GUIDELINES TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SOCIAL ACCOUNTING MATRIX

The increasing number of countries for which a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) has been compiled testifies to the usefulness of this integrated data framework. Considerable resources are always involved in the construction of a SAM, for it provides a comprehensive description of an economy with emphasis on distributive aspects. This means that, unlike other data systems, incomes and expenditures of several categories of households and their relation to the production structure, the balance of payments and transactions by other institutions are shown. However, apart from this minimum requirement, no standardized concepts and guidelines for SAM construction are as yet available. Although a SAM should stay as close as possible to the specific (institutional) reality of the economy it describes, some general remarks as to its design and compilation are in order. This paper represents a first attempt in that direction. After a general introduction to SAMs, each stage of the construction process is reviewed in turn. The construction process begins with the overall design of the system and various options are discussed. This section includes a schematic representation of a fairly extensive SAM. Next, the sources for the SAM need to be identified, and a provisional checklist is given here. After an overview of considerations regarding the choice of a reference year, the topic of classification in the SAM is reviewed in detail. Finally, the paper describes how the different data sets might be integrated and reconciled for consistency. The guidelines may also aid in designing a time schedule and in organizing the work when constructing a SAM.