As suggested previously, standardisation is achieved in national accounts series by compliance with 1993 SNA or ESA 1995. Comparisons are best made within the convention, though ESA 1995 is compatible with 1993 SNA.
Some series in ESDS International follow different, perhaps earlier conventions (e.g. 1968 SNA). Check for this as problems may well arise in making comparisons with series produced under the current conventions (as above).
In most ESDS International macro-databanks, disaggregated data for economic activity by industry is obtained using ISIC Rev.3 or its European counterpart NACE Rev.1 (that operates with the same classification system as ISIC but with greater precision).
But ISIC Revision 2 series are to be found in the databank. Check for comparability with Revision 3
OECD is at the forefront in producing harmonised data. Its STAN database recommends itself for use in making comparisons in many areas including disaggregated data based on ISIC. STAN also contains harmonised Input-Output tables.
Aggregated national account series in PPP (see later section) format are published in the ESDS International databank in the World Bank "World Development Indicators" and in the OECD "National Accounts Comparative Tables Based on exchange Rates and PPPs" (and other tables) databank
Social expenditure for OECD countries, at purchasing power parity (PPP), can be found on the Social Expenditure Database on the OECD data-bank on ESDS International macro-databank site.
Use OECD and World Bank databanks to find well harmonised series. Eurostat and UN Common Databanks also contain harmonised series.
