Statistical Terms Glossary

Equity capital comprises: (i) equity in branches; (ii) all shares in subsidiaries and associates (except nonparticipating, preferred shares that are treated as debt securities and included under direct investment, other capital); and (iii) other capital contributions

The issued share capital which is neither limited nor preferred in its participation in the distribution of its profits nor in the ultimate distribution of its assets Equity capital is sometimes used as a synonym for stockholders' equity.

Investment that confers whole or partial ownership in an enterprise and entitles the investor to share in the profits from its operation.

A company created by other companies, with each owning a proportion of the shares.

A loan structured in such a way that it can be converted into equity. An example is an income note that acts as equity, i.e. it bears interest only if the project generates interest. This means it has the form of equity (cf. stocks where income is generated only if the company pays a dividend). An example of the use of this type of instrument is in high-risk countries where an equity investment would be lost at once but an equity-like instrument, if dollar-denominated, would guarantee the capital and ensure income if the project produced income.

An equity-linked bond comprises features of both debt and equity. Equity-linked bonds are debt instruments that contain an option to purchase (either by conversion of existing debt or by exercising the right to purchase) an equity stake in the issuer, its parent, or another company at a fixed price. These instruments are usually issued when stock market prices are rising because companies can raise funds at lower than market interest rates while investors receive interest payments, and potentially lock into capital gains.

Derivatives whose value derives from equity prices.

Loan in the form of equity participation.

The market in which equities are issued and traded.

See option.

An interest in a property.

Equity participation refers to interest in a firm in the form of equities

Fund set up by IFC in developing countries (e.g. Korea, Thailand, Malaysia) to attract foreign equity capital to these countries and improve the access of companies in these countries to world capital
markets.

Guarantee that ensures an investor an minimum return on his investment.

Equity warrant bonds are debt securities that incorporate warrants, which give the holder the option to purchase equity in the issuer, its parent company, or another company during a predetermined period or on one particular date at a fixed contract price.

Bond which has equity features, such as a bond with equity warrant or a convertible.

Equivalent factors are factors used to convert quantities from their original physical units into a common accounting unit for the purpose of aggregating energy sources or assessing contributions” to environmental problems from diverse sources (for example, the contribution of different pollutants to global warming)

This is a way of counting the number of operators in countries where regional licensing applies. If a country has 10 regions, each with three operators, the number of mobile equivalent operators for that country is three. In countries where there are different numbers of operators in different regions, the largest number of operators in the same market is used to determine the national equivalent.

Standard unit of measurement of telecommunications traffic capacity and usage demand. Used in traffic engineering for throughput and capacity planning. One erlang equals one standard voice circuit in use full time.

See Exchange Rate Mechanism II

The difference between the observed value of an index and its “true” value. Errors maybe random or systematic. Random errors are generally referred to as “errors”. Systematic errors are called “biases”.

Are codes or given set of code words whose relationship to the set of valid codes is known, such that when a transcription error occurs, the relationship is violated and the error is detected with certainty or very high probability.

Data editing is the activity aimed at detecting and correcting errors (logical inconsistencies) in data.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development E-School Programme run by NEPAD aims to provide computers and internet access to all schools in Africa within 10 years, and also to set up health points to tie in with Nepad's E-Health program.

In the context of external debt payments, accounts typically held in banks outside of the debtor country through which a portion of the export proceeds of a debtor is channeled. Typically involve balances of one-year maturity to cover future debt-service payments. Creditors who are the beneficiaries of such accounts thus obtain extra security for their loans and effective priority in debt service.