IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/5103.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Price and Volume Measures in the System of National Accounts

Author

Listed:
  • W. Erwin Diewert

Abstract

The paper is an extensive review of chapter 16 in the System of National Accounts, 1993 written by Peter Hill. The basic principles for measuring price and quantity change in the National Accounts are explained. The paper also presents some new material on the consistency of superlative indexes with indexes which are additive in their components. Some new material on the treatment of quality change is also presented which indicates that traditional Statistical Agency treatments of this issue will lead to upward bias in price indexes. The literature on sources of bias in consumer price indexes is also reviewed.

Suggested Citation

  • W. Erwin Diewert, 1995. "Price and Volume Measures in the System of National Accounts," NBER Working Papers 5103, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5103
    Note: PR
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w5103.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:ucp:bknber:9780226304557 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. W. Erwin Diewert & Ann Marie Smith, 1994. "Productivity Measurement for a Distribution Firm," NBER Working Papers 4812, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Diewert, W E, 1992. "Exact and Superlative Welfare Change Indicators," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 30(4), pages 562-582, October.
    4. Robert B. Archibald, 1977. "On the Theory of Industrial Price Measurement Output Price Indexes," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 6, number 1, pages 57-72, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Jerry A. Hausman, 1996. "Valuation of New Goods under Perfect and Imperfect Competition," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of New Goods, pages 207-248, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Murray Foss & Marylin Manser & Allan Young, 1993. "Price Measurements and Their Uses," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number foss93-1, July.
    7. Allen, Robert C & Diewert, W Erwin, 1981. "Direct versus Implicit Superlative Index Number Formulae," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 63(3), pages 430-435, August.
    8. Diewert, Walter E & Wales, Terence J, 1987. "Flexible Functional Forms and Global Curvature Conditions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(1), pages 43-68, January.
    9. Ernst R. Berndt & Zvi Griliches, 1993. "Price Indexes for Microcomputers: An Exploratory Study," NBER Chapters, in: Price Measurements and Their Uses, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Ulrich Kohli, 1993. "GNP Growth Accounting in the Open Economy: Parametric and Nonparametric Estimates for Switzerland," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 129(IV), pages 601-615, December.
    11. Irving B. Kravis & Robert Summers & Alan Heston, 1982. "Comments On: “Selected Problems Of Intercountry Comparisons On The Basis Of The Experience Of The Eec”," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 28(4), pages 407-410, December.
    12. William D. Nordhaus, 1996. "Do Real-Output and Real-Wage Measures Capture Reality? The History of Lighting Suggests Not," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of New Goods, pages 27-70, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Bell, William R & Hillmer, Steven C, 1984. "Issues Involved with the Seasonal Adjustment of Time Series: Reply," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 2(4), pages 343-349, October.
    14. Sidney N. Afriat, 1972. "The Theory of International Comparisons of Real Income and Prices," NBER Chapters, in: International Comparisons of Prices and Output, pages 13-84, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Diewart, W Erwin & Morrison, Catherine J, 1986. "Adjusting Output and Productivity Indexes for Changes in the Terms of Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 96(383), pages 659-679, September.
    16. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Issues in Assessing the Contribution of Research and Development to Productivity Growth," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 17-45, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Diewert, W E, 1974. "Functional Forms for Revenue and Factor Requirements Functions," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 15(1), pages 119-130, February.
    18. Bell, William R & Hillmer, Steven C, 1984. "Issues Involved with the Seasonal Adjustment of Economic Time Series," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 2(4), pages 291-320, October.
    19. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Diewert, W Erwin, 1982. "The Economic Theory of Index Numbers and the Measurement of Input, Output, and Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1393-1414, November.
    20. Robert J. Gordon, 1987. "The Postwar Evolution of Computer Prices," NBER Working Papers 2227, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Balk, Bert M, 1990. "On Calculating Cost-of-Living Index Numbers for Arbitrary Income Levels," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(1), pages 75-92, January.
    22. Eichhorn, W, 1976. "Fisher's Tests Revisited," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 44(2), pages 247-256, March.
    23. W. Erwin Diewert, 1980. "Aggregation Problems in the Measurement of Capital," NBER Chapters, in: The Measurement of Capital, pages 433-538, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Usher, Dan (ed.), 1980. "The Measurement of Capital," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226843001, December.
    25. W. Erwin Diewert, 1995. "Functional Form Problems in Modeling Insurance and Gambling," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 20(1), pages 135-150, June.
    26. Andrew Baldwin & Pierre Despres & Alice Nakamura & Masao Nakamura, 1996. "New Goods from the Perspective of Price Index Making in Canada and Japan," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of New Goods, pages 437-476, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. W. Erwin Diewert, 1988. "The Early History of Price Index Research," NBER Working Papers 2713, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Fixler, Dennis & Zieschang, Kimberly D, 1991. "Measuring the Nominal Value of Financial Services in the National Income Accounts," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 29(1), pages 53-68, January.
    29. Fisher, Franklin M. & Shell, Karl, 1972. "The Economic Theory of Price Indices," Elsevier Monographs, Elsevier, edition 1, number 9780122577505 edited by Shell, Karl.
    30. Hill, T P, 1984. "Introduction: The Special Conference on Purchasing Power Parities," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 30(2), pages 125-133, June.
    31. D. W. Jorgenson & Z. Griliches, 1967. "The Explanation of Productivity Change," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 34(3), pages 249-283.
    32. Christensen, Laurits R & Jorgenson, Dale W & Lau, Lawrence J, 1973. "Transcendental Logarithmic Production Frontiers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 55(1), pages 28-45, February.
    33. Kravis, Irving B, 1984. "Comparative Studies of National Incomes and Prices," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 22(1), pages 1-39, March.
    34. László Drechsler, 1973. "Weighting Of Index Numbers In Multilateral International Comparisons," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 19(1), pages 17-34, March.
    35. Kurabayashi, Yoshimasa, 1971. "The Impact of Changes in Terms of Trade on a System of National Accounts: An Attempted Synthesis," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 17(3), pages 285-297, September.
    36. Diewert, Erwin, 2007. "Index Numbers," Economics working papers diewert-07-01-03-08-17-23, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 31 Jan 2007.
    37. John W. Kendrick, 1961. "Productivity Trends in the United States," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number kend61-1, July.
    38. Zvi Griliches, 1992. "Output Measurement in the Service Sectors," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gril92-1, July.
    39. Diewert, W Erwin, 1978. "Superlative Index Numbers and Consistency in Aggregation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(4), pages 883-900, July.
    40. Griliches, Zvi & Cockburn, Iain, 1994. "Generics and New Goods in Pharmaceutical Price Indexes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1213-1232, December.
    41. William Barnett, 2005. "Monetary Aggregation," Macroeconomics 0503017, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    42. Kjeld Bjerke, 1968. "Some Reflections On The Terms Of Trade," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 14(2), pages 183-198, June.
    43. D. J. Daly, 1972. "International Comparisons of Prices and Output," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number daly72-1, July.
    44. Diewert, W.E., 1993. "Duality approaches to microeconomic theory," Handbook of Mathematical Economics, in: K. J. Arrow & M.D. Intriligator (ed.), Handbook of Mathematical Economics, edition 4, volume 2, chapter 12, pages 535-599, Elsevier.
    45. Hamada, Koichi & Iwata, Kazumasa, 1984. "National Income, Terms of Trade and Economic Welfare," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 94(376), pages 752-771, December.
    46. Hill, R.J., 1995. "A Taxonomy of Multilateral Methods of Making International Comparisons," Papers 95/33, New South Wales - School of Economics.
    47. Kravis, Irving B & Summers, Robert & Heston, Alan, 1982. "Comments on: "Selected Problems of the Intercountry Comparisons on the Basis of the Experience of the EEC."," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 28(4), pages 407-410, December.
    48. Hancock, Diana, 1985. "The Financial Firm: Production with Monetary and Nonmonetary Goods," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(5), pages 859-880, October.
    49. W. Erwin Diewert, 1995. "Axiomatic and Economic Approaches to Elementary Price Indexes," NBER Working Papers 5104, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    50. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Diewert, W Erwin, 1982. "Multilateral Comparisons of Output, Input, and Productivity Using Superlative Index Numbers," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(365), pages 73-86, March.
    51. Dennis J. Fixler & Kimberly D. Zieschang, 1992. "User Costs, Shadow Prices, and the Real Output of Banks," NBER Chapters, in: Output Measurement in the Service Sectors, pages 219-243, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    52. Robert J. Gordon, 1990. "The Measurement of Durable Goods Prices," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gord90-1, July.
    53. Diewert, W. E., 1976. "Exact and superlative index numbers," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 115-145, May.
    54. Pollak, Robert A., 1989. "The Theory of the Cost-of-Living Index," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195058703.
    55. Eisner, Robert, 1989. "The Total Incomes System of Accounts," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226196381, September.
    56. Dino Gerardi, 1982. "Selected Problems Of Inter‐Country Comparisons On The Basis Of The Experience Of The Eec," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 28(4), pages 381-405, December.
    57. Zvi Griliches, 1961. "Hedonic Price Indexes for Automobiles: An Econometric of Quality Change," NBER Chapters, in: The Price Statistics of the Federal Goverment, pages 173-196, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    58. Anglin, Paul M & Baye, Michael R, 1987. "Information, Multiprice Search, and Cost-of-Living Index Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(6), pages 1179-1195, December.
    59. W. Erwin Diewert, 1985. "Microeconomic Approaches to the Theory of International Comparisons," NBER Technical Working Papers 0053, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Diane Coyle & Jen‐Chung Mei, 2023. "Diagnosing the UK productivity slowdown: which sectors matter and why?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(359), pages 813-850, July.
    2. Robert Gordon, 1995. "Problems in the Measurement and Performance of Service-Sector Productivity in the United States," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: Palle Andersen & Jacqueline Dwyer & David Gruen (ed.),Productivity and Growth, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    3. Victor Olkhov, 2020. "Volatility Depend on Market Trades and Macro Theory," Papers 2008.07907, arXiv.org.
    4. Ariel Coremberg, 2008. "The Measurement of TFP in Argentina, 1990-2004: A Case of the Tyranny of Numbers, Economic Cycles and Methodology," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 17, pages 52-74, Fall.
    5. Barbara M. Fraumeni & Marshall B. Reinsdorf & Brooks B. Robinson & Matthew P. Williams, 2009. "Price and Real Output Measures for the Education Function of Government: Exploratory Estimates for Primary and Secondary Education," NBER Chapters, in: Price Index Concepts and Measurement, pages 373-403, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Barbara M. Fraumeni & Marshall B. Reinsdorf & Brooks B. Robinson & Matthew P. Williams, 2008. "Price and Real Output Measures for the Education Function of Government: Exploratory Estimates for Primary & Secondary Education," NBER Working Papers 14099, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Sultan, Muyed, 2008. "The Tertiary Sector Is Going to Dominate the World Economy; Should We Worry?," MPRA Paper 14681, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. W. Erwin Diewert, 1999. "Axiomatic and Economic Approaches to International Comparisons," NBER Chapters, in: International and Interarea Comparisons of Income, Output, and Prices, pages 13-107, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Charles R. Hulten, 2000. "Total Factor Productivity: A Short Biography," NBER Working Papers 7471, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Marshall Reinsdorf & Jack E. Triplett, 2009. "A Review of Reviews: Ninety Years of Professional Thinking About the Consumer Price Index," NBER Chapters, in: Price Index Concepts and Measurement, pages 17-83, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Wynne, Mark A & Sigalla, Fiona D, 1996. "A Survey of Measurement Biases in Price Indexes," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 55-89, March.
    5. W. Diewert & Alice Nakamura, 2003. "Index Number Concepts, Measures and Decompositions of Productivity Growth," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 127-159, April.
    6. Hulten, Charles R., 2010. "Growth Accounting," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 987-1031, Elsevier.
    7. Georganta, Zoe, 1997. "The effect of a free market price mechanism on total factor productivity: The case of the agricultural crop industry in Greece," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1-2), pages 55-71, October.
    8. Matthew D. Shapiro & David W. Wilcox, 1996. "Mismeasurement in the Consumer Price Index: An Evaluation," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1996, Volume 11, pages 93-154, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Diewert, W. Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2016. "Kevin J. Fox Interview of W. Erwin Diewert," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2016-6, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 02 Jun 2016.
    10. Barnett, William A. & Erwin Diewert, W. & Zellner, Arnold, 2011. "Introduction to measurement with theory," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 161(1), pages 1-5, March.
    11. Fox, Kevin J. & Grafton, R. Quentin & Kirkley, James & Squires, Dale, 2003. "Property rights in a fishery: regulatory change and firm performance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 156-177, July.
    12. Hoffmann, Johannes, 1998. "Problems of inflation measurement in Germany," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 1998,01e, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    13. Charles R. Hulten, 2009. "Growth Accounting," NBER Working Papers 15341, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Travis D. Nesmith, 2007. "Rational Seasonality," International Symposia in Economic Theory and Econometrics, in: Functional Structure Inference, pages 227-255, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    15. Athanasoglou, Panayiotis P. & Georgiou, Evangelia A. & Staikouras, Christos C., 2009. "Assessing output and productivity growth in the banking industry," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 1317-1340, November.
    16. Ivancic, Lorraine & Erwin Diewert, W. & Fox, Kevin J., 2011. "Scanner data, time aggregation and the construction of price indexes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 161(1), pages 24-35, March.
    17. Hill, Robert J., 2006. "Superlative index numbers: not all of them are super," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 130(1), pages 25-43, January.
    18. W. Erwin Diewert, 2022. "Duality in Production," Springer Books, in: Subhash C. Ray & Robert G. Chambers & Subal C. Kumbhakar (ed.), Handbook of Production Economics, chapter 3, pages 57-168, Springer.
    19. Voigt, Peter, 2004. "Russlands Weg vom Plan zum Markt: Sektorale Trends und regionale Spezifika. Eine Analyse der Produktivitäts- und Effizienzentwicklungen in der Transformationsphase," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 28, number 93021.
    20. Jerry Hausman, 2002. "Sources of Bias and Solutions to Bias in the CPI," NBER Working Papers 9298, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5103. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.