The section Theory and Methodology of statistical surveys incudes the article:
• The future of the surveys ... and surveys of the future: possible usages of the Big Data in the production of the statistical information - authors Dr. Bogdan Bogdanov, Deputy President of the National Statistical Institute, and Galya Stateva, National Statistical Institute, Sofia
The purpose of the following article is to acquaint the reader with the possible applications of Big Data when producing statistical data. Several specific opportunities and challenges for the official statistics are outlined in regard to the use of Big Data.
In the first part of the article the authors provide some examples regarding the collection, storage and management of fuzzy (not well-structured) data. The assessment of the quality of Big Data is emphasized for the purposes of official statistics, including their selectivity.
The second part of the article is reviewing the best practices in Big Data usage and the administrative sources of information for statistical purposes, such as: evaluation of the population density in Europe using a mobile network, mapping the public opinion, attitude and behavior, predicting the unemployment, scanning of data and using the Internet as a source for the statistics of prices, using Big Data as a source for examining domestic budgets, modeling sample survey data by ‘smart’ electrical meaters devices, etc. Special attention is paid to sharing the experience of Eurostat when calculating the ‘flash’ estimates of the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP).
The section Statistical surveys and analysis includes the articles:
• Some external reserves for growth of the population in Bulgaria - author Prof. Dr. Dimitar Arkadiev
The article discusses the problem of demographic crisis in Bulgaria. Suggested are some foreign reserves to improve the demographic situation. These reserves may be: persons with Bulgarian citizenship in countries around the world; Bulgaria-born persons living abroad; persons from countries similar in language and culture to the Bulgarians; immigrants from countries where the main religion is Christianity; immigrants from countries where the main religion is different from Christianity - Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and others. Discussed are the advantages and disadvantages of each of the reserves. The number of Bulgarian nationals outside Bulgaria for 2011 was over 0.5 million of which over 90% are in countries of the European Union. The number of people born in Bulgaria and abroad as per 2011 is over 1 million. From these in European Union are 50% and in Turkey - 40%. Persons of Bulgarian ethnicity and ancestry (in countries where this is registered) outside Bulgaria are over 0.5 million. Those categories in some parts partially overlap and blend into one another. Therefore, the total amount of reserve from all sources is estimated to be 0.5 - 1 million people. Discussed are the conditions that the Bulgarian state has to provide to attract and make living for migrants and returnees in the country.
• Improving the efficiency of regional structure of the National statistical institute in the context of modern management concepts - part III - author Svetla Ivanova, National Statistical Institute, Sofia
In this part of the article is presented benchmarking as a management approach to achieve the desired by the Heads of RSOs result - constant improvement of effectiveness by identifying and implementing best practices. Examined are the roles of the Director of RSO, the Chief Accountant and heads of departments in the process of benchmarking and are defined the key issues of benchmarking, to which each of them must respond so that the procedure be successful. In order to prove that benchmarking can be easily formalized as a management practice in the regional structure of the NSI, six main stages in the process of benchmarking are examined in detail regardless of the form - planning, working with partners, mapping, analysis, action and review.
The article aims to prove that the application of the concept of Lean Management will help the newly created RSOs to streamline the processes by tackling the causes of organizational ineffectiveness, building of management systems capable of supporting new ways of working and commitment of top managers for continuous improvement of efficiency. Presented are also the five basic principles of Lean management, refracted through the prism of business processes in RSOs as well as approaches, techniques and tools, which their heads should stick to. Stages of implementation of Lean management in RSOs - perception, assessment, modeling, action and progress may continue for several years during which customer and employees’ satisfaction, productivity and turnaround time will start to improve.
• The estimation of poverty based on the multivariate statistical analysis - author Yashar Pasha, Republic of Azerbaijan
The article provides general information on multidimensional poverty indicators, describes multidimensional poverty statistics, presents the factors affecting poverty. The focus is on the importance of the regression model in the analysis of multidimensional poverty. The article also reflects on the algorithm method used for measuring the poverty level deprivation in education, healthcare and living standards at individual level, together with practical application. The methodology for calculating multidimensional poverty index is presented by way of example.
• Social transfers - a tool to tackle poverty and inequality - author Blaga Madzhurova, Studies at the University of Plovdiv
The Socio-economic crisis has highlighted the issue of the deepening poverty and inequality in society, as well as tools to reduce them. Social transfers are the most important instrument to deal with poverty and inequality, but in Bulgaria they are not sufficiently effective. The comparative analysis shows that our country lags behind the average level of the European Union indicators related to poverty and inequality. Examined is the impact of social transfers on them, results are displayed before and after redistribution of the transfer processes.
The section Information, reviews, consultations presents information about:
• Annual meeting of the work group ‘Purchasing power parities’ in implementation of the program for european comparisons of price levels and the GDP per capita - author Rusin Rusinov, National Statistical Institute, Sofia
The purpose of this article is to report on the work accommplished in 2016, analysis of the results from conducted specific monitoring of consumer prices and capital goods and services, and healthcare, and to discuss methodological issues, related to the calculation of purchasing power parities (PPPs). The most important indicators, obtained as a result of calculating PPPs, are the GDP and the actual individual consumption per capita in purchasing power standard.
• Census 1956 in digital format - autor Sonya Zlatanova, National Statistical Institute, Sofia
The eleventh Census in Bulgaria started on December 1, 1956. It was carried out according to a degree of the Council of Ministers from April 14, 1956.
The interview method was applied for the first time during the Census in 1956. All persons, except children and seriously ill, were questioned in person by the interviewers who also filled out questionnaires.
The Census was carried out by 23 598 interviewers and 5 397 controllers. A special attention was given to the training of staff in the Census.
The PR campaign of Census 1956 had a wide national coverage: 6 777 radio broadcasts, 248 articles by the print media, 21 341 talks and meetings. The short film ‘Life in numbers’, created especially for the Census, was screened in the course of 3 months.
The eleventh Census was the first to use technical procession of data. The data on the demographic and socio-economic state of population was gradually published in four volumes. The results on housing were published in two volumes. The first volume contains information about housing in Sofia. National data was published in the second volume.
For the first time in 2017 the digital collection ‘Census 1956’ was published in the web space. It has a volume of 3 290 pages and is accessed through the bilingual Internet portal of the digital library of the National Statistical Institute. The search is available both in Bulgarian and English.
‘P. Volov’ № 2 Str., Sofia 1038.
