A proposed model for microintegration of economic en social data
Economic and social effects of globalization are handled mostly separately in many studies. The complicated context of several variables influencing the everyday behaviour of companies, people, and governments makes it very difficult to determine the causal effects of (inter)national flows of capital, production, employment and trade. The mere fact that most surveys seems to ´stop at the border´ complicates the analysis of these international flows. This leads to a scattered and incomplete picture of the effects of globalization.
Effective (government) policies requires profound statistical evaluation of the effects of macroeconomic, microeconomic and employment policy measures. In order to evaluate these outcomes on macro, meso and micro level, information about the effects of endogenous and exogenous factors on economic growth and employment are a conditiosine qua non. For this purpose, we need more than the standard information on trading flows, investment flows, outsourcing and outplacement of business activities. Basically, microdata on the relation between economic activity (‘business’) and its effects on individual employment and welfare (‘people’) are the answer (Bayard, 2002; ONS Conference 2005; Lane & Stephens, 2006).
