Institutional Units and Sectors 19
Th e Use of Subsectors.
2.62 Each of the sectors of the economy may be di-
vided into subsectors, and the subsectors can be com-
bined in diff erent ways to form other sectors. No single
method of combining subsectors may be optimal for
all purposes. Dividing the total economy into sectors
and subsectors enhances the usefulness of the data for
purposes of economic analysis and enables targeted
monitoring of particular groups of institutional units
for policy purposes. For example, the general govern-
ment sector can be divided into central, state, and
local government subsectors, while social security
funds could be presented as a separate subsector or
could be included in the subsector that organizes and
manages them. Th e nonfi nancial corporations sub-
sector can be divided into public nonfi nancial corpo-
rations, foreign-controlled nonfi nancial corporations,
and national private nonfi nancial corporations.^20 Th e
division of sectors into subsectors depends upon the
type of analysis to be undertaken, the needs of policy-
makers, the availability of data, the economic circum-
stances, and the institutional arrangements within a
country. Figure 2.2 shows the relationship between
the general government sector, the public sector, and
the other main sectors of the domestic economy.
Institutional Coverage and Sectorization of the Public Sector
2.63 Th e public sector consists of all resident in-
stitutional units controlled directly, or indirectly, by
resident government units—that is, all units of the
(^20) Similarly, fi nancial corporations can be divided into public,
foreign-controlled, and national private fi nancial corporations.
general government sector and resident public corpo-
rations. Figure 2.3 illustrates the main components of
the public sector. Statistics should be compiled for the
general government and public sectors, as well as for
all the subsectors of the general government and the
public corporations subsector.
Delineating General Government and Public Corporations
2.64 Th e general government sector consists
of all government units and all resident nonmar-
ket NPIs that are controlled by government units,
while the public corporations subsector (see para-
graph 2.104) consists of all corporations controlled
by government units or other public corporations.
General government also includes public enter-
prises, legally constituted as corporations, but that
do not satisfy the statistical criteria to be treated
as corporations (see paragraphs 2.31–2.35).^21 To
determine which public enterprises are treated as
general government units and which as public cor-
porations, it is necessary to delineate nonmarket
and market producers.
2.65 A market producer is an institutional unit
that provides all or most of its output to others at
prices that are economically signifi cant. A nonmar-
ket producer provides all or most of its output to
others for free or at prices that are not economically
signifi cant.
2.66 Economically signifi cant prices are prices that
have a signifi cant eff ect on the amounts that producers(^21) Public enterprises are oft en also referred to as state-owned
enterprises or parastatals.
Figure 2.2 The Public Sector and Its Relation to Other Institutional Sectors of the Economy
General
Government
Sector
Central government
State governments
Local governments
Public
sector
Public corporations
Private
corporations
Private
corporations
Public corporations
Private Private
Nonfinancial
Corporations
Sector
Financial
Corporations
Sector
Households
Sector
Nonprofit
Institutions
Serving House-
holds Sector