Research by Governor Philip R. Lane examines the treatment of global firms in national accounts

• Research examines how activities of global firms should be captured in national accounts
• Proposes an accounting framework that helps shape the analysis of national accounts

The Central Bank of Ireland has published an Economic Letter by Governor Philip R. Lane which reviews foundations for the analysis of how the activities of global firms should be captured in national accounts. The focus is on developing an underlying national accounting framework that can help shape the analysis of national accounts for economies in which globally active firms play an important role.

The research is based on the principles that a stable measure of overall economic performance should be robust to alternative accounting approaches and that any sensible national index should be robust to alternative mechanisms by which the return to a foreign investor is paid out.

The views expressed in this paper are those of the author only, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Central Bank of Ireland.