Page 401 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 1

IPS173 Yuki U.

Recent improvements of the Tankan business
survey: Globalization of business and statistical
revisions
Yuki Uchida
Bank of Japan, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract
The progressing globalization of business has been observed in enterprises
across many countries in recent years. Japanese enterprises have also
developed business operations worldwide over the past decade, moving their
business strategies from a non-consolidated basis to a consolidated one. With
Japanese enterprises developing business operations worldwide, the linkages
between domestic business activities and those overseas have become
stronger. These linkages are not fully captured in non-consolidated figures,
such as domestic investments and exports of enterprises in Japan. The Tankan
(Short-Term Economic Survey of Enterprises in Japan) is a statistical survey
which aims to accurately assess domestic economic conditions; the Bank of
Japan collects answers from enterprises in Japan on a non-consolidated basis,
and overseas activities, such as overseas sales and investments, are not fully
captured. With the overseas business operations of Japanese enterprises
having a larger impact on corporate behaviour in Japan, the Bank faces the
challenge of more accurately capturing changes in domestic business trends
in a timely manner.
Against this background, in late 2016 the Bank proposed major revisions of
the Tankan: (1) the introduction of a new survey category on a consolidated
basis which captures overseas business activities, such as global sales and
investments, by approximately 2020; (2) the addition of R&D investment to its
survey items in the March 2017 Tankan survey; and (3) the enhancement of
the survey on exchange rates.
In addition, the Bank is also considering increasing the frequency of sample
extraction through stratification based on population data in the near future.
This will further allow the Tankan to accurately capture changes in population
enterprises and their business models, including changes through the entry of
foreign enterprises into the domestic market.

Keywords
Tankan; Business survey; Globalization

1. Introduction
The Tankan (Short-Term Economic Survey of Enterprises in Japan) is a
nationwide business survey conducted by the Bank of Japan, which aims to

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