This article provides a broad overview of the measurement techniques used in estimating GDP and the national accounts in the United States. In the United States, the GDP and the national accounts estimates are fundamentally based on detailed economic census data and other information that is available only once every five years. The challenge lies in developing a framework and methods that take these economic census data and combine them using a mosaic of monthly, quarterly, and annual economic indicators to produce quarterly and annual GDP estimates. One problem is that the other economic indicators that are used to extrapolate GDP in between the five-year economic census data -- such as retail sales, housing starts, and manufacturers shipments of capital goods -- are often collected for purposes other than estimating GDP and may embody definitions that differ from those used in the national accounts. Another problem is some data are simply not available for the earlier estimates in the reporting process. For the initial monthly estimates of GDP, data on about 25 percent of GDP -- especially in the service sector -- are not available, and so these sectors of the economy are estimated based on past trends and whatever related data are available. The initial monthly GDP estimates based on these extrapolations are revised as more complete data become available In producing the national accounts estimates, the Bureau of Economic Analysis attempts to strike a balance between accuracy and timeliness so that the estimates can be used to monitor real overall economic growth and inflation, as well as major sectors of interest.

Human capital estimates of the economic value of life have been routinely used in the past to perform cost-benefit analyses of health programs. Recently, however, serious questions have been raised concerning the conceptual basis for valuing human life by applying these estimates. Most economists writing on these issues tend to agree that a more conceptually correct method to value risks to human life in costbenefit analyses would be based on individuals' "willingness to pay" for small changes in their probability of survival. Attempts to implement the willingness-topay approach using survey responses or revealedpreference estimates have produced a confusing array of values fraught with statistical problems and measurement difficulties. As a result, economists have searched for a link between willingness to pay and standard human capital estimates and have found that for most individuals a lower bound for valuing risks to life can be based on their willingness to pay to avoid the expected economic losses associated with death. However, while these studies provide support for using individual's private valuation of forgone income in valuing risks to life, it is also clear that standard human capital estimates cannot be used for this purpose without reformulation. After reviewing the major approaches to valuing risks to life, this paper concludes that estimates based on the human capital approach-reformulated using a willingness-to-pay criterion-produce the only clear, consistent, and objective values for use in cost-benefit analyses of policies affecting risks to life. The paper presents the first empirical estimates of such adjusted willingness-topay/human capital values.

The satellite accounts illustrated in this paper reflect the household's role as a producer and an investor in durables as well as a consumer by modifying the NIPA's to (1) incorporate the value of nonmarket (unpaid) household work into GDP; and (2) treat expenditures on consumer durables as investment and measure the value of the services those durables provide. Additionally, an Input–Output (I–O) model highlights the household's functions as a producer and investor in much greater detail for the year 1992 by incorporating a household industry for each time‐use activity and by showing the inputs to and outputs from each household industry's production.

Account 1. Domestic Income and Product Account Compensation of employees, paid 6,024.3 Wage and salary accruals 4,979.8 Disbursements (3-12 and 5-11) 4,979.8 W a ge accruals less disbursements (4-9 and 6-11) 0.0 Supplements to wages and salaries (3-14) 1,044.5 Taxes on production and imports (4-16) 760.1 Less: Subsidies (4-8) 38.2 Net operating surplus 2,523.2 Private enterprises (2-19) 2,520.3 Current surplus of government enterprises (4-26) 2.8 Consumption of fixed capital (6-13) 1,288.6 Gross domestic income 10,558.0 Statistical discrepancy (6-19)-77.2 GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT 10,480.8 Personal consumption expenditures (3-3) 7,385.3 Durable goods 911.3 Nondurable goods 2,086.0 Services 4,388.0 Gross private domestic investment 1,589.2 Fixed investment (6-2) 1,583.9 Nonresidential 1,080.2 Structures 266.3 Equipment and software 813.9 Residential 503.7 Change in private inventories (6-4) 5.4 Net exports of goods and services-426.3 Exports (5-1) 1,006.8 Imports (5-9) 1,433.1 Government consumption expenditures and gross investment (4-1 and 6 1,932.5 Federal 679.5 National defense 438.2 Nondefense 241.2 State and local 1,253.1 GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT 10,480.8 Account 2. Private Enterprise Income Account Income payments on assets 2,316.7 Interest and miscellaneous payments (3-20 and 4-21) 2,267.7 Dividend payments to the rest of the world (5-14) 42.1 Reinvested earnings on foreign direct investment in the U.S. (5-15) 6.9 Business current transfer payments (net) 89.8 T o persons (net) (3-24) 42.6 T o government (net) (4-24) 46.8 T o the rest of the world (net) (5-19) 0.4 Proprietors' income with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments (3-17) 797.7 10 Rental income of persons with capital consumption adjustment (3-18) 173.0 (continued) Corporate profits with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments 904.2 Taxes on corporate income 195.0 To government (4-17) 185.9 To the rest of the world (5-19) 9.2 Profits after tax with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments 709.1 Net dividends (3-21 and 4-22) 398.3 Undistributed corporate profits with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments (6-10) 310.8 USES OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE INCOME Net operating surplus (1-9) 2,520.3 Income receipts on assets 1,761.1 Interest (3-20) 1,558.7 Dividend receipts from the rest of the world (5-6) 81.5 Reinvested earnings on U.S. direct investment abroad (5-7) 121.0 SOURCES OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE INCOME 4,281.5 Account 3. Personal Income and Outlay Account Personal current taxes (4-15) 1,053.1 Personal outlays 7,674.0 Personal consumption expenditures (1-15) 7,385.3 Personal interest payments (3-20) 194.7 Personal current transfer payments 94.0 T o government (4-25) 58.6 T o the rest of the world (net) (5-17) 35.4 Personal saving (6-9) 183.2 PERSONAL TAXES, OUTLAYS, AND SAVING 8,910.3 Compensation of employees, received 6,019.1 Wage and salary disbursements 4,974.6 Domestic (1-3 less 5-11) 4,971.4 Rest of the world (5-3) 3.2 Supplements to wages and salaries (1-5) 1,044.5 Employer contributio...

This paper presents a satellite account where households are treated as production units. It extends previous work that treats consumer durables as investment and that values nonmarket household production activities such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare. Services from consumer durables and government capital related to household production are also valued. In constructing the updated accounts, this paper incorporates new time use data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and the harmonized time use data from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS). This paper also discusses and incorporates recommendations made by the U.S. National Academies panel on nonmarket accounts.