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Improving International Comparisons of Prices at Basic Heading Level: An Application to the Asia-Pacific Region

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  • Robert J. Hill
  • Iqbal A. Syed

Abstract

type="main"> The International Comparisons Program (ICP) run by the World Bank compares prices and real incomes across countries, and plays a pivotal role in the Penn World Table. Using a unique dataset consisting of over 600,000 price quotes from nine countries in the Asia-Pacific region, we consider ways of improving the basic heading price indexes that form the building blocks of ICP. Current ICP methodology computes these price indexes using the country–product–dummy (CPD) method applied to the country average prices. We contrast this approach with: (i) a weighted version of CPD; (ii) CPD applied directly to the individual price quotes; and (iii) extended versions of CPD that include adjustments for unrepresentative products, urban–rural price differences, and different outlet-types. Also considered are new CPD-based methods for measuring urban–rural price differences, and the implications of our findings for the downward revision in China's GDP in ICP 2005.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert J. Hill & Iqbal A. Syed, 2015. "Improving International Comparisons of Prices at Basic Heading Level: An Application to the Asia-Pacific Region," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(3), pages 515-539, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:61:y:2015:i:3:p:515-539
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/roiw.12116
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    4. Alicia Gómez-Tello & Alfonso Díez-Minguela & Julio Martinez-Galarraga & Daniel A. Tirado, 2019. "Regional prices in early twentieth-century Spain: a country-product-dummy approach," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 13(2), pages 245-276, May.
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    6. Luigi Biggeri & D. S. Prasada Rao, 2017. "Income, Poverty and Prices: Comparisons at National and Sub-national Level: Editors’ Introduction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 1-6, March.
    7. Menggen Chen, 2021. "Sub-National PPPs Based on House and Real Income Disparity across China: a Distinctive Spatial Deflator," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 187-219, February.
    8. Luigi Biggeri & Tiziana Laureti & Federico Polidoro, 2017. "Computing Sub-national PPPs with CPI Data: An Empirical Analysis on Italian Data Using Country Product Dummy Models," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 93-121, March.
    9. Amita Majumder & Ranjan Ray, 2015. "Estimates of Spatial Prices in India and their Sensitivity to Alternative Estimation Methods and Choice of Items," Monash Economics Working Papers 11-15, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    10. Chen,Xiaomeng & Mungai,Rose & Nakamura,Shohei & Pearson,Thomas Patrick & Wambile,Ayago Esmubancha & Yoshida,Nobuo, 2020. "How Useful is CPI Price Data for Spatial Price Adjustment in Poverty Measurement? : A Case from Ghana," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9388, The World Bank.

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