EXPORT-IMPORT 

BANK

More Detailed 

Information about Its 

Jobs Calculation 

Methodology Could 

Improve Transparency

Report to Congressional Committees

May 2013

GAO-13-446

United States Government Accountability Office
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-13-446, a report to 

congressional committees

May 2013

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK

More Detailed Information about Its Jobs 

Calculation Methodology Could Improve 

Transparency

Why GAO Did This Study

Ex-Im provides loans, guarantees, and 

insurance to U.S. exporters. One of 

Ex-Im’s primary missions is to support

U.S. jobs through exports. In its 2012 

annual report, Ex-Im stated that its

financing helped support an estimated 

255,000 export-related U.S. jobs.

In 2012, Congress passed the ExportImport Bank Reauthorization Act of 

2012. The act required GAO to report 

on the process and methodology used 

by Ex-Im to calculate the effects of 

export financing on U.S. employment. 

This report (1) describes the 

methodology and processes Ex-Im 

uses to calculate the effects of its 

financing on U.S. employment and (2) 

examines the limitations of Ex-Im’s 

approach and how Ex-Im reports on its 

methodology, and provides additional 

related information. 

To address these objectives, GAO 

reviewed relevant Ex-Im documents, 

obtained and reviewed the data Ex-Im 

uses for its calculations, and 

interviewed agency officials and trade 

policy researchers. 

What GAO Recommends

To ensure better understanding of its 

jobs calculation methodology, GAO 

recommends that Ex-Im improve 

reporting on the assumptions and 

limitations in the methodology and data 

used to calculate the number of jobs 

Ex-Im supports through its financing.

Ex-Im agreed with the 

recommendation and stated that it 

would begin reporting more detailed 

information in its fiscal year 2013 

annual report. 

What GAO Found

The U.S. Export-Import Bank’s (Ex-Im) methodology to calculate the number of 

U.S. jobs associated with the exports it helps finance has four key steps. First, 

Ex-Im determines the industry associated with each transaction it finances. 

Second, Ex-Im calculates the total value of exports it supports for each industry. 

Ex-Im implements these first two steps using its own data. Third, Ex-Im multiplies 

the export value for each industry by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) ratio of 

jobs needed to support $1 million in exports in that industry—a figure known as 

the “jobs ratio.” Finally, Ex-Im aggregates across all industries to produce an 

overall estimate. The following figure depicts each step of the process. 

The Four-Step Process Involved in Ex-Im’s Jobs Calculation Methodology

Ex-Im reports the number of jobs its financing supports and the methodology it 

uses but does not describe limitations of the methodology or fully detail its 

assumptions. Although the BLS data tables that Ex-Im relies on are based on a 

commonly used methodology, this methodology has limitations. For example, the 

employment data are a count of jobs that treats full-time, part-time, and seasonal 

jobs equally. In addition, the data assume average industry relationships, but

Ex-Im’s clients could be different from the typical firm in the same industry. 

Further, the underlying approach cannot answer the question of what would have 

happened without Ex-Im financing. Ex-Im does not report these limitations or fully 

detail the assumptions related to its data or methodology. GAO’s Standards for 

Internal Controls in the Federal Government states that, in addition to internal 

communication, management should ensure adequate communication with 

external stakeholders, which could include Congress and the public. Because of 

a lack of reporting on the assumptions and limitations of its methodology and 

data, Congressional and public stakeholders may not fully understand what the 

jobs number that Ex-Im reports represents and the extent to which Ex-Im’s 

financing may have affected U.S. employment. 

View GAO-13-446. For more information, 

contact Lawrance L. Evans, Jr. at (202) 512-

5366 or evansl@gao.gov.
Page i GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

Letter 1 

Background 3

Ex-Im Methodology to Estimate the Number of Jobs It Supports Is 

Based on Export Values and Labor Statistics 5

Ex-Im Does Not Report Important Details about Its Approach, 

Including Limitations 10

Alternative Methodologies Address Some Limitations but Have 

Other Drawbacks 15

Conclusions 17

Recommendation for Executive Action 18

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 18

Appendix I Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 20

Appendix II Comments from the Export-Import Bank of the United States 23

Appendix III Comments from the Department of Commerce 24

Appendix IV GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgements 25

Figure

Figure 1: The Four-Step Process Involved in Ex-Im’s Jobs 

Calculation Methodology 7

Contents 
Page ii GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

Abbreviations

BEA Bureau of Economic Analysis

BLS Bureau of Labor Statistics

Commerce Department of Commerce

ERT Employment Requirements Tables 

Ex-Im Export-Import Bank of the United States

G-7 Group of Seven

ITA International Trade Administration

NAICS North American Industry Classification System

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

United States. The published product may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety 

without further permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain 

copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be 

necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately.
Page 1 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

441 G St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20548

May 23, 2013

The Honorable Tim Johnson

Chairman

The Honorable Mike Crapo

Ranking Member

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

United States Senate

The Honorable Jeb Hensarling

Chairman

The Honorable Maxine Waters

Ranking Member

Committee on Financial Services

House of Representatives

As the nation’s official export credit agency, the Export-Import Bank of the 

United States (Ex-Im) supports U.S. exporters by providing loans, loan 

guarantees, working capital guarantees, and insurance. One of Ex-Im’s 

primary objectives is to contribute to maintaining or increasing 

employment of U.S. workers through its financing. In its 2012 annual 

report, Ex-Im stated for fiscal year 2012 it had authorized financing to 

support 3,796 export transactions with a total estimated value of almost 

$50 billion. It reported that this financing helped support an estimated 

255,000 export-related U.S. jobs.

In 2012, Congress passed the Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 

2012.

1 The act required GAO to report on the process and methodology 

used by Ex-Im to calculate the effects of its export financing on the 

creation and maintenance of employment in the United States. This report 

(1) describes the methodology and processes Ex-Im uses to calculate the 

effects of its financing on employment in the United States, (2) examines 

the limitations of Ex-Im’s approach and how Ex-Im reports on its 

methodology, and (3) describes alternative methodologies and their 

limitations.

 

1

Pub. L. No. 112-122, 126 Stat. 350 (May 30, 2012).

 
 

Page 2 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

To address these objectives, we reviewed relevant documentation related 

to Ex-Im, including annual reports, descriptions of the bank’s jobs 

calculation methodology, and press releases that included information on 

the jobs supported by Ex-Im financing. We also obtained the data Ex-Im 

uses to calculate the number of jobs supported by its financing and used 

this data to replicate Ex-Im’s calculation. We found these data to be 

sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this report. We interviewed Ex-Im 

officials from various divisions of the organization. We spoke with officials 

from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and International Trade 

Administration (ITA) in the Department of Commerce (Commerce) as well 

as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in the Department of Labor. We 

also reviewed relevant documentation from these agencies. In addition, 

we spoke with officials from other countries’ export credit agencies to 

obtain information on their efforts to determine the number of jobs 

associated with their financing, and with selected trade policy researchers 

to obtain their perspectives on Ex-Im’s methodology. We selected these 

researchers because GAO had consulted with them on prior 

engagements related to export credit agencies based on their knowledge 

of the issues, or they had been recommended to us through interviews 

with knowledgeable government officials due to their expertise in the 

area. In addition, we reviewed GAO’s Standards for Internal Control in the 

Federal Government,2 which states that management should ensure 

there are adequate means of communicating with, and obtaining 

information from, external stakeholders that may have a significant impact 

on the agency achieving its goals. Appendix I provides more information 

on our scope and methodology.

We conducted this performance audit from August 2012 to May 2013 in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 

sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that 

the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives.

 

2

GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1

(Washington, D.C.: November 1999). 
 

Page 3 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

Ex-Im operates under the authority of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, 

as amended.3 It is an independent agency of the U.S. government.4 ExIm’s mission is to support jobs in the United States by facilitating the 

export of U.S. goods and services. In fiscal year 2012, Ex-Im authorized 

about $35.8 billion, for 3,796 transactions, to support U.S. exports.5 Ex-Im 

is part of the U.S. Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee, an 

interagency committee chaired by Commerce and tasked with 

coordinating the export promotion and financing activities of federal 

agencies. Ex-Im is also a key participant in the National Export Initiative, 

a strategy announced in 2010 to double U.S. exports by 2015 to support 

U.S. employment.

Ex-Im provides four types of financing: direct loans, loan guarantees, 

working capital guarantees, and export credit insurance.

• Direct loans: Medium- and long-term fixed-rate loans Ex-Im provides 

directly to foreign buyers of U.S. goods and services.

• Loan guarantees: Medium- and long-term loan guarantees to lenders 

that Ex-Im will pay the lender if the foreign buyer of U.S. goods and 

services, who received the loan, defaults.

• Working capital guarantees: Guarantees to lenders for U.S.-based 

companies to obtain short-term loans that facilitate the export of 

goods and services. Working capital guarantee loans may be 

approved for a revolving line of credit that supports multiple export 

sales or a single loan that supports a specific export contract.

• Insurance: Short- and medium-term insurance Ex-Im provides to U.S. 

exporters to protect them against the risk of nonpayment by foreign 

buyers for commercial or political reasons.

To balance the interests of multiple stakeholders and Ex-Im’s mission to 

support U.S. jobs through export financing, Ex-Im has a domestic content 

policy regarding the amount of U.S. content directly associated with the 

 

3

12 USC 635 et seq. 

4

Since fiscal year 2008, Ex-Im has been “self-sustaining” for appropriations purposes, 

financing its operations from receipts collected from its borrowers. 

5

After Ex-Im authorizes a transaction, it issues a loan, loan guarantee, or insurance policy. 

The amount actually exported or shipped as a result of the transaction may differ from the 

authorized value of the transaction. Therefore, in fiscal year 2012, Ex-Im estimated that its 

authorization of about $35.8 billion would have an estimated export value of almost $50 

billion. 

Background 
 

Page 4 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

goods and services exported from the United States. Ex-Im’s short-term 

transaction content policy requires at least 50 percent U.S. content. For 

medium- and long-term transactions, there is no minimum U.S. content 

requirement to receive a portion of financing, but Ex-Im’s support is 

limited to the lesser of (1) 85 percent of the total value of all eligible goods 

and services in the U.S. export transaction,6 or (2) 100 percent of the 

value of the domestic content in all eligible goods and services in the U.S. 

export transaction.7 To be eligible for support, goods must be shipped 

from the United States.

Other industrial countries have their own export credit agencies. For 

example, the other Group of Seven (G-7) countries all have at least one 

export credit agency.8

 G-7 agencies differ in the magnitude and types of 

their activities. All offer medium- and long-term officially supported export

credits. Export credit agencies also can provide other products and 

services that can complicate comparisons among institutions. Ex-Im’s 

mission emphasizing supporting domestic jobs through exports is unique 

among the G-7 agencies. Ex-Im’s charter states that the bank’s objectives 

are to contribute to maintaining or increasing the employment of U.S. 

workers by financing and facilitating exports through loans, guarantees, 

insurance, and credits. This mission underlies certain Ex-Im policies, such 

as its economic impact analysis requirement and its domestic content 

policy. Other export credit agencies’ missions range from promoting and 

supporting domestic exports to securing natural resources.

 

6

Financing 85 percent of the total value of a transaction is considered full financing 

because of the provision under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 

Development arrangement that export credit agencies can finance only 85 percent of a 

transaction’s value. 

7

The U.S. content percentage is calculated in different ways depending on the type of 

transaction and size of the business. For short-term transactions involving small 

businesses, the U.S. content percentage is based on the total costs (i.e., labor, materials, 

overhead, etc.) exclusive of profit. For short-term transactions involving businesses other 

than small businesses, the percentage is based on only the costs of production (i.e., labor 

and materials). For medium- and long-term transactions, the content percentage for all 

businesses is calculated based on the total price (i.e., total costs plus profit). 

8

The G-7 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the 

United States. These countries have been meeting regularly as a group since the mid1980s to discuss economic issues. 
 

Page 5 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

To estimate the number of U.S. jobs associated with the exports it helps 

finance, Ex-Im uses a methodology based on the input-output approach. 

To apply this methodology, Ex-Im uses a BLS data product, known as 

employment requirements tables (ERT) which are based on the inputoutput methodology. It is important to understand the ERT because these 

tables play an essential role in Ex-Im’s jobs calculation process. The ERT 

provide the total number of jobs (on average) supported by production in 

each industry. These BLS data allow Ex-Im to produce a measure that 

translates the value of the exports it supports in each industry into an 

employment estimate for that industry. In order to use the ERT, Ex-Im 

must rely on data from its own system. Ex-Im’s four-step process 

estimates the value of all the exports it supports by the industries 

associated with those exports. By combining data from the ERT and its 

own system and aggregating across industries, Ex-Im produces an 

estimate of the total jobs its financing supported.

The methodology Ex-Im uses relies on a basic input-output approach. 

According to Ex-Im and Commerce officials, the basic input-output 

approach was designated as the standard for U.S. government agencies 

by the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee and has the advantage 

of generating a uniform jobs calculation methodology across the federal 

government.9 The logic underlying the input-output modeling approach 

assumes that the production of goods and services in an economy uses 

inputs (such as labor) in fixed proportions. Consequently, it is possible to 

determine the quantity of labor required for a given level of production. To 

apply this methodology, Ex-Im uses the ERT, data tables created by BLS, 

to estimate the number of jobs associated with the specific value of 

exports Ex-Im supports, rather than the value of total U.S. exports. The 

ERT are derived from a set of data showing the relationship between 

industries, known as input-output tables.10 For researchers using an input-

 

9

The Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee’s Working Group on Analysis and Data 

brings together experts from key government agencies who have examined the broader 

relationship between federal programs and activities, such as Ex-Im’s export financing 

efforts and the jobs they support. 

10The tables are based on historical relationships between industry inputs (such as labor), 

and outputs (such as goods for consumption). BLS then scales these relationships using 

estimates about labor productivity (output per person employed) into employment required 

for one million dollars of output in that industry (jobs ratios). Incorporating information on 

labor productivity is important because the input-output tables are in terms of total cost, 

not number of workers. 

Ex-Im Methodology to 

Estimate the Number 

of Jobs It Supports Is 

Based on Export 

Values and Labor 

Statistics 

Ex-Im Uses BLS Tables to 

Obtain Jobs Ratios—The 

Numbers of Jobs 

Supported by Exports in 

Particular Industries
 

Page 6 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

output approach, the ERT can be used for analyses that attempt to 

estimate the employment effects of exports.

BLS develops the ERT so that users can analyze the job impact of 

various types of expenditures, such as exports. The ERT contain, for 195 

industries, the number of jobs required to produce one million dollars of 

value in each industry (this report refers to this factor as the “jobs ratio”).

Because industries may vary widely in how many jobs they support per 

million dollars of expenditure, it is important for Ex-Im to correctly identify 

the industry associated with each export transaction it finances.11 BLS 

produces two types of ERT, one that includes the employment effects of 

both domestic and imported production and another that removes the 

employment effects of imports so that only domestic production is 

captured.12 Ex-Im uses the domestic ERT to estimate the number of U.S. 

jobs associated with its exports. While annual versions of the ERT are 

produced, the most current year available as of May 2013 is 2010.13

Using the ERT, it is possible to obtain either the jobs supported directly in 

a particular industry, or in a particular industry plus the industries that 

support its production. For example, construction directly supports jobs in 

the construction industry but also indirectly supports jobs in industries that 

supply the material necessary for construction, such as the steel industry. 

Ex-Im uses the value that also includes employment in supporting 

industries, which produces a larger jobs ratio. Sometimes this larger 

estimate is called the “direct plus indirect effect” or “supply chain.” 

 

11For example, “Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing” supports 3.51 jobs per 

million dollars of purchases from that industry. In contrast, “Retail Trade” supports 14.6 

jobs per million dollars. 

12So that the domestic ERT only reflects domestic employment, international inputs into 

production are netted out. BLS does this by assuming that each industry’s share of 

domestic versus international use of a particular input is constant across industries. For 

example, it assumes that the automobile industry uses the same proportion of imported 

steel as the construction industry. 

13The industry relationships are based on the 2002 benchmark BEA input-output tables 

(published in 2009). BLS then updates the tables using annual input-output tables, also 

obtained from BEA. BLS then uses productivity measures, which are based on data from 

surveys of establishments and households, to translate the cost of labor into jobs. Ex-Im 

deflated the 2012 export values to coincide with the 2010 ERT using BEA’s price index for 

exports of goods and services. 
 

Page 7 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

Ex-Im’s process for using the ERT has four steps. First, it determines the 

industry associated with each transaction. In some cases, there could be 

multiple industries associated with a transaction, if Ex-Im financed 

multiple products in the transaction. Second, it determines the total value 

of exports Ex-Im supports for each industry. Third, it multiplies these 

export values by BLS’s jobs ratio for each industry to obtain the jobs for 

that industry. Finally, it aggregates across all industries to produce an 

overall estimate. Figure 1 depicts each step of the process.

Figure 1: The Four-Step Process Involved in Ex-Im’s Jobs Calculation Methodology

a

According to Ex-Im, one transaction could have multiple contracts and therefore multiple industry 

codes. Each industry code is associated with a specific contract.

In step 1, Ex-Im either uses the industry code provided by the applicant 

(the exporter or the lender) or relies on its engineers (whom Ex-Im 

considers its in-house industry experts) to identify the appropriate North 

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the contracts 

Ex-Im Follows a Four-Step 

Process to Calculate the 

Number of Jobs 

Associated with Its 

Support 
 

Page 8 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

associated with each transaction Ex-Im finances or supports.14 Ex-Im 

translates its data on transactions into the same industry groups (i.e., 

NAICS-based codes) used by BLS. The method by which Ex-Im obtains 

the NAICS code varies by length of repayment term. For short- and 

medium-term financing and working capital credit, the applicant (either 

the exporter or the lender) provides the NAICS code. For long-term 

financing, Ex-Im engineers work with the exporters and project sponsor to 

determine the NAICS code. According to Ex-Im officials, to verify and 

assign NAICS codes in long-term financing, Ex-Im uses both the 

guidance provided by the codebook for assigning NAICS codes and the 

experience of the engineer.15

In step 2, Ex-Im estimates a dollar value of exports it supports, referred to 

as the export value. It does this for each transaction it finances. However, 

according to Ex-Im officials, because Ex-Im provides different types of 

financial products, it uses two different methods to determine the export 

values.

1. For some financial products, such as direct loans and loan 

guarantees, Ex-Im determines the export value after authorization—

but before disbursement—by using information provided on the 

exporter’s certificate.16 Specifically, Ex-Im determines the export value 

by using the net contract price—the aggregate price of all goods and 

services to be exported (i.e., U.S. content plus eligible foreign content 

that does not include local costs). Ex-Im includes the value of the 

purchase of goods and services that were financed by entities other 

than Ex-Im. In other words, the export value is the value of exports in 

purchase orders that were at least partially financed by Ex-Im. 

According to Ex-Im officials, they generally provided approximately 83 

 

14According to Ex-Im officials, NAICS code data are used for many purposes and are part 

of the Ex-Im data that is reviewed and audited every year by Ex-Im’s external auditor. 

15Using the underlying transaction data for fiscal year 2012, we found that in 

approximately 6 percent of the transactions (by export value), the NAICS code was 

missing. In the next section, we discuss this issue as one of the limitations we identified in 

the jobs calculation methodology. 

16Ex-Im’s exporter’s certificate, which is used for loans and some guarantee products, 

includes representations and certifications required of the exporter by Ex-Im and the U.S. 

government, in general. Ex-Im uses information provided in the certificate, such as net 

contract price, to determine the amount and percentage of U.S. content and to establish 

the financed amount of each transaction. 
 

Page 9 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

percent of the financing for medium and long-term transactions for 

fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2012.

2. For other financial products, such as short-term insurance or working 

capital, Ex-Im uses the entire value of the credit or the insurance 

policy as the proxy for the export value. Because the export value is 

not known at the time of authorization, Ex-Im cannot use the net 

contract price to determine the export value. These products include 

revolving lines of credit that may be drawn down multiple times during 

the available period. Under this type of support, a domestic exporter 

can access the credit to make purchases and later repay the debt, 

thereby making additional credit available. According to Ex-Im, this 

approach may result in an understatement of the total value of the 

exports, as multiple purchases can occur without ever reaching the 

limit. However, Ex-Im also confirmed that using the entire value of the 

credit or insurance policy could result in an overstatement, if all the 

credit is not used.

At the end of step 2, Ex-Im creates a summary table, where each row 

contains the sum of export value in an industry. In step 3, Ex-Im multiplies 

the export values for each industry by the appropriate jobs ratio from the 

ERT. Finally, in step 4 it sums across all of the industries to obtain a 

single estimate for the number of jobs it supports.

Using this process, Ex-Im estimated 255,000 jobs supported in 2012. To 

illustrate, on average, Ex-Im used the following steps:

• Ex-Im determined that it supported approximately $40 billion of 

exports.

• On average, in fiscal year 2012, every million dollars of exports 

supported by Ex-Im was associated with 6.5 jobs (based on the 

industries that used Ex-Im financing, and the ERT).17

• Finally, multiplying approximately 40 billion dollars of exports by 6.5 

jobs per million results in approximately 255,000 jobs.

 

17This is based on the mix of industries that Ex-Im supports, which might be different from 

U.S. exports overall. For example, in a February 26, 2013 paper, Commerce reported that, 

in 2011, every million dollars of U.S. exports supported about 5.1 jobs. The number of jobs 

also varies by type of export. Commerce reported that goods exported from the United 

States supported 5.6 jobs per million dollars of goods, while services supported 4.1 jobs 

per million. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, Jobs Supported 

by Exports 2012: An Update, (Washington, D.C.: February 2013). 
 

Page 10 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

In order to verify our understanding of Ex-Im’s jobs calculation process, 

we obtained the individual transaction level data from Ex-Im, including the 

export values and industry codes for each transaction. We then merged 

that data with the most recent ERT from the BLS and summed across all 

transactions. Using this data, we were able to obtain close to Ex-Im’s 

exact value for the total number of jobs supported, thus confirming the 

process that Ex-Im described to us. For more detail about our analysis, 

see appendix I.

The basic methodology used by Ex-Im has recognized limitations, and 

Ex-Im also makes certain assumptions about its data. However, in its 

reports, Ex-Im does not describe limitations or fully detail assumptions

that are inherent to the methodology. As a result, stakeholders may not 

fully understand what the job number represents or how to interpret it in 

the proper context.

Although the input-output approach on which the ERT are based is a 

commonly used methodology, this approach has several limitations. 

Some of these limitations are inherent to the ERT. Additional limitations 

result from assumptions Ex-Im makes about its data on the industry 

codes and export values for the export transactions it finances.

The limitations specific to the ERT are outside of Ex-Im’s direct control. 

For example, officials from Commerce and Ex-Im said that the data in the 

ERT cannot be used to distinguish between jobs that were newly created 

and those that were maintained. The ERT simply show the direct and 

indirect (also known as supply chain) employment per $1 million of sales 

of goods to final users for each commodity, not whether these are “jobs 

created” (employing previously unemployed people or people out of the 

labor force, such as students), or “jobs maintained” (continuing preexisting employment). According to BLS officials, it would be challenging 

to find data that can distinguish between newly created and maintained 

jobs. Obtaining data detailed enough to allow a researcher to make that 

distinction would require many more resources than are currently 

available to BLS, according to these officials. They added that this is a 

general limitation of the input-output methodology, upon which the ERT 

are based, and which is a standard methodology used to calculate 

average employment and other inputs needed for a certain level of 

production. Because of the lack of specificity and limitations, Ex-Im 

Ex-Im Does Not 

Report Important 

Details about Its 

Approach, Including 

Limitations 

Ex-Im Employs a 

Commonly Used 

Methodology; However, 

This Approach Has 

Limitations 
 

Page 11 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

officials report that the jobs are “associated with” or “supported by” Ex-Im 

financing.

Moreover, the documentation accompanying the ERT also describes 

several limitations and assumptions to those data, including the 

following:18

• The employment data are a count of jobs, not of persons employed, 

and treat full-time, part-time, and seasonal jobs equally.19 Persons 

who hold multiple jobs show up multiple times in the employment 

data.

• The age of the data underlying the ERT is a general limitation of 

BLS’s employment requirements tables. The ERT incorporate a large 

amount of data, which takes time to collect and put in the ERT 

framework, according to BLS officials. Ex-Im is using the latest 

available ERT, the 2010 ERT; however the industry relationships that 

the ERT are based on come from 2002 data from BEA. BLS officials 

stated that the current economy may be very different from the 

economy in 2002, and the relationships reflected in the latest 

available ERT are a decade old. BLS officials acknowledged, 

however, these data are the best currently available for Ex-Im to 

use.20

Furthermore, the ERT data assume average industry relationships; 

however Ex-Im’s clients could be different than the typical firm in the 

same industry. For example:

• The ERT that are adjusted to reflect only domestic employment

assume that each industry’s share of domestic versus international 

 

18Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Office of Occupational Statistics 

and Employment Projections, Employment Outlook: 2010-2020: Layout and Description 

for 195-Order Employment Requirements Tables: Historical 1993 through 2010

(Washington, D.C.: February 2012). 

19BLS officials stated that this is the same concept used in the domestic monthly payroll 

employment numbers that BLS produces. This consistency allows for comparability. For 

more information see http://www.bls.gov/ces/home.htm. 

20Although it is based primarily on the 2002 BEA benchmark input-output tables, BLS 

does update the ERT with the annual BEA tables, Census data, and other surveys. BLS 

officials will update the relationships in the ERT when they obtain the 2007 update from 

BEA. Therefore, after the tables are updated, the resulting ERT will have better data than 

what is currently available. Using the updated ERT could result in slightly different figures 

from calculations performed using the current ERT. 
 

Page 12 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

use of a particular input is constant across industries. For example, 

these ERT assume that the automobile industry uses the same 

proportion of imported steel as the construction industry. Because of 

Ex-Im’s domestic content policy, agency officials said that Ex-Im does 

not consider the exports supported by its financing to contain the 

same level of imports as the industry averages. Ex-Im officials agreed 

that this is a limitation but said that using BLS’s adjusted ERT helps 

ensure that imported content is accounted for to some extent. Ex-Im 

officials told us they had not assessed the extent to which this 

limitation affects the overall jobs estimate.

• In addition, officials from Export Development Canada21 and Ex-Im 

and a trade policy researcher said that using input-output 

methodology to calculate employment estimates for specific 

transactions is also a limitation, since a particular export may be 

different than the average for that industry.

The ERT also exclude the impact of spending that results from income 

generated by Ex-Im supported jobs, sometimes called the multiplier 

effect. For example, an increase in employment in a factory may result in 

employment at a nearby restaurant. According to BLS, including these 

additional consumer expenditures would result in a larger employment 

impact.

Some limitations stem from Ex-Im’s process for determining the industry 

and export value. As discussed previously, during step 1 (as shown in fig. 

1), Ex-Im determines the industry associated with each transaction.

However, in some cases, Ex-Im has been unable to determine the 

industry code. In cases where the NAICS code is missing for 

transactions, Ex-Im has used the average across all of its other industries 

as the jobs ratio.22 In almost all of those cases we identified with missing 

NAICS codes (that had positive export values), the type of support was 

short-term insurance. According to Ex-Im, in short-term insurance, the 

lender may not know at the time of authorization which exporter will 

 

21Of export credit agencies we contacted, only Export Development Canada calculates 

the effects of its financing on employment. Officials from the French, British, and 

Japanese export credit agencies said that their agencies do not perform this type of 

calculation.

22The average jobs ratio that Ex-Im uses is 6.5 jobs per million dollars of exports. 

However, if the actual ratio was plus or minus 5, this would translate into plus or minus 

12.5 thousand jobs (since 6 percent is approximately 2.5 billion dollars).
 

Page 13 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

benefit from the insurance coverage, and this may explain why the NAICS 

code is not identified.

Ex-Im’s jobs calculation methodology is also sensitive to certain 

assumptions about how it determines the export value based on its 

financing. For example, as discussed previously in step 2, using the 

authorized amount as the export value for short-term insurance 

transactions could overstate or understate the actual export value. In 

addition, according to Ex-Im officials, the export value includes the value 

of the purchase of goods and services that were financed by entities other 

than Ex-Im.

Finally, according to government officials and trade policy researchers, 

the methodology that Ex-Im uses does not answer the question of what 

would have happened without Ex-Im financing. A Commerce report23 and 

trade policy researchers we consulted noted that in a high unemployment 

economy, additional exports may result in additional jobs. However, in a 

low unemployment economy, additional exports may result in jobs shifting 

from one firm to another, without an increase in total employment.

Ex-Im reports the number of jobs its financing supports and the 

methodology it uses but does not describe the limitations or fully detail the 

assumptions related to its data or methodology. Ex-Im first reported the 

total number of jobs it supports in its 2010 annual report and started 

providing an overview of its methodology in its 2011 report. The 2012 

report states that the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee identified 

this basic methodology as the official U.S. government calculation of jobs 

supported through exports. The report further states that Ex-Im uses the 

latest available domestic ERT from BLS (which is based on input-output 

tables from BEA), National Income and Product Accounts data (also from 

BEA), and BLS industry employment data to calculate the number of jobs 

associated with Ex-Im supported exports of goods and services.

Ex-Im has also reported the number of jobs it supports in various other 

documents, including reporting to comply with the Government 

Performance and Results Act, the Chairman’s statements to Congress, its 

 

23Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, Exports Support 

American Jobs: Updated Measure Will Quantify Progress As Global Economy Recovers

(Washington, D.C.: Undated). 

Ex-Im Does Not Describe 

Limitations or Fully Detail

Assumptions in Its 

Reporting on Employment 

Effects 
 

Page 14 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

website, and press releases. Some press releases that announce new 

transactions also state the number of jobs associated with a specific 

transaction. Most of the press releases we reviewed provide only a brief 

statement about how Ex-Im calculates its job estimate. For example, an 

October 2, 2012, press release announcing $105 million in financing for 

an aquarium in Brazil states: “The transaction will support approximately 

700 American jobs, according to bank estimates derived from 

Departments of Commerce and Labor data and methodology.” 

Ex-Im officials told us they use the results of its jobs calculations for 

reporting purposes only. According to Ex-Im officials, Ex-Im calculates the 

number of jobs supported for the transactions reviewed by Ex-Im’s Board 

of Directors, at the request of one of its board members.24 Ex-Im board 

members stated that the purpose of reporting these numbers is to give 

Congress a sense of the employment effects of Ex-Im activities; they do 

not use them for decision making. Board members also told us that the 

chief consideration when making a financing decision is the credit 

worthiness of the firm. Officials stated that they do not make decisions 

based on how many jobs would be supported by a particular transaction.

However, none of Ex-Im’s reporting discusses limitations or fully details 

the assumptions in its data or in the methodology it uses. Most of the 

limitations and assumptions are not specific to Ex-Im, but are common to 

the methodology. For example, Ex-Im’s brief discussion of the 

methodology in its 2012 annual report does not explain that the 

methodology does not allow it to differentiate between the number of new 

jobs that were created and the number of jobs maintained as a result of 

its financing. In addition, Ex-Im does not specify that jobs associated with 

the multiplier effect are not captured in its jobs estimates. Further, the 

report does not state that the employment estimate is an overall count of 

jobs, not full-time equivalents. Thus, the number of jobs that Ex-Im says it 

supports can include part-time and seasonal jobs. Similarly, its press 

releases that include the number of jobs associated with a specific 

transaction also do not state the limitations and assumptions associated 

with the methodology. Officials said that, in reporting the number of jobs 

associated with Ex-Im financing, they clearly state that it is an estimate. 

 

24According to Ex-Im officials, the Board of Directors reviews all long-term transactions 

and generally other transactions over $10 million in authorization value. The board also 

receives the results of an economic impact analysis that assesses whether a project will 

negatively affect the U.S. economy. 
 

Page 15 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

Because it is a nonfinancial and unaudited number, the caveat of 

“estimate” seemed sufficient, according to Ex-Im officials. According to 

GAO’s Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, 

effective communications should occur in a broad sense with information 

flowing down, across, and up the organization.25 Management should 

ensure there are adequate means of communicating with, and obtaining 

information from, external stakeholders that may have a significant impact 

on the agency achieving its goals. By not including more information in its 

report, Ex-Im does not allow readers, including Congressional and public 

stakeholders, to fully understand what the jobs number represents or how 

to interpret it in the proper context.

Although alternative methodologies may address some of the limitations 

in Ex-Im’s jobs calculation methodology, these alternatives have their own 

limitations. Trade policy researchers we spoke to suggested alternative 

methodologies that Ex-Im could potentially use to calculate the effects of 

its financing on employment. However, these methodologies have their 

own limitations, such as not including the effects of Ex-Im financing on 

indirect jobs (the supply chain) and would require a significant amount of 

data collection by Ex-Im that would be time consuming, require more 

technical expertise, and cost more.

One trade policy researcher we spoke to suggested that Ex-Im could 

conduct an assessment of firms that received Ex-Im financing in 

comparison to firms that did not receive Ex-Im financing. This approach, 

using firm-specific data, could potentially estimate whether the jobs would 

have existed without Ex-Im financing. For example, the German Ministry 

of Economics and Technology commissioned a study by the University of 

Munich on the employment effects of the export credit guarantees 

provided by the German export credit agency. This 6-month study used 

econometric analysis to examine firm-level data while taking into account 

other potential causes of export success and found that the German 

export credit agency’s guarantees had increased exports and created 

jobs. According to their report, their estimate of jobs created using this 

approach was comparable to estimates derived from an input-output 

 

25GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1 

(Washington, D.C.: November 1999). 

Alternative 

Methodologies 

Address Some 

Limitations but Have 

Other Drawbacks
 

Page 16 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

approach. However, Ex-Im officials noted that the type of data used in the 

German study may not be readily available in the United States to Ex-Im.

Another trade policy researcher suggested a different approach using 

firm-level data from Census or BLS to examine job creation and 

destruction over time. This approach could be potentially informative of 

changes in the labor market not captured by a total jobs number, such as 

whether these are new jobs, or whether firms supported by Ex-Im are less 

likely to reduce employment. In contrast, the current input-output method 

used by Ex-Im provides a static look at the number of jobs supported by 

Ex-Im financing and does not show how the economy has gained or lost 

jobs over time. While the approach of using firm-level data may yield 

information about the creation and destruction of jobs, it may not yield a 

static estimate of the number of jobs supported. In addition, BLS officials 

stated that such an analysis would only identify whether a firm’s total 

employment increased or decreased over time, but would not identify a 

new set of jobs in the firm and would not control for factors other than ExIm financing that could cause a change in employment. An Export 

Development Canada official also stated that such a methodology 

introduces the potential for selection bias. Furthermore, Commerce

officials stated that such an analysis would be too time consuming to 

conduct every year.

Two trade policy researchers and Ex-Im and Export Development 

Canada officials we spoke with said that these alternative approaches 

that rely on firm-level data would require more resources for data 

collection and analysis than does Ex-Im’s current input-output based 

methodology. In particular, a methodology using firm-level data would 

require a significant amount of data collection by Ex-Im that would be time 

consuming, require more technical expertise, and have a monetary cost. 

Moreover, these alternatives may not capture the indirect (the supply 

chain) effect of Ex-Im financing. These trade policy researchers said that 

the input-output approach is appropriate given Ex-Im’s limited resources 

and how the agency uses the number of jobs supported.

Export Development Canada officials said they use an input-output based 

approach, which also captures the indirect (the supply chain) effect,

similar to the methodology used by Ex-Im to calculate the number of jobs 
 

Page 17 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

supported by its financing.26 However, for insurance products, Export 

Development Canada uses the contracts for the exports it is supporting to 

calculate the export value. This approach allows this agency to capture 

export values that differ from authorized amounts since the authorized 

amount could overstate or understate the actual export value. Ex-Im 

officials said they lack the staff and resources to adopt Export 

Development Canada’s method and that Ex-Im faced some limitations 

with its data systems. Additionally, using the authorized value for the 

short-term insurance products, Ex-Im officials said, ensures that the value 

is only counted once in the fiscal year it was authorized and is not 

counted again in subsequent fiscal years.

Prior to the use of the input-output based approach, Ex-Im, as well as 

Export Development Canada, tried to collect information on the number of 

jobs associated with their financing directly from the companies that 

received the financing. Officials from both agencies said that they had 

problems with the data they received from the companies. An official from 

Export Development Canada also said that smaller companies found this 

process burdensome. According to Ex-Im, surveyed firms responded in

inconsistent ways, such as claiming all employed workers at a firm were 

supported by the exports. They also reported that since financial 

intermediaries or foreign buyers often submit the applications for Ex-Im 

financing, they do not know the jobs impact for the U.S. exporter or 

service provider. Moreover, any jobs-impact information from applicants 

does not account for indirect jobs created in the supply chain, which the 

input-output approach does include.

Ex-Im’s primary mission is to support U.S. jobs through the exports that it 

finances, and it estimates the number of jobs supported by its financing in 

order to provide Congress and the public with a broad sense of its impact 

on U.S. employment. The jobs number reported by Ex-Im is an estimate, 

used by Ex-Im as an indicator of how the agency is fulfilling its mission to 

support U.S. employment. Although the methodology Ex-Im uses does 

not distinguish between jobs that were newly created or jobs that were 

 

26Export Development Canada’s mission is not directly focused on creating Canadian 

jobs, unlike Ex-Im’s mission to support U.S. jobs through exports. Furthermore, Export 

Development Canada has a commercial market orientation and is not restricted from 

competing with the private sector. In contrast, Ex-Im’s charter emphasizes its role as a 

lender of last resort. 

Conclusions 
 

Page 18 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

maintained, its current methodology has certain advantages. For 

example, it is based on the input-output approach commonly used in 

economic analysis; it includes indirect jobs in the supply chain; and it can 

be performed using limited resources. Providing a precise accounting of 

the jobs supported by Ex-Im’s financing may not be feasible because of 

the complexity and cost of doing so. While trade policy researchers we 

consulted identified other methodologies, they also identified limitations of 

those methodologies. For example, these methodologies would require 

more resources to conduct, would be difficult to perform on a regular 

basis, and would not include indirect jobs in the supply chain. 

Nonetheless there are important limitations and assumptions that affect 

Ex-Im’s estimate of the number of jobs supported by its financing. While 

Ex-Im’s reporting includes a brief overview of its methodology, it has not 

included a discussion of the limitations or fully detailed the assumptions of 

the methodology and data. The lack of detailed reporting reduces the 

ability of congressional and public stakeholders to fully understand what 

the jobs number represents and the extent to which Ex-Im’s financing 

may have affected U.S. employment.

To ensure better understanding of its jobs calculation methodology, the 

Chairman of Ex-Im Bank should increase transparency by improving 

reporting on the assumptions and limitations in the methodology and data 

used to calculate the number of jobs Ex-Im supports through its financing.

We provided a draft of this report to Ex-Im, Commerce, and Labor for 

comment. We also provided relevant sections to Export Development 

Canada for technical comment. 

In its written comments, which are reproduced in appendix II, Ex-Im 

stated that it agrees with GAO’s recommendation and will provide greater 

detail on the assumptions and limitations associated with its jobs 

calculation methodology. Ex-Im further stated that it will begin 

implementation of the recommendation this fiscal year with its 2013 

annual report, which will include greater information on the assumptions 

and limitations of its methodology. Ex-Im will provide this information in 

annual reports and on its website. 

Commerce stated that it agrees with GAO’s recommendation for 

improved reporting on how Ex-Im calculates the number of jobs that are 

supported by exports for which it provides financing. Commerce also 

recommended that Ex-Im make it clear that its jobs estimate is indicative 

Recommendation for 

Executive Action

Agency Comments

and Our Evaluation
 

Page 19 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

of jobs supported by Ex-Im financing and is different than the estimate of 

jobs supported by total U.S. exports that Commerce publishes as the 

official estimate of the U.S. government. Commerce’s comments are 

reproduced in appendix III.

Export Development Canada stated that it recognizes the deficiencies in 

the input-output approach, but that it believes that compared with other 

potential methodologies, this approach provides the best solution. 

According to Export Development Canada, the input-output approach 

uses a simple method to capture the indirect impact of the supply chain 

on domestic employment. In addition, Export Development Canada said 

that while using firm-level data to estimate the effect of financing might 

offer other insights, it would also be complex to analyze, and could 

introduce another bias. Further, Export Development Canada said that in 

its experience, surveying firms directly may not lead to reliable 

information, and also could be burdensome to smaller firms. 

Ex-Im, Commerce, and Export Development Canada also provided 

technical comments that were incorporated, as appropriate. We received 

no comments from Labor.

We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional 

committees, the Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, 

and the Secretaries of Commerce and Labor. In addition, the report is 

available at no charge on the GAO website at http://www.gao.gov. 

Lawrance L. Evans, Jr.,

Director, International Affairs and Trade
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 20 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

The objectives of this report were to (1) describe the methodology and 

processes the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im) uses to 

calculate the effects of its financing on employment in the United States, 

(2) examine the limitations of Ex-Im’s approach and how Ex-Im reports on 

its methodology, and (3) describe alternative methodologies and their 

limitations.

To describe the methodology and processes Ex-Im uses to calculate the 

effects of its financing on employment in the United States, we 

interviewed Ex-Im staff involved with producing the estimate and 

reviewed descriptions of the estimate in the most recent annual reports 

and other documentation provided by Ex-Im. Because Ex-Im’s method 

uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) employment requirements 

tables (ERT), we interviewed BLS staff and reviewed technical 

documentation on the ERT. In addition, we reviewed the Microsoft Excel 

spreadsheet Ex-Im uses to perform the estimate, by examining formulas 

in the sheet used to produce the estimate. Because Ex-Im provided the 

underlying raw data used by the spreadsheet, we were able to combine 

its data with the ERT data and replicate Ex-Im’s jobs estimate by the 

following steps. First, we downloaded the ERT directly from the BLS 

website. Then, we merged the ERT with the raw data provided by Ex-Im, 

by industry. Finally, we multiplied the jobs ratio by Ex-Im data’s export 

value (for the appropriate industry), and aggregated across transactions.

Following this procedure, we obtained a value close to Ex-Im’s exact 

value for a jobs estimate. Replicating Ex-Im’s estimate helped to verify 

that Ex-Im followed the process and used the specific ERT that it stated it 

did, and that all of the raw data were reflected in its jobs estimate. We 

performed our replication using SAS, a computer program distinct from 

Excel. Based on our interviews with knowledgeable agency officials, 

review of relevant documentation, and replication of Ex-Im’s calculation, 

we determined the data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of our 

report.

To examine the limitations of Ex-Im’s approach, how Ex-Im reports on its 

methodology, and alternative methodologies, we reviewed relevant 

documentation related to Ex-Im, including recent annual reports, 

descriptions of Ex-Im’s jobs calculation methodology, and press releases 

that included information on jobs supported by Ex-Im financing. We also 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 21 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

reviewed recent GAO reports on Ex-Im and export credit agencies,1 and 

literature related to input-output methodology.2 In addition, we interviewed 

Ex-Im officials from various divisions of the organization about how they 

calculate the number of jobs supported by Ex-Im’s financing, how they 

obtain data about Ex-Im’s transactions, and how the jobs number is used. 

We also interviewed officials from the BLS at the Department of Labor to 

discuss the employment requirements tables (ERT). In addition, we 

interviewed officials from the Department of Commerce, specifically from 

the Bureau of Economic Analysis—which develops the data in the inputoutput tables that BLS uses in its ERT—and from the International Trade 

Administration—which also calculates the number of jobs supported by 

U.S. exports overall. We reviewed relevant documentation from these 

agencies such as technical documentation on the ERT. We also spoke 

with officials from four other countries’ export credit agencies to obtain 

information on their efforts to determine the number of jobs associated 

with their financing, including the export credit agencies of Canada, 

Japan, France, and the United Kingdom. We selected these countries’ 

export credit agencies because GAO had consulted with them on prior 

engagements based on their similarities to Ex-Im. We obtained 

information on a study that analyzed the employment effects of 

Germany’s export credit agency as an example of an alternative 

methodology.3 We met with three selected trade policy researchers to 

obtain their perspectives on Ex-Im’s methodology and discuss potential 

alternative methodologies to calculate the effect of Ex-Im’s financing on 

employment. We selected these researchers because GAO had 

consulted with them on prior engagements related to export credit 

agencies based on their knowledge of the issues, or they had been 

recommended to us through interviews with knowledgeable government 

officials due to their expertise in the area. In addition, we reviewed GAO’s 

 

1

GAO, U.S. Export-Import Bank: Actions Needed to Promote Competitiveness and 

International Cooperation, GAO-12-294 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 7, 2012); GAO, ExportImport Bank: Improvements Needed in Assessment of Economic Impact, GAO-07-1071

(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 12, 2007). 

2

Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Measuring the Nation’s 

Economy: An Industry Perspective: A Primer on BEA’s Industry Accounts (Washington, 

D.C.: May 2011); Ronald E. Miller and Peter D. Blair, Input-Output Analysis: Foundations 

and Extensions (New Jersey: 1985); Wassily Leontief, Input-Output Economics (New 

York: 1966). 

3

Ifo Institute, Leibniz Institute for Economics Research, University of Munich, Employment 

Effects of Export Credit Guarantees by the Federal Republic of Germany 

“Hermesdeckungen” (Munich: October 2011). 
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 22 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government to assess ExIm’s communication regarding its jobs calculation methodology.4

We conducted this performance audit from August 2012 to May 2013 in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 

sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that 

the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives.

 

4

GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1

(Washington, D.C.: November 1999). 
Appendix II: Comments from the Export-Import 

Bank of the United States

Page 23 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

Appendix II: Comments from the ExportImport Bank of the United States
Appendix III: Comments from the Department 

of Commerce

Page 24 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

Appendix III: Comments from the 

Department of Commerce
Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgements

Page 25 GAO-13-446 Ex-Im Jobs Calculation

Lawrance L. Evans, Jr. (202) 512-4802 or EvansL@gao.gov

In addition to the person named above, Jose Alfredo Gomez (Director), 

Juan Gobel (Assistant Director), Christina Werth, Rachel Girshick, and 

Benjamin Bolitzer made key contributions to this report. Also contributing 

to this report were Karen Deans, Susan Offutt, Martin de Alteriis, Etana 

Finkler, Robert Alarapon, and Ernie Jackson.

Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgements 

Contact 

Staff 

Acknowledgments 

(320936)
The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation, and 

investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its 

constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and 

accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO 

examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and 

policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance 

to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. 

GAO’s commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of 

accountability, integrity, and reliability.

The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no 

cost is through GAO’s website (http://www.gao.gov). Each weekday 

afternoon, GAO posts on its website newly released reports, testimony, 

and correspondence. To have GAO e-mail you a list of newly posted 

products, go to http://www.gao.gov and select “E-mail Updates.”

The price of each GAO publication reflects GAO’s actual cost of 

production and distribution and depends on the number of pages in the 

publication and whether the publication is printed in color or black and 

white. Pricing and ordering information is posted on GAO’s website, 

http://www.gao.gov/ordering.htm. 

Place orders by calling (202) 512-6000, toll free (866) 801-7077, or 

TDD (202) 512-2537. 

Orders may be paid for using American Express, Discover Card, 

MasterCard, Visa, check, or money order. Call for additional information.

Connect with GAO on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube. 

Subscribe to our RSS Feeds or E-mail Updates. Listen to our Podcasts. 

Visit GAO on the web at www.gao.gov. 

Contact:

Website: http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm

E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov

Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470

Katherine Siggerud, Managing Director, siggerudk@gao.gov, (202) 512-

4400, U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 

7125, Washington, DC 20548

Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov, (202) 512-4800

U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149 

Washington, DC 20548

GAO’s Mission

Obtaining Copies of 

GAO Reports and 

Testimony 

Order by Phone

Connect with GAO

To Report Fraud, 

Waste, and Abuse in 

Federal Programs

Congressional 

Relations 

Public Affairs

Please Print on Recycled Paper.