Description

As from issue number 50, the Series of Economic Studies of the Central Bank of Chile will be called Studies in Economic Statistics.

This paper presents methods to measure quantitatively the quality of statistics by analyzing the revisions that time series undergo throughout time, and applies some indicators proposed for this purpose by Eurostat and the European Central Bank to Chile’s quarterly balance of payments accounts, covering the period from 1996 to 2005. To perform a high standard assessment of data quality, it is necessary to understand why revisions exist, which dimensions define the quality of data, the relevance of carrying out a quantitative measurement of quality, how it can be done, and finally, what practices may be followed in order to improve the release of data. Key factors of these indicators are the magnitude and the variability of discrepancies generated by different versions of the data series. The application of these indicators allows us to assess the quality of different accounts and compare them each other, to monitor the quality over time, and make a comparison of the results with those obtained by the European Central Bank for other countries. In addition, we apply directional indicators that allow the check for consistency of the signals sent by the different versions of the data.