12 - ENTERPRISES

Contents

1. Enterprises, establishments and persons employed – Census data

2. Enterprises registered in the Business Register

3. Enterprises and persons employed (INAIL data)

4. Enterprises (ASIA – Istat Register)

5. Members of boards and officers in enterprises

6. Use of ICT in enterprises

 

This section presents the main information on the structure of economic activities in Lombardy. These include the Censuses of industry and services, the data on enterprises registered in the Business Registers of the Chamber of Commerce, data on enterprises registered with INAIL - National Institute for the Insurance against Occupational Accidents (and their employees), the enterprises (and persons employed) present in the Statistical Archive of Active Enterprises – ASIA, the positions occupied by persons in enterprises.

The new classification of economic activities: ATECO 2007

Since January 2008 Istat has adopted the new ATECO 2007 classification of economic activities. The migration of economic statistics to the new classification follows a specific calendar for all the EU Member States.

ATECO 2007 classification is the national version of the European nomenclature, Nace Rev. 2, published in the Official Journal of 20 December 2006 (Regulation (EC) no 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006).

ATECO 2007 has been set out and approved by a specially convened Steering Committee. In addition to Istat, which coordinates it, it requires the participation of several institutional figures: the Ministries concerned, the Bodies which manage the main administrative data sources on enterprises (the Revenue Agency, Chambers of Commerce, social security institutions, etc.) and the main business associations.

By working in close collaboration with the Revenue Agency and Chambers of Commerce a single classification has been made. For the first time the world of official statistics, the Revenue Agency and Chambers of Commerce adopt the same classification of economic activities. This result represents a significant step forward in integrating and simplifying the information gathered and handled by Public Administration. 

The general characteristics of the ATECO classification remained almost unchanged, although some criteria used in the classification and some explanatory notes were revised.

The main criteria used to define the various levels of the classification (classes, groups, divisions) are:

• the character of the goods and services produced,
• the uses to which the goods and services are put, and
• the inputs, the process and the technology of production.

 

In ATECO 2007 a new criterion, relating to the content, was added to new sections J (content relating to technological communication), M, and N (specific content or content in support to enterprises).

Former ATECO 2001 was made up of 17 sections and 62 divisions, while ATECO 2007 ha 21 sections and 88 divisions. Some sections can easily be compared to those of the previous classification. However, the identification of some new sections (such as section J, Information and Communication Services) or the grouping of activities relating to the environment do not allow for an easy comparison between the two classifications.

 

The changes and the innovations introduces in ATECO 2007 with respect to the previous ATECO 2002 refer to every level of the classification. At section level, the most relevant changes are:

• the activities “Agriculture, forestry and fisheries” are grouped into only one section (A); before they encoded into two different sections;

• the activities “Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply” and “Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities” break down into two sections (respectively D and E).

• a new section (J) has been created for “Information and communication services”;

• former section K – real estate, rentals, computing, research, business services break down into three different sections: L - Real estate activities, M- Professional, scientific and technical activities, and Rental, travel agencies, administrative and support service activities.

• former section O – other public, social and personal services breaks down into two different sections: R - Arts, entertainment and recreation and S- Other service activities

Besides, within the manufacturing sector, all activities relating to repair, maintenance and installation of machinery and equipment” are included in a new specific division (33). On the other hand, “repair of computers and personal goods” is now included in section S – Other service activities.

 

1. Enterprises, establishments and persons employed – Census data

This section of the yearbook presents data on enterprises taken from the 8th Census of Industry and Services conducted in 2001. In order to provide information on the changes undergone by the production system of Lombardy in the long run, these data are compared to those relating to the previous censuses (1991, 1981, 1971).

Data from the 8th Census refer to 22 October 2001.

The final data of the 2001 Census are the result of in-depth revision, checking and validation of the survey questionnaires. For the first time coverage errors made during the survey were corrected. This was possible thanks to the availability of Istat’s Statistical archives implemented during the 90s: the Statistical Archive of Active Enterprises (ASIA), the Archive of Public Institutions (ASIP) and the Archive of Non-profit Institutions (implemented with the census of the sector in 1999).

This innovation ensured a better quality of the information provided but, at the same time, requires some attention in the analysis of time series.

The data collected with the 2001 Census cover enterprises, public institutions and non–profit institutions, (and  persons employed) classified by economic activity down to the maximum level of detail (5-digit codes), by size (14 classes), by territory (municipal level), and other structural information.

The field of observation of the Census covered the following activities (according to classification ATECO 1991):

Code                     Description 
01.13.1                 Vine growing and wine-producing enterprises
01.25.5                 Other animal-farming 
01.4                       Services related to agriculture and animal-farming, excluding veterinary services
01.5                       Hunting and related services
02                          Forestry and related services 
05                         Fishery and related services 
10                          Mining 
15-37                    Manufacturing 
40-41                    Production and supply of electricity, gas, water 
45                           Construction 
50-52                    Motor trade, wholesale trade, retail trade
55                           Hotels and restaurants 
60-63                     Transport, warehousing, communications 
65-67                     Financial and monetary intermediation 
70-74                    Real estate, rentals computer, research and business services
75                           Public administration and defense, compulsory social insurance 
80                           Education 
85                           Health and social services 
90                           Waste disposal and sewerage 
91                           Associations n.e.c. (excluding religious associations - 91.31.0)
92                           Recreational, cultural and sport activities
93                           Other service activities.

 

The survey unit of the 2001 Census is the establishment, i.e. the physical place where the juridical-economical units carry out one or more economic activity.

The establishment corresponds to one the juridical-economical unit or to a part of it. It is located in a place identified by an address; in this place the economic activities are performed. Persons working in the economic activities are employed (alto part-time) by the juridical-economical unit. Examples of establishments are:  agency, hotel, bar, warehouse, garage, laboratory, mine, store, hospital, office, etc.

 

2. Enterprises registered in the Business Register

The data relating to enterprises registered in the Business Register of the Chamber of Commerce, broken down by juridical form and economic activity are provided by InfoCamere, a company that belongs to the Chambers of Commerce and manages and disseminates all their data.

InfoCamere provides the data on the number of

• “operating” enterprises, i.e. enterprises that are active at the end of the reference period; and
• “registered” enterprises, which include, in addition to the active enterprises, the inactive, suspended, closed-down or bankrupt ones. These enterprises may become active again without the need of a new registration.

Besides the above “stock” data, InfoCamere releases “flow” data, which relate to new registrations and cancellations from the registers that took place during the reference period.

The universe considered includes all enterprises for which registration in the Business Register is compulsory, as follows:

Ordinary section of the register:

1. sole proprietorships
2. private partnerships
3. joint-stock companies
4. co-operatives
5. consortia
6. European groups of economic interest
7. special agencies of public bodies ( L. 142/90)
8. consortia between local public bodies (L. 142/90)
9. foreign companies with administrative / secondary venue in Italy
10. foreign companies with main object of activity in Italy
11. public economic bodies (whose main activity is a commercial activity).

Special section of the register:

1. agricultural entrepreneurs (art. 2135 c.c.);
2. small entrepreneurs (art. 2083 c.c.);
3. simple companies

Handicraft enterprises are flagged.

Law Decree 96/2001 sets that also partnerships between lawyers must be registered in the Business Registers.

 

3. Enterprises and persons employed (INAIL data)

Data in this section are derived from INAIL – National Institute for the Insurance against Occupational Accidents. They refer to enterprises registered with the Institute, in the framework of industry, trade and services.

Any employer who starts up an activity must make an insurance agreement with INAIL. On the basis of information provided by the employer when making the agreement, INAIL classifies the enterprise according to the activity performed and the premium fee.

If an employer performs more than one type of activity, an insurance agreement must be made for each activity.

INAIL databases include all insurance agreements relating to employers made during the past five years. Within the database, enterprises are classified according to the following variables:

1. type of enterprise:

HANDICRAFT ENTERPRISE
NON-HANDICRAFT ENTERPRISE

2. size class (number of employees):

Handicraft enterprises:                       1-15, 16-30, over 30

Non-handicraft enterprises:              1-15, 16-30, 31-100, 101-250, over 25

3. location of the activity:

Mono-established enterprises:      the activity is performed in only one province;
Multi-established enterprises:        the activity is performed in more than one province.

This classification is used because an employer who performs the same activity in different province (multi-established enterprise) may ask that to declare and pay the contributions in only one INAIL office. This office will therefore concentrate all information concerning the enterprise and all the employees that are necessary  for the calculation of the annual insurance premium, regardless of their workplace.

Enterprises performing more than one activity and therefore having different insurance fees are classified in the databases according the main activity, i.e. the activity that concentrates the largest proportion of the enterprise’s workers.

The number of persons employed is obtained, for each insurance agreement, by dividing the total compensation paid to employees by 300 times the average daily compensation paid  in case of occupational accidents. The average compensation is the average for enterprises operating in the same province and belonging to the same fee group.

The corresponding number of hours worked can be estimated by multiplying by 1 740 the number of persons employed-year.

Persons employed exclude some categories of workers for whom the earnings are not available, because the insurance premium does not depend on the earnings. These are, for example, apprentices and members of cooperatives of porters and fishermen.

For handicraft enterprises, in addition to the number of persons employed, the number of proprietors and family workers is also available. It is calculated taking into consideration the working period. The correspond

Since the year 2000 a large part of enterprises insured with INAIL has been re-classified according to criteria defined and certified by Istat. Hence, for same sectors, the data after 2000 might not be fully comparable with those relating to previous years.

 

4. Enterprises (ASIA – Istat Register)

4.1 Enterprises

Data on enterprises and employment are derived from Istat’s Statistical Archive of Active Enterprises (ASIA). Active enterprises are defined as those enterprises that carried out an economic activity for at least six months during the reference year.

ASIA covers the economic units that operate in the industry sector, in trade and in services. It contains information in the identification of these units (name and address) and on their characteristics (economic activity, persons employed, juridical form, turnover).

ASIA was created in 1996 in compliance with the European Council Regulation 2186/93 on the use of business registers for statistical purposes.

This regulation was abrogated in 2008, when Regulation 177/2008 of the European parliament and Council was adopted. This new regulation provides for a common European framework concerning Business Registers and expands the field of observation in terms of sectors and units contained in the registers.

ASIA is updated every year through information derived from several sources and represents the official source of harmonised data at the EU level on enterprises and their demography. It is also the basis for all surveys on enterprises conducted by Istat, is used to produce National Accounts estimates, and determines the reference population for the design of samples and their generalisation to the universe.

The main sources used to update ASIA are:

- the archives of the tax agency of the Ministry of the Economy and the tax declaration made by enterprises;

- the Business Registers of the Chambers of Commerce and related archives (members of boards))

- the social security registers (INPS);

- the register of telephone users;

- the archive of enterprises’ balance sheets;

- the archive of credit institutions managed by the Bank of Italy;

- the archive of insurance companies managed by ISVAP.

As a rule, small-sized units, which account for about 95 percent of the total enterprises on the register, are updated on a yearly basis through the integration of the administrative information. Medium-sized units are updated directly from statistical sources, through data of the main economic surveys. Large enterprises are updated on a continuous basis through all the available sources that allow the profiling of enterprises.

The definitions of the statistical units adopted in ASIA are in line with those set out in European Council Regulation 696 / 1993. This regulation identifies the enterprise as the central unit for the production of economic statistics, and defines it as “the smallest combination of legal units that is an organizational unit producing goods or services, which benefits from a certain degree of autonomy in decision-making, especially for the allocation of its current resources. An enterprise carries out one or more activities at one or more locations. An enterprise may be a sole legal unit.

In other words, the enterprise thus defined is an economic entity which can therefore, under certain circumstances, correspond to a grouping of several legal units. Some legal units, in fact, perform activities exclusively for other legal units and their existence can only be explained by administrative factors (e. g. tax reasons), without them being of any economic significance. A large proportion of the legal units with no persons employed also belongs to this category. In many cases, the activities of these legal units should be seen as ancillary activities of the parent legal unit they serve, to which they belong and to which they must be attached to form an enterprise used for economic analysis.

For the production of statistics, enterprises are classified according to the economic activity, which is determined by reference toa specific level of the NACE classification. The economic activity can be said to take placewhen resources such as equipment, labour, manufacturing techniques, information networks or products are combined, leading to the creation of specific goods or services. An activity is characterized by an input of products (goods or services), a production process and an output of products.

Units are classified according to their prevalent economic activity. If within a same unit, different activities are performed, the prevalent activity is the one the accounts for most of the value added produced. If information on value added is missing, the prevalent activity is identifies in terms of turnover, of persons employed, of personnel costs, and of gross earnings of employees.

The size of the enterprise is determined according to the number of persons employed, i.e. employees and self- employed, what work in the enterprises either full time or part time. The number of persons employed is calculated as an annual average.

In the ASIA archives all enterprises have at least one self-employed worker.

The location of the enterprise refers to the administrative head office is located.

 

4.2 Local units

The European Council Regulation 177/2008 on the use of Business Registers for statistical purposes sets out that, in addition to the updating of the universe of enterprises, also the various establishments where the enterprise carries out their activity are to be updated. The need to adapt ASIA to the EU regulations gave rise to an additional level of information: the local units

The European Council Regulation 2186/93 defines the local units as “an enterprise or part thereof (e. g. a workshop, factory, warehouse, office, mine or depot) situated in a geographically identified place. At or from this place economic activity is carried out for which - save for certain exceptions - one or more persons work (even if only part-time) for one and the same enterprise.

A multi-located enterprise is an enterprise that carries out its activities more than one place, each of which represents a local unit.

The specific variables on local units available are, in addition to those relating to the identification of the enterprise:

Location(address that enables to locate the unit on the territory);

Economic activity, which, as happens for enterprises,can be said to take placewhen resources such as equipment, labour, manufacturing techniques, information networks or products are combined, leading to the creation of specific goods or services. An activity is characterized by an input of products (goods or services), a production process and an output of products. Units are classified according to their prevalent economic activity. If within a same unit, different activities are performed; the prevalent activity is the one that accounts for most of the value added produced. If information on value added is missing, the prevalent activity is identifies in terms of turnover, of persons employed, of personnel costs, and of gross earnings of employees.

Persons employed: employees and self- employed, what work in the enterprises either full time or part time. The number of persons employed is calculated as an annual average.

The data on local units are updated on a yearly basis since 2004, through the normalisation and integration of information taken from administrative sources, some of which already used for the updating of data on enterprises, and from statistical sources (for more detailed information on the sources please see the above paragraph).

 

5. Members of boards and officers in enterprises

Within an enterprise (and local unit) some persons may have some specific qualifications (proprietor, partner, etc) or hold some specific offices (member of the board, chief executive officer, etc). Such qualifications and offices may of course change over time.

The Business Register of the Chambers of Commerce provides statistical data this aspect, with regard to the enterprises present in the register. The data are classified according to the following four categories:

- proprietors;

- partners;

- administrators;

- other offices.

 

Since a same person may hold more than one office, the total offices held do not correspond to the number of persons that hold them. The information derived from the Business Register does not, in any case, relate to the number of persons. It relates to the number of offices held in enterprises (some of which may be held by the same persons).

 

6. Use of ICT in enterprises

In the framework of the project “Statistical information at territorial and sectoral level for structural policies 2001-2008” Istat supports the monitoring and evaluation activities of the Community Framework 2000-2006. For this purpose, about 160 socio-economic indicators relating to the Italian regions have been created and are updated on a regular basis.

Since 21 December 2007 the indicators relating to the National Strategic Framework 2007-2013 are also available.

The indicators are grouped according to 10 priorities and according to different themes. One of the themes refers to the Information Society and comprises, amongst a variety of indicators, those relating to the use of ICT in enterprises, as follows:

- Use of PCs in enterprises with more than 10 persons employed

- Use of PCs in enterprises with less than 10 persons employed

- Proportion of enterprises having an internet website

- Proportion of enterprises having broadband connection

- Use of the internet in enterprises

These indicators are based on the results of the “Survey on ICT in enterprises”, which is conducted by Istat since the year 2000 and is included in the National Statistical Programme. Since 2005 this survey complies with the EU Regulations on official statistics on Information Society (Regulation (EC) No 808/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 concerning Community statistics on the information society, amended by Regulation (EC) No 1006/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009).

Since 2009 the data are presented according to the new classification of economic activities ATECO  2007 (NACE Rev. 2) and also cover activities such as energy and water supply (Sections D and E) and restaurants.

The survey data are bases on valid answers provided by 19.494 enterprises with at least 10 persons employed, which represent a universe of 218.454 enterprises employing 8.498.861 persons.

The survey unit is the enterprise; the population comprises enterprises with at least 10 persons employed present in the ASIA register (Statistical Register of Active Enterprises) belonging to the following economic activities:

• manufacturing industry (C);
• electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (D) and water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (E);
• construction (F);
• wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles(G);
• transportation and storage, ;
• postal and courier activities (H);
• accommodation and food service activities(I);
• real estate activities(L);
• professional, scientific and technical activities(excluding veterinary services) (M);
• administrative and support service activities(N).

 

The sample is stratified by economic activity, territory (19 regions and 2 autonomous provinces), and size. The survey is a postal and web-based survey