INEbase / Mercantile Companies / Methodology

Summary
Mercantile companies. Last methodological note. PDF 46 Kb.

Summary

The implementation of this statistic is carried out by the Order of 30 September 1938. The information was collected by means of standardised questionnaires issued by provincial mercantile registers.

The coming into force on 1 January 1990 of Legislative Royal Decree 1564/1989 of 22 December, by which the revised text on the Law of Public Limited Companies was approved, and Royal Decree 1567/1989 of 29 December by which the Mercantile Register Regulation was approved, meant a methodological rupture in the attainment of the data.

Although the Central Mercantile Register Institution (CMREI) was carried out by the Law of 21 July 1973, it was with the approval of the new Mercantile Register Regulation when the new functions were granted, among them, joining the data from all registrations that were carried out in territorial registers to the file. For this reason the methodology to collect the information was changed, resulting in the Central Mercantile Register providing the information in magnetic support.

The legislative adaptation of the statistic was the reason for the deletion of one or some tables and the publication of others with information not considered up until now.

The first monographic publication of this statistic was in 1968 with results from the 1965-66 period. As of this date these publications were carried out annually until 1990 with results from the previous year. Since 1990 results have been published in annual tables to speed up the publication of definitive results. The publication of tables is also offered electronically based on data from 1994.

Scope of research

Population scope
The Central Mercantile Register centralises all the provincial information on the registration of companies and businesspersons as well as the mercantile acts that the Law determines.

Geographical scope
Deals with the whole country.

Temporal scope
The reference period is monthly. The information facilitated by the Central Mercantile Register is collected on magnetic support.

Definitions

Companies created
Companies created for those registered in the Mercantile Register in the reference month, independently of the date on which commercial operations started are considered.

Dissolved companies
As of the 1990 reform, in dissolved companies, only the number, classifying these according to their legal form and cause of dissolution are collected.

Capital modifications in companies
The following capital modifications are considered:
Increase in capital
Emission of bonds
Capital reduction

Collection method

The information is collected on magnetic support facilitated by the Central Mercantile Register.

Tabulation
A filtering and coding of information received from the CMREI on magnetic support is applied. Subsequently a tabulation process is carried out according to the criteria established, such as:
   - Geographic
   - Economic
   - Legal regime
   - Temporary

Dissemination of the information
The results obtained from the mercantile companies statistic is diversified into different tables published on various levels according to the following publications:
   - Summary of results
   - Monthly statistical bulletin
   - Annual summary of results
   - Statistical yearbook
   - Electronic publication
   - By Internet
   - Press release
   - Monthly results summary
   - Tempus chronological series