Research Discussion Paper – RDP 2002-05 Real-Time National Accounts Data

Contents

• Introduction
• Data Issues
• The Scale of the Real-time Issue for Australian Output Data
• Conclusion
• Appendix A: Revisions to Expenditure-based GDP Estimates
• Appendix B: An Alternative Approach to Assessing the Frequency and Persistence of Alterations to Output Growth Estimates
• References

This paper analyses over 120 vintages of data on national output. Much of the raw data was extracted from archived versions of quarterly macroeconomic data, including the databases for the National Income Forecasting and TRYM models; without the generous assistance of Peter Rossiter of the Australian Bureau of Statistics in retrieving those databases, this project would not have been possible. We would also like to thank David Gruen and Peter Rossiter for helpful comments, and Tim Robinson and Marileze van Zyl for assistance with compilation of the database. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Reserve Bank of Australia. Responsibility for any data errors also rests solely with the authors.