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STS441 Andrea N.
wealth) since 1965. The survey consists of a probabilistic sample of around
8,000 households that are representative of the Italian population. Starting
from 2010, the SHIW is the Italian component of the HFCS.
Survey data are mainly used by NCBs for financial stability purposes to
evaluate the households’ ability to face their levels of indebtedness if some
shock occurs (such as losing a job). Moreover, they help NCBs to have a better
understanding of the effects of monetary policy on households’ saving and
spending decisions. Finally, survey data also enables central banks to estimate
the effects of fiscal policies through simulation models.
National accounts (SNA) are another important source of (aggregate)
information about the households’ economic conditions. For instance, the
financial accounts (FA) report the value of aggregate asset holdings and
liabilities of all the resident households.
The ideal approach to produce distributional indicators would be to
combine the information coming from the sample surveys with the one from
national accounts. However, this is not an easy task since these two data
sources usually don’t provide coherent results, even after accounting for
differences in definitions and concepts.
In 2015 the European Central Bank has launched the Expert Group on
Linking Macro and Micro Data for the Household Sector (EG-LMM) with the
aim to understand, quantify and explain the main differences between the
Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS, the the harmonized
survey collecting micro data on household finance and consumption at the
Euro area level) and the financial accounts (FA). Building on its experience, the
group is currently working on a method to produce distributional information
combining micro and macro data. Banca d’Italia is actively involved in this
project. In this paper I will present its experience in trying to combine the two
sources of information.

2. The main differences between survey data and the National
accounts
Survey data and National accounts are computed for different aims and
are based on different definitions and concepts. The aim of the HFCS is to gain
more insight into the economic behavior of households as well as into the
distribution of wealth and liabilities among households and household
groups. The valuation of assets and liabilities is based on the households’ self-
assessment. Some countries complement interview data with administrative
or estimated data for individual wealth or income items. The HFCS data
collection is based on a set of common definitions and descriptive features
according to an output-oriented approach.
The aim of FA is to provide timely macroeconomic information on the
balance sheets as well as financing and investment of the entire household

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