COUNTRY EXPERIENCES WITH WEALTH ACCOUNTING 135
Land Accounts There has been increasing interest lately in estimating stock values of land (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2010; Statistics Netherlands 2010). At least 11 countries currently compile estimates for land, but not all of them cover all types of land, and only six of them currently include these estimates in the national balance sheet. Several methods are used, ranging from business surveys and registers to household budget surveys (Kim 2008). Fish Accounts New Zealand, Norway, and Japan appear to be the only countries that regularly compile stock values for various species of fish. The Japanese estimate is based upon the capitalization method. Norway uses the NPV applied to estimated resource rent. New Zealand introduced a system of individually tradable quotas to manage its fisheries, resulting in a large competitive market for fish quota sales and rentals. This system has established a direct market price for the asset value of fisheries, which is used in the New Zealand fisheries accounts. Several countries, such as Namibia and Iceland, have experimented with fish accounts. When no quota valuation is available the NPV method can be difficult to apply in practice. In a number of pilot studies, the resource rent from fisheries is negative. In most instances this is the result of heavy subsidies (World Bank and FAO 2009), but in some cases it may result from strong vertical integration of the fisheries industry (Harkness and Aki 2008). Other Stock Accounts Norway records a stock account for hydropower. New Zealand has experimented in the past with a stock account for water. The Netherlands is currently working on estimating stock values for renewable energy (wind and solar). Mexico has calculated the depletion of groundwater resources based on a calculation of the shadow price of groundwater according to the residual value method in combination with an annual water balance. Human Capital There is an increasing interest in the compilation of human capital accounts, and at least seven countries so far have conducted pilot studies or initiated work in this field. Most countries estimate human capital as the present value of future labor income, using the Jorgenson-Fraumeni method described in chapter 6, although differences exist regarding its precise application and scope (e.g., ages covered, treatment of nonmarket activities). Only three countries have compiled complete stock accounts, and none compile these accounts regularly. The OECD recently established a consortium to develop human capital accounts, and 17 countries have joined. Only Norway has incorporated human capital into its wealth accounts.