Aggregated Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) will be built for the Portuguese economy in 1997, 1998 and 1999, based on the country's national accounts statistics. The SAMs will be shown as a working instrument for quantifying the flows in the economic circuit and for simulating the effects resulting from changes in such flows. The economic flows associated with the government subsectors will be emphasised, whilst accounting and fixed-price multipliers will be calculated to facilitate the study of the effects resulting from changes in the government's expenditure, which will also be subjected to a test on their veracity.

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.

A social acccounting matrix (SAM) is a tool that has specific features for conducting studies in several different areas, as well as for supporting the policy decision process. Following an application for Portugal, a SAM-based approach is adopted for studying (measuring and modelling) the impact of the introduction of a social policy measure of the increase in households' income on the socio-economic activity of a country, and the associated institutions' income. Numerical and algebraic versions of a SAM enable the identification of the networks of the linkages of the monetary or nominal flows measured by the national accounts and the corresponding structural features, as well as the associated multiplier effects, which are used to measure the impact on the socio-economic activity. This measurement is at a macroeconomic level, using macroeconomic aggregates and balances.

Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) will be presented as tools that have specific features for studying the socio-economic activity of countries. Such features allow for the reading and interpretation of the reality under study, leading to the production of an empirical work that is not only capable of highlighting specific aspects of that activity, but also offers the chance to experiment with different interventions in regard to its functioning. In stating that the knowledge of the socio-economic activity of countries involves the use of national accounts, emphasis is placed on the desirability of working in a matrix format, which simultaneously includes activities (or industries), products, factors of production and institutions. This will be considered to be a way of capturing the relevant network of linkages and the corresponding multiplier effects in the subsequent modelling of the socio-economic activity of the countries studied.A methodological framework based on the works of R. Stone, G. Pyatt and J. Round, will be adopted outlining the main features of the SAM-based approach, according to which the SAM can describe the activity of countries either empirically or theoretically, depending on whether it is presented in a numerical or an algebraic version, respectively.Based on the latest version of the System of National Accounts (2008 SNA), a proposal for a numerical version of a SAM will be presented. Firstly, a basic structure will be presented and the need to ensure its consistency with the whole system will be emphasized. Such emphasis will then be reinforced through the analysis of possible disaggregations and extensions to that basic structure. The different forms of analysis made possible by the use of aggregates, indicators and balancing items that can be calculated from such a version and which lie outside the matrix format will also be discussed. Because any socio-economic study made of a specific space, namely, a country, should involve the consideration of its population, Socio-Demographic Matrices (SDMs) will also be briefly presented and two examples of approaches based on SAMs and SDMs will be sketched out.The exposition will be illustrated with an application to Portugal.

This Handbook aims to provide practical guidance on the calculation and allocation of the production of various types of financial services and issues related to the compilation of the financial account and balance sheets by institutional sector in the context of from-whom-to-whom relationships. The Handbook complements the 2008 SNA and related manuals, handbooks and guides. The concepts are described and defined in line with the 2008 SNA. Where appropriate, illustrative worked examples with step-by-step guidance are provided in the Handbook to give compilers and users a better picture of how to apply and interpret the various concepts. The Handbook is useful for staff working in national statistical offices, national central banks, international organizations and other institutions engaged in collecting, compiling and disseminating national accounts data, specifically on the financial corporations sector and financial account, and for users requiring a better understanding of such data.

Comparative and critical, Anthropology and Economy offers a uniquely cross-cultural view of economy. Using examples from market and non-market situations, the book shows how economies are built on five increasingly abstract spheres, from the house to community, commerce, finance, and meta-finance. Across these spheres, economy incorporates a tension between self-interested rationality and the mutuality of social relationships. Even when rational processes predominate, as in markets, economies rely on sociability and ritual to operate, whether as cronyism, pleas to divinities or the magical persuasions of advertising. Drawing on data and concepts from anthropology and economics, the book addresses wealth inequality, resource depletion, and environmental devastation especially in capitalism, providing an understanding of their persistence and ideas for controlling them. Given the recent financial crash, Gudeman offers a different understanding of the crisis and suggestions for achieving greater economic stability.