries. The three chief objectives of the volume are: to enhance understanding of socioeconomic accounts generally and of SNA 1993 in particular; to offer a critique of SNA 1993, including constructive suggestions for future revisions of the system, making it even more useful for its national and international purposes; and to serve as a textbook, or book of readings in conjunction with SNA 1993, for courses in economic accounts.

The 1993 SNA represents a major advance in national accounting. While updating and clarifying the 1968 SNA, the 1993 SNA provides the basis for improving compilation of national accounts statistics, promoting integration of economic and related statistics, and enhancing analysis of economic developments. The 1993 SNA deals more clearly with relationships between economic flows (such as production, income, savings, accumulation, and financing) and links between these flows and stocks. At the same time the 1993 SNA reflects the many significant developments that have taken place in financial markets and completes the integration of balance sheets into the system. The 1993 SNA also suggests how satellite accounts (e.g. environmental accounts) and alternative classifications (e.g., through social accounting matrices) an be used to augment the central framework of the system.

A New Architecture for the U.S. National Accounts brings together a distinguished group of contributors to initiate the development of a comprehensive and fully integrated set of United States national accounts. The purpose of the new architecture is not only to integrate the existing systems of accounts, but also to identify gaps and inconsistencies and expand and incorporate systems of nonmarket accounts with the core system. Since the United States economy accounts for almost thirty percent of the world economy, it is not surprising that accounting for this huge and diverse set of economic activities requires a decentralized statistical system. This volume outlines the major assignments among institutions that include the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Department of Labor, the Census Bureau, and the Governors of the Federal Reserve System. An important part of the motivation for the new architecture is to integrate the different components and make them consistent. This volume is the first step toward achieving that goal.

The key elements of a new architecture for the U.S. national accounts have been developed in a prototype system constructed by Dale W. Jorgenson and J. Steven Landefeld, Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. The focus of the U.S. national accounts is shifting from economic stabilization policy toward enhancing the economy's growth potential. A second motivation for the new architecture is to integrate the different components of the decentralized U.S. statistical system and make them consistent.

A guide for constructing and using composite indicators for policy makers, academics, the media and other interested parties. In particular, this handbook is concerned with indicators which compare and rank country performance.