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Abstract

Price indexes provide the fundamental building blocks for measuring the general price level along with real incomes and real output. But the most important single price index for the United States, the CPI, has been criticized as significantly underestimating the pace of quality change. This paper sketches the issues involved in the measurement of quality change in price indexes. It reviews the theory of quality change, discusses how the Bureau of Labor Statistics deals with quality change, and provides examples of measurement issues in practice. It concludes with a proposal to resolve the massive uncertainties in this area.

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File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.12.1.59
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Volume (Year): 12 (1998)
Issue (Month): 1 (Winter)
Pages: 59-68

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Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:12:y:1998:i:1:p:59-68

Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.12.1.59
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Related research

Keywords:

Find related papers by JEL classification:

• E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
• C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation

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1. Gordon, Robert J., 1990. "The Measurement of Durable Goods Prices," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226304557, April.
2. Brent R. Moulton & Karin E. Moses, 1997. "Addressing the Quality Change Issue in the Consumer Price Index," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 28(1), pages 305-366.
3. David M. Cutler & Mark McClellan & Joseph P. Newhouse & Dahlia Remler, 1996. "Are Medical Prices Declining?," NBER Working Papers 5750, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
4. Griliches, Z. & Cockborn, I., 1993. "Generics and New Goods in Pharmaceutical Price Indexes," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1664, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
   
   • Griliches, Zvi & Cockburn, Iain, 1994. "Generics and New Goods in Pharmaceutical Price Indexes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1213-32, December.
   • Zvi Griliches & Iain Cockburn, 1995. "Generics and New Goods in Pharmaceutical Price Indexes," NBER Working Papers 4272, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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Cited by:

1. Stavrova, Olga & Schlösser, Thomas & Fetchenhauer, Detlef, 2011. "Are the unemployed equally unhappy all around the world? The role of the social norms to work and welfare state provision in 28 OECD countries," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 159-171, February.
2. Robert J. Gordon, 2006. "The Boskin Commission Report: A Retrospective One Decade Later," NBER Working Papers 12311, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
   
   • Robert J. Gordon, 2006. "The Boskin Commission Report: A Retrospective One Decade Later," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 12, pages 7-22, Spring.
3. Joan A. Martín & Vicente Orts, 2001. "A two-stage analysis of monopolistic competition models of intraindustry trade," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 25(2), pages 315-333, May.
4. Christian Broda & David E. Weinstein, 2007. "Product Creation and Destruction: Evidence and Price Implications," NBER Working Papers 13041, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
   
   • Christian Broda & David E. Weinstein, 2010. "Product Creation and Destruction: Evidence and Price Implications," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(3), pages 691-723, June.
5. Emi Nakamura & Jón Steinsson, 2009. "Lost in Transit: Product Replacement Bias and Pricing to Market," NBER Working Papers 15359, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
   
   • Emi Nakamura & Jón Steinsson, 2012. "Lost in Transit: Product Replacement Bias and Pricing to Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(7), pages 3277-3316, December.
6. Gurdgiev, Constantin T., 2006. "Owner-occupied housing in a model of exchange rate determination," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 217-229, September.
7. Robert J. Gordon, 2000. "The Boskin Commission Report and its Aftermath," NBER Working Papers 7759, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
8. Meijers,Huub & Hollanders,Hugo, 2003. "Sources of Growth: Measuring the Knowledge Based Economy," Research Memoranda 032, Maastricht : MERIT, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology.
9. Alan Krueger & Aaron Siskind, 1997. "Assessing Bias in the Consumer Price Index from Survey Data," Working Papers 771, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
10. Daron Acemoglu, 2000. "Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 7800, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    
    • Daron Acemoglu, 2002. "Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 7-72, March.
11. Mark A. Wynne, 2005. "An estimate of the measurement bias in the HICP," Working Papers 05-09, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
12. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger, 2006. "Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
13. Jordi Maluquer de Motes i Bernet, 2007. ""La paradisíaca estabilidad de la anteguerra". Elaboración de un índice de precios de consumo de España, 1830-1936," UHE Working papers 2007_07, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Departament d'Economia i Història Econòmica, Unitat d'Història Econòmica.
14. Alan B. Krueger & Aaron Siskind, 1998. "Assessing the Bias in the Consumer Price Index from Survey Data," NBER Working Papers 6450, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
15. repec:fth:prinin:392 is not listed on IDEAS

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