Evaluating Imperfections and Biases in Price Indexes during Transition
Year: 2001
Type: preprint
Abstract: The rapidly changing environment of the transition may create special problems for calculation of index numbers that require a fixed basket of goods and outlets. Using referent-level data we find that using a fixed-weight Laspeyres Index may overstate inflation rates by approximately 5 percent a year when compared with a superlative index in the Czech Republic. We find no evidence of such problems using more aggregate data for Bulgaria and Hungary. This suggests that the extent of the problems discovered might have been even greater if we had been able to use item/store level data.
DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1514465
Authors: Jan Hanousek, Randall K. Filer
Institutions: Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education – Economics Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Charles University, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Ifo Institute for Economic Research, City University of New York, University of Michigan, Hunter College, Czech Academy of Sciences, Economics Institute
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1577030360