← Back to catalogue
Published

economic activity

vr.tr.economic-activity · thing-q8187769

Let an agent explain economic activity, relay classification systems, measurement and debates from statistical and economics sources with estimates attributed, and distinguish economic activity from economic sectors as groupings, labour force participation, unpaid household work and the informal economy.

Thing Registry Activities and processes ACT.ACT

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions

Understand What economic activity is.

Definition

Definition.

Definition

Definition.

  1. What is economic activity, and how does it differ from sectors, labour force participation, unpaid household work and the informal economy? definition
  2. Is the question about classifying a business for registration, which needs current official codes? boundary

Sectors

Sectors.

Sectors

Sectors.

  1. How are activities grouped into primary, secondary and tertiary sectors? definition
  2. Which entry fits economic sector? action
Classification Classification.

ISIC

ISIC and NACE.

ISIC

ISIC.

  1. How do ISIC, NACE and NAICS classify activities? provenance
  2. Which references are standard? provenance

Coding

Business coding.

Coding

Coding.

  1. How are businesses assigned activity codes in registers? provenance
  2. Which sources are cited? provenance
Measurement Measurement.

National accounts

National accounts.

National accounts

National accounts.

  1. How do national accounts measure output and value added? measurement
  2. Which entry fits System of National Accounts? action

Unpaid work

Unpaid work debate.

Unpaid work

Unpaid work.

  1. What do feminist economists, statisticians and others argue about counting unpaid care, with positions attributed? provenance
  2. Is the presentation neutral and attributed? boundary
Context Informal economy.

Informal

Informal economy.

Informal

Informal.

  1. What do the ILO and researchers estimate about informal employment, with figures attributed? provenance
  2. Is the information current? boundary

Indicators

Activity indicators.

Indicators

Indicators.

  1. What indicators such as PMI track economic activity? provenance
  2. Which entry fits purchasing managers index? action

Classifiers Filled

Family
Thing Registry
Category
Activities and processes
Entry kind
thing
Plane
ACT
Domain
ACT.ACT

What it is Filled

Any activity involving the production, distribution, exchange or consumption of goods and services, carried out by businesses, governments, households and non-profit institutions, classified for statistics by systems such as the UN International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, ISIC, the EU NACE and the North American Industry Classification System, and measured in national accounts through output, value added and employment; economic activity is often contrasted with non-market work such as unpaid care, whose inclusion in measures of the economy is debated, and the informal economy, which is hard to measure, with positions and estimates attributed.

Why it exists Filled

Let an agent explain economic activity, relay classification systems, measurement and debates from statistical and economics sources with estimates attributed, and distinguish economic activity from economic sectors as groupings, labour force participation, unpaid household work and the informal economy.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • Market and non-market activity
  • Standard classifications
  • Measured in national accounts
  • Boundary debates

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Use stale classification versions without saying so.
  • Ignore unpaid and informal work when describing economic activity.
  • Use statistics selectively to support a partisan claim.

Only with a human decision

  • Publishing economic data that informs policy.

May

  • Explain economic activity and classification systems such as industry codes.
  • Report statistics with the classification version and source.

Moral aspects Filled

  • Leaving out unpaid care work hides a large share of work done, mostly by women.

Who is affected

  • Workers
  • Unpaid carers

Owners Filled

Steward

Nobody owns the concept; statistical agencies classify it.

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

  • Q125506646 - registry parent class
  • Q451967 - registry parent class

related

  • intentional human activity - in registry terms
  • International Standard Industrial Classification
  • national accounts
  • unpaid care work

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Vercy registry: vr.tr.economic-activity
  • Wikidata: Q8187769 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8187769)

Direct properties not applicable Not applicable

  • ISIC Revision 5: 2023 year - adopted by the UN Statistical Commission, check current
  • NACE Rev. 2.1: 2023 year - EU, check implementation
  • System of National Accounts: 2008 year - SNA 2025 update, check current

Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.

Recognition optional Filled

  • Production, distribution and consumption activity
  • Economic activity
  • Sectors group activities; labour force participation measures people; unpaid household work is outside GDP; the informal economy is unregistered
  • Not a physical object; recorded in statistics and business registers.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • explain the concept
  • relay classification systems
  • relay measurement
  • present debates with attribution

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Stale classification versions
  • Ignoring unpaid and informal work
  • Partisan use of statistics

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • ISIC
  • NACE
  • NAICS
  • System of National Accounts

Context of use required Filled

  • Describing and measuring what economies do.
  • primary activities
  • secondary activities
  • tertiary activities
  • informal activities

Sources Filled

  1. Wikidata item Q8187769: economic activity - identity and sense of the item
  2. Wikipedia (fr): Activité économique - general description of the item

Open questions

  • Should classification systems be linked by version?
  • How should unpaid work debates be presented?
  • Should the informal economy be linked?

Machine files

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q8187769/spec.json