IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/offsta/v33y2017i4p979-1004n7.html

The Effects of the Frequency and Implementation Lag of Basket Updates on the Canadian CPI

Author

Listed:
  • Huang Ning

    (Statistics Canada, Consumer Prices Division, 170 Tunney’s Pasture, Ottawa, O.N., K1A 0T6. Canada.)

  • Wimalaratne Waruna

    (Statistics Canada, Consumer Prices Division, 170 Tunney’s Pasture, Ottawa, O.N., K1A 0T6. Canada.)

  • Pollard Brent

    (Statistics Canada, Consumer Prices Division, 170 Tunney’s Pasture, Ottawa, O.N., K1A 0T6. Canada.)

Abstract

In this article, we examine the effects of different frequencies and implementation months of basket updates on the fixed-basket price index – the Lowe index, through theoretical analysis and empirical simulation using Canadian data from 2000 to 2013. We find that both an increased frequency of basket updates and a faster implementation of these new baskets will reduce substitution bias in the CPI. However, we also find that improvements to the method of accelerating frequency has diminishing marginal returns in practice – as each subsequent increase in the frequency with which the CPI basket is updated has a less pronounced effect; and the ideal link-month when a new basket is implemented is unpredictable, since the impact of the implementation lag depends upon the consistency between short-term price movements and long-term price trends.

Suggested Citation

  • Huang Ning & Wimalaratne Waruna & Pollard Brent, 2017. "The Effects of the Frequency and Implementation Lag of Basket Updates on the Canadian CPI," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 33(4), pages 979-1004, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:offsta:v:33:y:2017:i:4:p:979-1004:n:7
    DOI: 10.1515/jos-2017-0046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/jos-2017-0046
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/jos-2017-0046?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Allan Crawford, 1998. "Measurement biases in the Canadian CPI: An update," Bank of Canada Review, Bank of Canada, vol. 1998(Spring), pages 39-56.
    2. Mark A. Wynne & Diego Rodriguez‐Palenzuela, 2004. "Measurement Bias in the HICP: What do we know and What do we need to know?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 79-112, February.
    3. de Haan, Jan & van der Grient, Heymerik A., 2011. "Eliminating chain drift in price indexes based on scanner data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 161(1), pages 36-46, March.
    4. Patrick Sabourin, 2012. "Measurement Bias in the Canadian Consumer Price Index: An Update," Bank of Canada Review, Bank of Canada, vol. 2012(Summer), pages 1-11.
    5. 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.
    6. Jan de Haan & Frances Krsinich, 2014. "Scanner Data and the Treatment of Quality Change in Nonrevisable Price Indexes," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 341-358, July.
    7. James Rossiter, 2005. "Measurement Bias in the Canadian Consumer Price Index," Staff Working Papers 05-39, Bank of Canada.
    8. Diewert, W. E., 1976. "Exact and superlative index numbers," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 115-145, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. repec:upd:utmpwp:033 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Abe, Naohito & 阿部, 修人 & Rao, D.S.Prasada, 2020. "Generalized Logarithmic Index Numbers with Demand Shocks: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice," RCESR Discussion Paper Series DP20-1, Research Center for Economic and Social Risks, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    3. Diewert, W. Erwin, 2017. "Productivity Measurement in the Public Sector: Theory and Practice," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2017-1, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 02 Feb 2017.
    4. Kozo Ueda & Kota Watanabe & Tsutomu Watanabe, 2024. "Household Inventory, Temporary Sales, Price Indices," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 65(1), pages 217-251, February.
    5. 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.
    6. Erica L. Groshen & Brian C. Moyer & Ana M. Aizcorbe & Ralph Bradley & David M. Friedman, 2017. "How Government Statistics Adjust for Potential Biases from Quality Change and New Goods in an Age of Digital Technologies: A View from the Trenches," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 187-210, Spring.
    7. Kevin J. Fox & Peter Levell & Martin O’Connell, 2026. "Inflation Measurement with High-Frequency Data," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 383-396, January.
    8. Chihiro Shimizu & W. Erwin Diewert, 2025. "Challenges in Consumer Price Index Construction," Working Papers e219, Tokyo Center for Economic Research.
    9. Kozo Ueda & Kota Watanabe & Tsutomu Watanabe, 2020. "Consumer Inventory and the Cost of Living Index: Theory and Some Evidence from Japan," CARF F-Series CARF-F-491, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    10. Ludwig von Auer, 2024. "Inflation Measurement in the Presence of Stockpiling and Smoothing of Consumption," Research Papers in Economics 2024-02, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    11. Adam Gorajek, 2018. "Econometric Perspectives on Economic Measurement," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2018-08, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    12. Kevin J, Fox. & Iqbal A. Syed, 2016. "Price Discounts and the Measurement of Inflation: Further Results," Discussion Papers 2016-05, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    13. W. Erwin Diewert & Kevin J. Fox, 2022. "Measuring real consumption and consumer price index bias under lockdown conditions," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(S1), pages 480-502, February.
    14. Diewert, Erwin, 2019. "Quality Adjustment and Hedonics: A Unified Approach," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2019-2, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 14 Mar 2019.
    15. Daniel Melser, 2019. "Valuing the quantity and quality of product variety to consumers," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(6), pages 2107-2128, December.
    16. Diewert, Erwin & Shimizu, Chihiro, 2015. "Residential Property Price Indices For Tokyo," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(8), pages 1659-1714, December.
    17. Fox, Kevin J. & Syed, Iqbal A., 2016. "Price discounts and the measurement of inflation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 191(2), pages 398-406.
    18. Zhenkun Zhou & Zikun Song & Tao Ren, 2022. "Predicting China's CPI by Scanner Big Data," Papers 2211.16641, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2023.
    19. Jacek Bia{l}ek & Maciej Berk{e}sewicz, 2020. "Scanner data in inflation measurement: from raw data to price indices," Papers 2005.11233, arXiv.org.
    20. Sweitzer, Megan & Byrne, Anne T. & Page, Elina T. & Carlson, Andrea & Kantor, Linda & Muth, Mary K. & Karns, Shawn & Zhen, Chen, 2024. "Development of the Food-at-Home Monthly Area Prices Data," Technical Bulletins 342467, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    21. W. Erwin Diewert & Naohito Abe & Akiyuki Tonogi & Chihiro Shimizu, 2025. "Scanner Data and the Construction of Inter‐Regional Price Indexes," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 71(4), November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:vrs:offsta:v:33:y:2017:i:4:p:979-1004:n:7. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    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.