Adjusting sub-annual series to yearly benchmarks - ARCHIVED

This paper proposes a modification to the method of Denton (1971) for adjusting sub-annual series to yearly totals. These totals originate from more reliable sources and constitute annual benchmarks. The benchmarked series derived according to the modified method is more parallel to the unbenchmarked series than this is the case with the original method. An additive and a proportional variant of the method are presented. These can easily be adapted for flow, stock and index series. Also presented are a few recommendations about the preliminary benchmarking of current data and the management of “historical” estimates of the series.