Industrial cleaning services, price index, Q4 2008

National

Frequency: Quarterly

Timelines: The statistics are published within 12 weeks after the end of the quarter

The statistics will be reported to EUROSTAT

Data are stored as text files on UNIX.

The purpose of the index is to measure the development in prices for industrial cleaning services. Further the index will be used to deflate the National Accounts. The statistics comply the short-term statistics regulation.

The statistics were published for the first time in 2007, with figures from the 4th quarter of 2004.

The index is used to analyse and survey the development in prices and costs in the industry, and in the National Accounts. Others with an interest in the market for industrial cleaning services also use it, for example institutions within research and development and media.

The index is used in National Accounts. A value index is also produced for this industry group. The structural business statistics you can find at: Structural business statistics . There is a difference in detailing level between preliminary and final figures.

The Statistics Act, Section 2-1,2-2 and 2-3

Regulation (EC) No 1158/2005 of the European Parliament and the Council of July 6 2005 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 concerning short-term statistics.

The population is all establishments in Norway classified in the industry group Industrial cleaning services (SN2002:74.7). The statistical unit in the survey is establishments (local kind-of-activity units). The industry group consist of different cleaning services. The statistics are limited to cover Traditional cleaning services.

Statistics Norway's Business Register is used to draw the sample. Price data are collected via a separate questionnaire-based survey. Figures on the establishments' turnover are collected from the structural business statistics, the Vat register and from questionnaires. The reason we use different sources is to reduce the respondent burden.

From the population we draw a sample containing about 90 establishments. We divide the establishments into size groups, determined by the number of employees. We use a PPS-sample (Probability Proportional to Size), i.e. the sample will be dominated by large establishments. Finally, the establishments themselves chooses contracts that are representative for their activity.

The survey is based on a quarterly questionnaire combined with information from the structural business statistics and Vat register. We offer both a postal and electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire is posted by the end of the quarter, with a three weeks deadline. Respondents that have not returned the questionnaire by the deadline, are given a postal reminder together with a one-week extension of the deadline. If the questionnaire still is not returned, the respondent is given a fine and a one-week final extension of the deadline.

The postal questionnaires are read optically, and the electronic questionnaires are automatically loaded into the revision application. Every questionnaire are afterwards controlled and revised, both automatically and manually. If price changes seems unlikely large, the respondents are contacted.

For each establishment in the sample, price change per contract is calculated. The next step is to calculate sub-indices for every size group, and finally a main index for the industry group. The weights used in the calculation, is turnover in the industry group. We use a combination of turnover by establishment and turnover by establishment and type of cleaning service. The establishments are stratified into five size groups by the number of employees. The index calculated is a fixed-weights index, more precisely a Young Index with fixed weights. The weights will updated annually in connection with renewal of the sample. We find the price development by comparing the prices in the present quarter to the prices in the previous quarter. This enables us to include new contracts continuously without estimating and imputing fictive base period prices. We chain the index every quarter to create the published index.

It is impossible to identify sensitive information from the statistics.

The use of collected data from respondents will be in accordance with the demands in the Statistics Act provisions. The information will be stored properly and kept confidential.

The time series goes back to the 4th quarter of 2004. There has been no changes in the calculation method.