Standard national accounting concepts, economic theory and data compilation issues; on constancy and change in the UN-Manuals on national accounting (1947, 1953, 1968, 1993)

In this paper, the four successive guidelines of the United Nations on national accounting are discussed in view of economic theory (Keynesian analysis, welfare, Hicksian income, input-output analysis, etc.) and data compilation issues (e.g. the link with concepts in administrative data sources). The new guidelines of the EC should complement those of the UN and be simpler and more cost-efficient. It should define a balanced set of operational concepts and tables that is attainable for most EC countries within 5 years.