National Accounts in Transition Countries: Balancing the Biases?

In the past several years, efforts have been made to introduce the 1993 System of National Accounts in most of the formerly centrally planned economies. In doing so, a number of problems have emerged, some of which are particular to the situation of these countries. Some of these problems will probably cause overestimates of national accounts variables, others will cause underestimates, and it would be purely coincidental if these effects cancel out. This paper discusses the most disconcerting issues in this situation and possible solutions. Copyright 1998 by The International Association for Research in Income and Wealth.