7th IMF Statistical Forum: Measuring the Informal Economy
November 14-15, 2019
IMF Conference
November 14-15, 2019
Location: IMF Headquarters 2, Conference Halls 1 & 2
| Thursday, November 14, 2019 | |
| 8:00 am | Registration and Continental Breakfast |
| 9:15 a.m |
Mr. David Lipton, First Deputy Managing Director, IMF |
| 9:30 a.m. |
Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF |
| 9:45 a.m. |
Session I: Definition and Scope of the Informal Economy Chair: Mr. Louis Marc Ducharme, Chief Statistician and Data Officer, and Director, Statistics Department, IMF Mr. Friedrich Schneider (Austria, Johannes Kepler University) with Mr. Leandro Medina, Shedding Light on the Shadow Economy: A Global Database Mr. Ibrahima Tall (National Agency for Statistics and Demography of Senegal) with Mr. Ahmadou Aly Mbaye, Conceptualizing the Informal Sector: Analysis and Application to Francophone Africa |
| 10:40 a.m. | Coffee Break |
| 11:10 a.m. | Mr. Michael Frosch (International Labour Organization), Revision of the Standards for Statistics on Informality
Ms. Jennifer Ribarsky, Mr. Thomas Alexander, and Mr. Gabriel Quirós-Romero (IMF), State of Play: Importance, Conceptual Fragmentation, and Weak Data Sources Audience Questions |
| 12:30 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:45 p.m. |
Session II: Standard Estimation Practices—Determining the Level and Growth of the Informal Economy Chair: Ms. Sharmini Coorey, Director, Institute for Capacity Development, IMF Mr. François Roubaud (French Research Institute for Sustainable Development, France), with Ms. Nghiêm Thị Vân, Measuring the Non-Observed Economy in Vietnam: A Focus on Informal Economy Mr. Federico Sallusti (Italian National Institute of Statistics), Detecting Under-Reporting of Value Added and VAT Fraud in National Accounts Mr. Venkata Ramana Murthy Salapaka (India, National Statistical Office), Measuring Informal Economy in India Audience Questions |
| 3:30 p.m. | Coffee Break |
| 4:00 p.m. |
Session II (continued): Standard Estimation Practices—Determining the Level and Growth of the Informal Economy Chair: Mr. Abebe Selassie, Director, African Department, IMF Ms. Shu Yu (World Bank), with Mr. Ceyhun Elgin, Mr. Ayhan Kose, Ms. Franziska Ohnsorge, Shades of Grey: Measuring the Informal Economy Business Cycles Ms. Lisa Grace S. Bersales (University of the Philippines School of Statistics), with Ms. Vivian R. Ilarina, Measuring the Contribution of the Informal Sector to the Philippine Economy: Current Practices and Challenges Mr. Francisco Guillen (Mexico, INEGI), Measurement of the Informal Economy. From Basic to Derived Statistics Discussant: Mr. Sanjiv Mahajan, Head of International Strategy and Coordination, Office for National Statistics, UK Audience Questions |
| 6:15 p.m. | Cocktail Reception |
| Friday, November 15, 2019 | |
| 8:45 a.m. |
Session III: New Techniques, New Technologies, and New Potential Data Sources Chair: Mr. Jihad Azour, Director, Middle East and Central Asia Department, IMF Mr. Frederico Lima and Mr. Gene Leon (IMF), Estimating Economic Activity in Zimbabwe Using Big Data Mr. Erick Rangel-Gonzalez (Mexico, Central Bank of Mexico), with Mr. Irving Llamosas-Rosas, An Alternative Method to Measure Non-Registered Economic Activity in Mexico Using Satellite Nightlights Mr. Ricardo Valencia Ramírez (Colombia, National Administrative Department of Statistics), with Mr. Juan Oviedo Arango, Informality in Data: A Case Study in the Use of Multidimensional Measure to Capture the Formalization Process Ms. Nan Liu (China, National Bureau of Statistics), China’s Experiences in Estimating the Informal Economy Audience Questions |
| 11:00 a.m. | Coffee Break |
| 11:30 a.m. |
Session IV: Measuring Illicit Flows Chair: Mr. Ceda Ogada, Deputy General Counsel, Legal Department, IMF Ms. Irmgard Zeiler (UN Office on Drugs and Crime) with Mr. Federico Sallusti, Mr. Alexander Kamprad, and Mr. Enrico Bisogno, Measuring Illegal Economic Activities and Illicit Financial Flows: Challenges and Possible Solutions Mr. Sugata Marjit (Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Kolkata, India) with Mr. Amit Biswas, Mr. Sandip Sarkar, Misinvoicing Trade & Informal Capital Movements: The USA - India Case Ms. Rachel Soloveichik (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis), Including Illegal Activity in the U.S. National Accounts Ms. Sarah Atkinson (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis), Toward Developing Estimates of U.S. Imports of Illegal Drugs Audience Questions |
| 1:30 p.m. | Lunch |
| 2:45 p.m. |
Session V: Forum Takeaways and Discussion Panel Chair: Mr. Gerry Rice, Director, Communications Department, IMF Panelists: Ms. Lisa Grace S. Bersales (University of the Philippines), Mr. Gabriel Quirós-Romero (IMF), and Ms. Irmgard Zeiler (UN Office on Drugs Audience Questions |
| 4:00 p.m. |
Closure of Forum—Mr. Louis Marc Ducharme |
|
ORGANIZERS: Gabriel Quirós Romero, Thomas F. Alexander E-MAIL: STAForum@imf.org |
