A researcher would like to join two CANSIM tables for a continuous provincial/territorial GDP time series
To this end, we are wondering if the prices for the two tables below can be harmonized as current market prices? Please see below for the specifics of the two tables.
Also, was GDP being tracked province by province (& territories) before 1961? If so, where would this have been published? I note that cat. no. 13-213 only goes back to 1961 – I couldn’t readily find anything before this. Cat. no. 13-001 (1953 - ) doesn’t seem to break the provinces down.
CANSIM table 384-0015
1961-1980
What prices …
Are these variables all available in current market prices? We note that these variables are at market prices, but there is no metadata on whether these are current prices. Are they?
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CANSIM table 384-0038
1981-2013
What prices …
Are these variables, all in market prices? We note that we can select Prices=Current prices. There is no metadata on whether these are market prices. Are they?
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Variables of interest
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Variables of interest
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Answer
Both GDP estimations in CANSIM table 384-0015 and 384-0038 are at market prices (i.e. “Provincial gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices” and “Gross domestic product at market prices”, respectively). Here is a definition of market prices:
Amounts of money that willing buyers pay to acquire something from willing sellers; the exchanges are made between independent parties and on the basis of commercial considerations only, sometimes called “at arm's length.”Current prices refer to the prices at a specific time period (i.e. year). Here is the definition :
Transactions, assets or liabilities are said to be expressed in current prices if the prices used in their valuation are the prices prevailing in the period of observation; that is both the quantity and the price components of the value series relate to the current period. Period-to-period changes in current price values may reflect changes in both quantities and prices.The first year where there is data on GDP by province is 1961. The data in CANSIM table 384-0015 are based on SNA 1968 concepts; SNA 1997 has since been adopted and CANSIM table 384-0038 is currently based on SNA 2008 concepts. In addition to the change in concepts, a constant dollar estimate was not produced in 384-0015 and therefore it would not be possible to harmonize the prices.
