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Does One Size Fit All? The CPI and Canadian Seniors

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  • Matthew Brzozowski

Abstract

This paper examines the effectiveness of the CPI as a measure of inflation faced by Canadian seniors. I construct a democratic price index and show that the average inflation rate (average when measured by the CPI) is often a very poor measure of inflation rates relevant to individual households. The proportion of individual, household specific price indexes falling more then one percentage point above or more then one percentage point below the CPI often remains high regardless of how closely the mean democratic index approximates the CPI. Further, I demonstrate that the CPI has considerably overstated the inflation faced by Canadian seniors during 1970s and 1980s while more or less accurately capturing inflation during the 1990s. I show that the limitations of the CPI apply to both the senior and the non-senior Canadians in a nearly equal manner. The proportion of individual inflation rates falling significantly above or below the CPI is similar for both segments of the society and so is the time pattern of overstating the average inflation rate.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Brzozowski, 2005. "Does One Size Fit All? The CPI and Canadian Seniors," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 130, McMaster University.
    • Handle: RePEc:mcm:sedapp:130
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Frank T. Denton & Byron G. Spencer, 1997. "How Well Does the CPI Serve as an Index of Inflation for Older Age Groups?," Quantitative Studies in Economics and Population Research Reports 329, McMaster University.
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. James Gorry & Dean Scrimgeour, 2018. "Using Engel Curves To Estimate Consumer Price Index Bias For The Elderly," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(3), pages 539-553, July.
    3. 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.
    4. Garry F. Barrett & Matthew Brzozowski, 2010. "Using Engel Curves to Estimate the Bias in the Australian CPI," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(272), pages 1-14, March.
    5. Scrimgeour, Dean & Gorry, James, 2015. "Using Engel Curves to Estimate CPI Bias for the Elderly," Working Papers 2015-03, Department of Economics, Colgate University, revised 08 Jun 2015.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer Price Index; Inflation;

    JEL classification:

    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General
    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

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