[Federal Register: December 4, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 232)]
[Notices]
[Page 68122-68123]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04de07-29]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Proposed Data Sharing Activity
AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) proposes to provide to
the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data collected from several
surveys that it conducts on U.S. direct investment abroad, foreign
direct investment in the United States, and U.S. international services
transactions for statistical purposes exclusively. In accordance with
the requirement of Section 524(d) of the Confidential Information
Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA), we are
providing the opportunity for public comment on this data-sharing
action.
The data provided to BLS will be used for two purposes:
(1) The BLS International Price Program is researching the
feasibility of producing price indexes for imports and exports of
services, such as financial services, film and tape rentals, and
royalties and license fees. BLS will use data from BEA surveys to
develop sample frames of companies that trade these services and to
directly collect price information from the selected companies. BLS
will also use BEA data as weighting sources for the price indexes.
Should it prove feasible to produce price indexes for international
services, BEA will share data collected in its direct investment and
international services surveys with BLS each time BLS draws a new
sample and reweights the indexes. BLS will share sample frame and
revenue information that it collects with BEA, which will allow BEA to
identify errors or omissions in the data collected on its surveys. This
data sharing effort will improve the quality of price indexes for
imported and exported services that BEA uses in compiling the National
Income and Product Accounts.
(2) The BLS Division of Foreign Labor Statistics will use BEA data
collected on employment, compensation, and (as available) hours worked
at the foreign affiliates of U.S. multinational companies to estimate
their hourly compensation costs for research comparing the levels and
trends of hourly compensation costs of foreign affiliates with the
average costs for establishments in the same industries and same host
countries as the affiliates.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 4,
2008.
ADDRESSES: Please direct all written comments on this proposed program
to the Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BE-1), Washington, DC
20230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information on
this proposed program should be directed to Maria Borga, Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BE-50), Washington, DC 20230, by phone on
[[Page 68123]]
(202) 606-9853, via the Internet at Maria.Borga@bea.gov, or by fax on
(202) 606-5318.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
CIPSEA (Pub. L. 107-347, Title V) and the International Investment
and Trade in Services Survey Act (Pub. L. 94-472, 22 United States Code
(U.S.C.) 3101-3108) allow BEA and BLS to share certain business data
for exclusively statistical purposes. Section 524(d) of the CIPSEA
requires a Federal Register notice announcing the intent to share data
(allowing 60 days for public comment), since BEA respondents were
required by law to report the data. Section 524(d) also requires us to
provide information about the terms of the agreement for data sharing.
For purposes of this notice, BEA has decided to group these terms by
three categories.
The categories are:
Shared data.
Statistical purposes for the shared data.
Data access and confidentiality.
Shared Data
BEA proposes to provide BLS with data from its surveys of U.S.
direct investment abroad, foreign direct investment in the United
States, and U.S. international services transactions. BLS will use
these data for statistical purposes exclusively.
Statistical Purposes for the Shared Data
Data collected in BEA's surveys of direct investment are used to
develop estimates of the financing and operations of U.S. parent
companies, their foreign affiliates, and U.S. affiliates of foreign
companies, and estimates of transactions between parents and
affiliates. Data collected in BEA's surveys of U.S. international
services transactions are used to develop estimates of services
transactions between U.S. persons (in a broad legal sense, including
companies) and foreign persons. These estimates are published in the
Survey of Current Business, BEA's monthly journal; in other BEA
publications; and on BEA's Web site at http://www.bea.gov/. All data
are collected under sections 3101-3108, of Title 22, U.S.C.
The shared data will be used for several exclusively statistical
purposes by both agencies, such as the production of price indexes for
imported and exported services and the making of international
comparisons between the hourly compensation costs at the foreign
affiliates of U.S. multinational companies and the average costs for
establishments in the same industries and same host countries as the
foreign affiliates.
Data Access and Confidentiality
Title 22, U.S.C. 3104 protects the confidentiality of the data to
be provided by BEA to BLS. The data may be seen only by persons sworn
to uphold the confidentiality of the information. Access to the shared
data will be restricted to specifically authorized personnel and will
be provided for statistical purposes only. Any results of this research
are subject to BEA disclosure protection. All BLS employees with access
to these data will become BEA Special Sworn Employees--meaning that
they, under penalty of law, must uphold the data's confidentiality.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
[FR Doc. E7-23506 Filed 12-3-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P