Knowledge Workers/Industries

Ceteris Paribus

This report was created as part of a feasibility study on Knowledge Workers. All things being equal the analysis should yield some useful information about knowledge workers and industries in Nova Scotia. However, there are some concerns about the data and assumptions used in the study. Future efforts should address these issues in order to develop more precise measures.

DATABASE

Business Register

Statistics Canada's Business Register was used to provide employment data and SIC codes for computing knowledge ratios. While the database includes over 27,000 firms, it is not exclusive of all firms that operate in Nova Scotia.

The Business Register Division maintains a population register of Canadian businesses which includes information on their size, structure and type of business conducted. This register serves as the central frame from which Statistics Canada conducts census and sample surveys.

The major source of updates for the Business Register (BR) is from the Revenue Canada Taxation's Payroll Deduction Account file. These employer accounts represent the universe of business entities having paid employees in Canada. Therefore, the BR does not cover all industrial activity in Canada, but is limited to the employer portion of the business world. Thus, an activity such as a corner store that is owner-operated, with no paid employees, would be excluded from this employer-based file.

Establishments with foreign addresses have been excluded from the Nova Scotia extract.

The information in the database should be verified against other database such as the Manufacturers directory prior to formulating any final conclusions.

Some of the SIC codes assigned to firms are at the 3 digit level. About 10% of all firms in the database have this problem. The results of a consolidation may include firms that are not "knowledge- based" and exclude firms that are.

CANSIM

Statistics Canada's CANSIM database was used to obtain employment data for Knowledge Industries. Most of the data available is at the 3 digit SIC level, some at the 2 digit level. Not all data is for industries under study is public.

Ideally we should be trying to construct a Computer Industry, for example, to match knowledge ratios at the 4 digit level. At higher levels data for firms that should be excluded in a consolidation creep into employment figures. The Instrumentation Industry could not be evaluated because employment data was consolidated in the Computer and Communications Industry data.

EMPLOYMENT

The Business Register only records employment class. The number of workers for each firm can estimated based on the EMPCLASS of the firm. When computing Knowledge Ratios, the Knowledge workers for a firm was derived from the estimate.

ESTIMATED WORKERS

                      EMPCLASS          Range        Average
                                     From      To

                         00             0       0       0
                         01             1       4       2
                         02             5       9       7
                         03            10      19      14
                         04            20      49      35
                         05            50      99      75
                         06           100     199     150
                         07           200     499     350
                         08           500     999     750
                         09          1000    1499    1250
                         10          1500    2499    2000
                         11          2500    4999    3750
                         12          5000    5000    5000

          Estimated workers   =    Average of employment class

          Knowledge workers   =    Estimated worker x knowledge ratio

When no other source was available, the number of workers in an industry (SIC 3 digit level) was estimated using this method.

KNOWLEDGE RATIOS

The assignment of knowledge ratios was based on a first "best guess". Where no ratio was available for a given industry at the 4 digit SIC level, a ratio from the 3 digit level was assigned.

The Knowledge Ratios used were for the U.S. It is quite conceivable that the Nova Scotia economy should have its own unique set of ratios.

The Knowledge Ratios used in the study were for 1991. Since knowledge bases can and do change, ratios would reflect that change. For data not of the same time period, the application of 1991 ratios may cause errors.

SURVEYS

Initial knowledge ratios were derived from available information (U.S. Knowledge Ratios) and were applied at the SIC level. In the future, a database should be constructed containing relevant data from the Business Register, and the U.S. ratios applied at the firm or organization level. Changes to the Knowledge Ratio for Nova Scotia firms should be determined by a tracking poll.

Surveys conducted periodically would determine and/or verify the ratio assigned to individual firms. Firms directly contacted would provide the information required to compute a new ratio for the firm. Firms not contacted will be given a ratio equal to a new computed average knowledge ratio for the SIC. As more surveys are conducted, the SIC ratio will tend towards a more accurate value. Individual firms with actual ratios will be updated as frequently as they are surveyed.

Experience Nova Scotia at novascotialife.com

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