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Lost in Translation: What do Engel Curves Tell us about the Cost of Living?

Author

Listed:
  • Ingvild Almås
  • Timothy K.M. Beatty
  • Thomas F. Crossley

Abstract

The Hamilton method for estimating CPI bias is simple, intuitive, and has been widely adopted. We show that the method confiates CPI bias with variation in cost-of-living across income levels. Assuming a single price index across the income distribution is inconsistent with the downward sloping Engel curves that are necessary to implement the method. We develop and implement the Translated Engel curve (TEC) method that disentangles genuine CPI bias from differences caused by comparing changes in the cost of living across different income levels - non-homotheticity. The TEC method gives substantially different estimates of CPI bias prior to major reforms to the CPI in 1999 (post-Boskin), but both methods suggest very little CPI bias thereafter.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingvild Almås & Timothy K.M. Beatty & Thomas F. Crossley, 2018. "Lost in Translation: What do Engel Curves Tell us about the Cost of Living?," CESifo Working Paper Series 6886, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6886
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Adam Bee & Bruce D. Meyer & James X. Sullivan, 2013. "The Validity of Consumption Data: Are the Consumer Expenditure Interview and Diary Surveys Informative?," NBER Chapters, in: Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures, pages 204-240, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Bruce W. Hamilton, 2001. "Using Engel's Law to Estimate CPI Bias," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 619-630, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew Dabalen & Isis Gaddis & Nga Thi Viet Nguyen, 2020. "CPI Bias and its Implications for Poverty Reduction in Africa," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(1), pages 13-44, March.
    2. Ingvild Almås & Timothy K.M. Beatty & Thomas F. Crossley, 2019. "Lost in translation: What do Engel curves tell us about the cost of living?," Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) Discussion Papers ESCoE DP-2019-09, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE).
    3. David Atkin & Benjamin Faber & Thibault Fally & Marco Gonzalez-Navarro, 2024. "Measuring Welfare and Inequality with Incomplete Price Information," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 139(1), pages 419-475.
    4. Marcel Fafchamps & Aditya Shrinivas, 2022. "Risk Pooling and Precautionary Saving in Village Economies," NBER Working Papers 30128, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Emi Nakamura & Jón Steinsson & Miao Liu, 2016. "Are Chinese Growth and Inflation Too Smooth? Evidence from Engel Curves," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(3), pages 113-144, July.
    6. Fafchamps, Marcel & Shrinivas, Aditya, 2026. "Intertemporal risk pooling in village economies," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    7. Hartmut Egger & Simone Habermeyer, 2019. "Nonhomothetic preferences and rent sharing in an open economy," CESifo Working Paper Series 7522, CESifo.
    8. Ligon, Ethan, 2017. "Estimating household welfare from disaggregate expenditures," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt5gc4h1fm, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    9. Luc Christiaensen & Ethan Ligon & Thomas Pave Sohnesen, 2022. "Consumption Subaggregates Should Not Be Used to Measure Poverty," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(2), pages 413-432.
    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.
    11. Ingvild Almas & Ashild Johnsen, 2018. "The cost of a growth miracle - reassessing price and poverty trends in China," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 30, pages 239-264, October.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation
    • C82 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Macroeconomic Data; Data Access
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation

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