E. Summary of Changes to Questionnaires

Attachment E
Department of Commerce
United States Census Bureau
OMB Information Collection Request
2017 Economic Census of Island Areas
		OMB Control Number 0607-0937
Summary of Changes to Questionnaires
Agency/Association	Type	Description	Areas Impacted	Comments
Instituto de Estadísticas de Puerto Rico	IA PR Manufacturing LFO question #12	Modify the LFO question on the Manufacturing form to include an inquiry as to whether the business is a Controlled Foreign Corporation under subpart F of the Internal Revenue Code.	Island Areas- Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico requested that the LFO question on the manufacturing form be modified stating "The existence of and legislation enacted regarding Controlled Foreign Corporations (CFCs) under Subpart F of the Internal Revenue Code has an important impact on the economy of Puerto Rico. Many U.S. corporations organize their presence in Puerto Rico as CFCs, but policymakers lack statistics that help gauge the size and impact of this form of business organization. Acquiring information about the number of Controlled Foreign Corporations through the 2017 Economic Census would complement governmental sources and help foster informed public policy discussions." This question was tested and will be added only to the Manufacturing form. While respondents understood "Controlled Foreign Corporation," the phrase "Subpart F of the Internal Revenue Code" was found to be unfamiliar and potentially misled respondents. Accordingly, this phrase was dropped from the question for implementation. The revised question is not expected to add burden.
Instituto de Estadísticas de Puerto Rico	IA Manufacturing SI	Modify the Special Inquiries on the manufacturing form, part B.1 to include the Federal government as a class of customer	Island Areas- Puerto Rico, USVI, Guam, CNMI, American Samoa	Puerto Rico is requesting this addition to the special inquiry Class of Customer stating "The Federal government is an important consumer of goods manufactured in Puerto Rico. There is no reason to exclude the Federal government as a class of consumer." Federal Government was added as a class of customer category.
Instituto de Estadísticas de Puerto Rico	IA Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, Rental, and Leasing SI	Add a special inquiry to the Finance form, inquiring about the number of shopping centers leased, and the square footage leased.	Island Areas- Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico requested that we add a special inquiry to the finance form stating "Some PR-ESCS members expressed the opinion that it was important for the Economic Census to produce detailed statistics on the number, size, and business composition of shopping centers." Cognitive testing revealed that respondents were not familiar with some of the terms in the tested questions. Additional changes will need to be made and tested. This will not be completed in time for 2017 collection.
Instituto de Estadísticas de Puerto Rico	Finance and Manufacturing	Add Product lines (NAPCS) to these forms	Island Areas- Puerto Rico, USVI, Guam, CNMI, American Samoa	Puerto Rico requested the addition of product lines to these two forms. NAPCS collection included for 2017 Economic Census of Island Areas for these sectors.
Census	USVI, CNMI, Guam, American Samoa	Break out the 4 smaller Islands into 8 sector driven paths.	Island Areas- USVI, Guam, CNMI, American Samoa	Historically these 4 smaller Islands only received a single general form. For 2017, they will receive sector driven forms, matching Puerto Rico. USVI, CNMI, and Guam are alike enough that they will be grouped together and referred to as 'Selected US Territories'. American Samoa is too different to be on the same path and will remain separate.
Census	USVI Class of Customer question #20	Remove the following class of customers (these are only relevant to the 2012 USVI form ): Other tourist-related businesses (not included above) Other nontourist-related businesses (not included above)	Island Areas- USVI	In order to have USVI, CNMI, and Guam on the same path changes were made to the Class of Customer question.
Census	CNMI Class of Customer question #20	Remove the following class of customers (these are only relevant to the 2012 CNMI form ): Apparel manufacturers Farmers for farm use	Island Areas-CNMI	In order to have USVI, CNMI, and Guam on the same path changes need to be made to the Class of Customer question
BEA	Class of Customer	Alter class of customer wording to say: Visiting tourists (including business tourists)	Island Areas- USVI, Guam, CNMI, American Samoa	BEA requested that we add, "Including business tourists" to the end to make sure that is being reported.
Census	Employment and Payroll- Guam, CNMI, American Samoa. Question 7A1 and 7A2	Remove wording that relates to number of paid employees for pay period …..for whom FICA taxes were withheld (7A1) and for whom FICA taxes were not withheld (7A2)	Island Areas- Guam, CNMI, American Samoa	At one point it was necessary to include this wording. However, it is irrelevant now and can be removed.
Census	Ownership		Island Areas- USVI, Guam, CNMI, American Samoa, Puerto Rico	We updated the ownership question to follow OMB standards for asking questions that pertain to citizenship, race and ethnicity. In addition, these questions have never been asked on the Puerto Rico form, but they have requested it for 2017. These are included for 2017 paths.
BEA	NAPCS	Add NAPCS lines to Finance and Manufacturing paths	Island Areas- Finance and Manufacturing paths	BEA suggested to Puerto Rico that NAPCS lines be added to these paths in order to calculate tables better.
Census	Construction #23 TOC's	Delete question 23	Island Areas- Puerto Rico	NAPCS now encapsulates TOC's, so the question is irrelevant now.
Census	Item 8: Hours worked	Move into item 7	Island Areas- Manufacturing and Construction paths	Following along with stateside
Census	Item 6:	Move into item 5	Island Areas, all paths	Following along with stateside
Census	Exports	Move into item 5	Island Areas- Wholesale and Retail paths	Following along with stateside
Census	Franchise	Add to all IA paths	All paths	Island Areas added it to every path