THE MEASUREMENT OF CAPITAL THROUGH A FIXED ASSET ACCOUNTING SIMULATION MODEL (FAASM)

In this article the author describes a method of estimating the capital stock of the corporate sector which is being developed at Statistics Canada. The method uses a "Fixed Asset Accounting Simulation Model" or FAASM. FAASM provides estimates of the capital stock by inferring the actual service lives of fixed assets, and using these with price indexes to revalue assets on a constant price basis. FAASM is thus an alternative to the widely used Perpetual Inventory Method. By also inferring accounting lives using the depreciation accounts, it has other important outputs. These latter get only passing mention here. Since FAASM exploits the available data in a comprehensive, systematic way, its service life and capital stock estimates may eventually, after system development and improvement in operation, approach the limits of attainable accuracy.