Do we use custom commodity names or do we use default industry names?

[WesIngwersen]

BEA IOT use a common classification and naming system for industries and commodities. But the system is based on NAICS, which is an industry classification system.

USEEIO models use their own names for commodities which were manually developed. The authoritative reference for the names is USEEIO_Commodity_Meta.csv.

CEDA uses the BEA names, so the same names for both industries and commodities.

Part of project https://github.com/orgs/cornerstone-data/projects/6/

[WesIngwersen]

BEA has recognized that they are using an industry classification system to classify commodities which is not appropriate, and has stated that it will migrate commodities to using a commodity classification system, the North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) in the future.

It is important to distinguish between commodities and industries, and to be clear that we are developing a commodity-based, and not an industry-based model. So data products like the Supply Chain Emission Factors are associated with commodities. This is confusing when the factors have the names that sound like industries (like names ending in "farming", "mining", and "manufacturing" which sound more like an activity than a product). USEEIO used a compromise solution of developing custom names for BEA codes used as commodities, They are closely based on the associated industry names or industry descriptions but are more like a commodity in most cases.

Here are some examples

BEA Industry Name	USEEIO Commodity Name
Oilseed farming	Fresh soybeans, canola, flaxseeds, and other oilseeds
Other crop farming	Tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, peanuts, sugar beets, herbs and spices, and other crops
Coal mining	Coal
Sawmills and wood preservation	Lumber and treated lumber
Concrete pipe, brick, and block manufacturing	Concrete pipe, bricks, and blocks

The custom USEEIO names were given to BEA commodities beginning with 1*,2*,and 3*. Industry names for wholesale, retail, transport, and other services were not changed because they were judged to already be like commodity-like.

My recommendation is to use custom names for commodities. The USEEIO commodity names is a good place to start but can be revisited.

[MoLi7]

I would also recommend using commodities, because of the same reason - we're building a commodity-based model.