What Is National Income?: Answer
What Is National Income?: Answer
What Is National Income?: Answer
G.N.P. is defined as the money value of the national production for any given period. Here we take into account: The money value of the final goods and services produced in the economy to avoid double counting. Intermediate products are excluded from it. The money value of only currently produced goods and services as G.N.P. is a measure of the economys productivity during the year. The word gross has significance. We do not deduct the depreciation or replacement of the fixed assets. In the process of production there is wear and tear of fixed assets. This depreciation is loss to the economy and it will not be deducted from GNP produced in the economy.
This is also called the output method, the inventory method or the census method. It consists of finding out the market value of all the goods and services produced during a year. According to this method the economy is classified into different sectors, namely Direct sector: in this sector the value of services of such professions like doctors,
dramatics, soldiers, politicians, etc., are taken by equating to their services. Agriculture industry
International transaction sector: in this sector, we take into account the value of goods exported and imported payment from abroad, payments to other countries. In each sector we make an inventory of goods produced and find out the end product making an addition to the value of goods. The value added method can be followed in order to avoid double counting. The value added of a firm is its output less whatever it purchases from other firms such as raw materials, and other inputs. This method has a merit because it helps us to have a comparative idea of the importance of various activities in economy like agriculture, manufacturing, trade, etc. However in advanced countries this method may be successful as it is very easy to get data from government records. But in under developed countries this method may give rise to various problems like imputation of money values to non- monetized sector. II. Income Method
This method refers to the gross national income obtained by adding together wages and salaries, interests, profits and rents of persons and institution and including government incomes are earned either from property or through work. To arrive at the totality of income of nation, the following procedure will be adopted: a) Net rents include the rental value of owner occupied houses. b) Wages, salaries and all such earnings of person employed, pensions are excluded. c) Earnings by way of interest. d) Income of joint stock companies. e) Income from overseas investment. This method gives national income at factor cost. III. Expenditure Method
This method is also called the flow of product approach (by American economist Samuelson) or the outlay method. Here we take into account the expenditure on finished products Expenditure by consumers on goods and services. Expenditure by producers on investment of goods. Expenditure by government on consumption as well as capital goods.
To this we add money received from abroad through trade and other payments. This figure thus arrived at will give us G.N.P. The merit of this method is that it believes in the identity between national expenditure, income and total product.
Whichever method we use the result should be more or less the same. In other words, they can be used to cross-check reliability of each other.
etc. similarly, the village money lender combines his profession with the cultivating of his farm. Difficulty in value estimation: in backward areas, the cultivators, artisans and cottage industry workers do not have a fair idea of the expenses of their occupation. Hence the net value of their products cannot be estimated precisely. Non- monetized sector: barter dealing and non-monetized sector creates the problem of inputting the value of their produce and services and by guess work and approximation. Incomplete government records: due to ignorance and illiteracy in backward areas, the data may not be available and if available, may be unreliable. Also, the figures furnished by government officials may not be from reliable sources and data is not current. Problems in agricultural sector: in agricultural activities there is a good deal of guess work in data relating to cropwise production and in figures relating to animals and forest products. Problems in industrial sector: data relating to output, cost, etc. are available only in big units. The small units do not maintain these figures correctly. The village money lenders and indigenous bankers maintain absolute secret of their and they do not furnish correct information. Non-applicability of a uniform formula: in a big country where wide disparities and regional differences, a uniform formula cannot be applied. The data of one region cannot be applied to another region with minor modification. Every region would be a separate entity requiring specialized approach suited only to that region. Double-counting: the error of double-counting is another obstacle to be avoided in the calculation of national income. Inefficient data collection: the machinery for collecting statistical data may not be efficient. The investigators, preparation of adhoc figures, making sample surveys, etc.
Inter- sectoral comparisons: it helps to study inter-sectoral growth. Such comparisons are useful. Share of various sectors can be studied to find out structural defects and weaknesses of the economy. Indicator of economic welfare: it enables us to study per capita income or per capita consumption which are general indicators of economic growth. But it is not helpful in revealing distribution of income in the society. Making international comparisons: national income estimates enables us to make international comparisons and standard of living of people. Contribution to international institutions: it shows the capacity of a country to bear some common burden of international institutions like the U.N.O.