Comparability
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Labour and Income, Social Statistics.Eva Borg
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The standardised index of average earnings was first published in December 2018 with a time series starting in the first quarter of 2016. The standardised index of average earnings utilize the same data as the implicit index of average earnings, which however has a different purpose and is therefore calculated using a different method. There exist a few sets of statistics abroad that are partly comparable with the standardised index of average earnings.
Comparability - geographical
As far as we know, no other countries produce earnings indices that are designed in the same way as the standardised index of average earnings. However, some countries have earnings or labour cost indices for roughly the same purpose and using roughly the same structure. Mention may be made of the Employment Cost Index (USA) and the Wage Price Index (Australia).
Both indices were used as inspiration when developing the standardised index of average earnings, but since data is collected in a different way, the standardised index cannot be compared directly with these.
Comparability over time
The index goes back to the first quarter of 2016. There are no data breaks in the time series.
Coherence - cross domain
The standardised index of average earnings is related to the implicit index of average earnings, as both indices utilize the same database and uses the same definition of salary and workhour.
However, the two indices differ from each other in several ways. The implicit index of average earnings is a so-called unit value index, where the wage development is based on the average earnings for all employees in the same industry, independent of the employees' individual characteristics. Thus, changes in the occupational composition in a given industry can have an impact on the development in earnings measured in the implicit index.
The standardised index of average earnings is constructed with inspiration from price index theory, where employees are divided into homogeneous groups according to, among other things, work function and type of employment, and where the development in average earnings in the individual groups is weighed together with fixed weights. In this way, the measured development is not affected to the same extent by changes in the composition of occupations in the labor market.
The implicit index of average earnings also differs from the standardised index by having a different population delimitation, as pupils and people under the age of 18 are included in the implicit index but not in the standardised. Also, there is a difference between the validation rules and the weights used in the two indices.
The standardised index of average earnings is also related to the Danish's National Accounts as input for the fixed price calculations.
Coherence - internal
The same concepts are used across sectors and industries, and apart from an extended validation of reports from key enterprises in the private sector, the methodological choices are also the same across sectors and industries.