Accounting for Household Production in the National Accounts, 1965-2010

摘要

NONMARKET production has long been a subject of interest to national accountants and economists, dating back at least to the seminal work of Simon Kuznets (1934). Since the inception of the national income and product accounts (NIPAs) in the 1930s, issues have been raised about the scope and structure of the accounts. Kuznets, one of the early architects of the accounts, recognized the limitations of focusing solely on the measurement of market activities and excluding a broad range of other nonmarket activities that have productive value such as household production. And although the national accounts are now recognized as one of the most successful analytical measures in the United States, various supplemental series and accounts have been developed to account for a broader set of activities outside of the market economy that may offer further sources of economic growth.