Description and Measurement of Economic Activity

Description And measurement of economic activity National accounts are a simplified and quantitative representation of a country's economy at a given time. It is a fundamental instrument both for setting the objectives of the plan and for the economic action of the State in general. National accounting is closely linked to the search for greater control of economic policies; it must improve knowledge of the main economic quantities. It provides the following information, who: invests, consumes, carries out credit operations, receives the various income (profit, annuities, salaries, interest, etc.)? To fulfill this task, national accounts define institutional sectors and economic functions. Institutional sectors In the sense of national accounts, economic agents are called institutional sectors. By definition, an institutional sector is a grouping of economic units having homogeneous economic behavior and representing a decision-making center. The classification of institutional sectors is done on the basis of the identification of their main function in the economy. The national accounts include the following sectors: / Non-financial companies:Their main activity is the production of non-financial market goods or services. They bring together public companies (STEG, Tunisair, Tunisie Télécom, etc.) and private companies. / Financial institutions:there are credit institutions and insurance companies. The role of credit institutions is to collect savings and distribute credits. Their main function is financial intermediation. As for businesses. insurance companies, they are responsible for covering their clients' risks, in exchange for the voluntary contributions paid to them. / Households :a household is considered to be each individual living alone or each group of individuals living in the same home. This sector is made up of all resident institutional units whose main function is consumption, possibly production if this is organized within the framework of an individual enterprise. / Public administrations:this sector includes the State and local authorities. We find there : central administrations: Ministries local administrations: Municipalities social security administrations: CNSS, CNRPS, CNAM Public administrations produce non-market services. Their resources come from compulsory contributions (social contributions, taxes). They redistribute their resources to other economic actors (subsidies to businesses, aid, health spending, education). / Private administrations:they provide non-market services (such as unions, associations) or non-profit market services (for example works councils). These institutions are financed by voluntary contributions. / The rest of the world :it is the set of economic agents residing abroad and having relations with the national economy.