Annual Report 2009 - Asian Productivity Organization

databook project, as this series involves a coordination
meeting every three years and instead resources
were allocated for conducting in-depth research and
surveys to enrich or complement national data where
nonexistent or scarce data for cardinal productivity
indicators were identified as problematic. The 2009
databook project conducted a national wealth survey
in Mongolia to complement insufficient capital stock
and services data to construct an important dataset for
computing multifactor productivity for the country.
APO Productivity
Databook 2009
Program coverage: Establishment
of a comprehensive set
of questionnaires for data
collection and upgrading;
Comparative analyses of labor
productivity and sources
of economic growth among
APO member countries and
other reference countries;
Mongolian national wealth
survey; Total factor productivity
analysis for selected
countries; and Publication of the APO Productivity
Databook 2010.
Mongolian Mission: APO Productivity Databook
2009
Productivity statistics and national accounts help
policymakers to analyze the progress of socioeconomic
development and welfare status of a nation, so that
pro-growth policy directions can be charted more
accurately. Each volume in the Productivity Databook
(PDB) series contains more detailed productivity and
economic growth analyses of the region. Mongolia
was selected as a pilot country to conduct an in-depth
study on establishing national wealth, i.e., capital data.
The APO Secretariat and the Mongolian National
Statistical Office concluded an MOU to conduct a
national wealth survey under the PDB project.
The mission, headed by the chief expert Prof. Koji
Nomura, was dispatched to Mongolia 1–2 April.
Prior to the mission, meticulous research on the
Mongolian national accounts for productivity analysis
was completed, and the research team developed a
specific methodology to measure national wealth or
capital with the aim of estimating various productivity
measures based on the APO standardized methodology.
The survey was initiated in January 2009, and the
mission supervised the performance of the survey. To
date, the survey response rate is 95%.
Mission coverage: Measurement of national wealth
and capital; Establishment of APO questionnaire for
the national wealth survey for Mongolia; and Training
of regional statistical officers and enumerators.
Mongolian Mission: Supervision of the National
Wealth Survey (APO Survey Initiative)
The mission, headed by Chief Expert Prof. Koji
Nomura, was dispatched to Mongolia 27–30 July.
This mission had the main objective of supervising
the progress of data collection, as well as advising on
programming of statistical error checks, catering to
the specific problems of data collection reported by
the Mongolian counterpart. Approximately 90% of
the data collection has been done, and most of the
collected data were entered into the system by the
time of the mission. The main challenge of the mission
was to reduce statistical errors in data entry and code
the asset classification, thus ensuring high-quality data
production from the survey. Furthermore, the mission
conducted an archive research and completed English
translation of the comprehensive historical statistical
data list of Mongolia.
Mission coverage: Measurement of national wealth
and capital; Assistance in development of statistical
error check software; Comprehensive archive and
metadata research for Mongolian economic statistics.
APO Productivity Database (Phase III)
The APO is the sole international organization
focusing on productivity in the context of economic
growth and development in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Productivity Database (PDB) project is a major
thrust of the APO’s think tank and advisory roles
for member countries. The PDB aims to cater to the
changing needs for comparative productivity measurement
based on internationally harmonized methodology,
and the outputs and knowledge gained from the
research are expected to contribute to developing and
building the capacity of member countries.
Building upon Phase I and Phase II, Phase III of
the PDB project was embarked upon to continue to
improve the data quality and coverage of productivity
indicators, while extending the scope to certain crucial
indicators enabling in-depth productivity analyses,
including total factor productivity (TFP) analysis.
Phase III completed a detailed examination of labor
quality, a well-recognized indicator that helps evaluate
the role of the accumulation of human capital in
economic development. During Phase III, a study
was initiated to investigate land as a factor of production
for attempting to evaluate productivity growth
in the agriculture and service sectors. Moreover,
under this research phase, the PDB constructed a
comprehensive Web-based database, the APO Asian
Quarterly Growth Map (AQGM), which analyzes
the quarterly economic growth of APO member
countries on the APO Web site, based on the most
recent quarterly GDP data released by the respective
national statistics authorities. The AQGM covers not
APO ANNUAL REPORT 2009 23
INDUSTRY AND SERVICE SECTORS