This survey collects information on the worldwide activities of U.S. multinational enterprises; the information includes details on the finances and operations of these enterprises, including their employment and compensation, sales, value added, capital expenditures, trade in goods, and expenditures for research and development. Data are collected separately for U.S. parent companies and their foreign affiliates. The survey is conducted on a sample of foreign affiliates. In order to reduce the reporting burden, the sample does not include small foreign affiliates. Instead, BEA imputes data for these affiliates by extrapolating forward their data from the most recent benchmark survey on the basis of the movement of the sample data.
