BLUE ETS Project - DELIVERABLE 6.2 - Best practice recommendations on variance estimation and small area estimation in business surveys

This document contains an overview of methods designed at enhancing the quality of business statistics. The methods outlined in this report comprise variance estimation methods as well as small area estimation techniques. Best practice recommendations about the appropriate use of both groups of methods are given. These recommendations are based on extensive simulation studies, which allow to consider a variety of different situations. Furthermore, the fully synthetic TRItalia data set is described in this report. TRItalia will enable researchers to compare their methods in a realistic environment.