Comparability of International Trade Statistics: Great Britain and Austria-Hungary before World War I .

This article cites a study, carried out mainly on trade statistics of Great Britain and Austria-Hungary during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It also attempts to analyze the reasons for the difficulties arising from the comparison of trading figures of two countries for mutual commercial relations. Since there were no uniform methods of goods classification in Great Britain and Austria-Hungary, and different units were used in measuring commodities, the reliability of quantitative comparison of statistical returns is doubtful. The fact that the Austro-Hungarian figures of value are consistently higher than the British may be attributed to several factors: up to 1891 different rates of exchange between the Austrian currency and the pound; Austria-Hungary included duty-free transit trade in her special trade accounts; and in valuation by declaration dutiable goods had a tendency towards underestimation, whereas in a system of official valuation the tendency was in the opposite direction.