Estimating Quality‐adjusted Price Changes: Method and Application to VCRs

This paper uses scanner data to generate estimates of quality‐adjusted price changes for video‐recorders. We use hedonic regressions to derive estimates of the changing worth of each quality component. These are then applied to weighted changes in the mix of quality attributes of products to derive estimates of quality‐adjusted price (QAP) changes. The data source used is electronic‐point‐of‐sale (EPOS) scanner data that are available for a wide range of goods. This study provides an example of how such methods can be more widely applied. The estimates of QAP changes correspond to constant‐utility, (hedonic) cost‐of‐living indexes defined in economic theory as the ratio of expenditure functions at constant utility allowing for changing prices and characteristics of goods. This method is proposed as an improvement on the existing direct method , which takes its estimates directly from the coefficients associated with 'time dummies' in a hedonic regression. We finally undertake a matching process, akin to that used by statistical offices, and compare the results. Direct comparisons with RPI estimates and these hedonic approaches are not easy since the approaches use quite different data sets. Our replication of a procedure akin to that used for the RPI on the scanner data set provides insights into sources of potential bias.     

Using Scanner Data to Estimate Country Price Parities: A Hedonic Regression Approach

This paper uses scanner data from the bar-code readers of retailers to provide estimates of inter-country price parities at the level of the basic heading. The use of such data is appealing given its extensive coverage of transactions, information on weights, prices and characteristics of items at a highly detailed level. The study uses dummy variable hedonic and exact/superlative hedonic index number formulations applied to an inter-country context for both bilateral and multilateral comparisons. Unlike conventional methods, such methods are not confined to matched samples comparisons and thus make use of the entire sample. Their application extends to price survey data using checklists on characteristics. The application is to scanner data on about 1 million transactions for television sets over two months in three countries. It is, to the authors' knowledge, the first such use of scanner data and application of the above hedonic frameworks in this context.     

PRICE ANALYSIS AND A SYSTEM OF PRICE STATISTICS

For some considerable time the interest in price statistics has mainly been focused on their use as "intermediate goods". The requirements of a system of price index numbers which have to be established in this connection are largely in the field of statistical coordination (integration of statistics on quantities, values and prices).
Recently the inflation problem has given rise to an increased interest in price statistics as "final goods". A meaningful analysis of inflation will devote attention to the relation between input prices and output prices. In this article several versions of an analysis of prices of final demand categories based on an ordinary Leontief input-output scheme are presented and the needs for price statistics are discussed. In fact a self-contained system of price statistics emerges from the price analysis.
There is a difference in the nature of the price index numbers required in compiling input-output tables in constant prices (Paasche) and that in the case of price analysis (Laspeyres). However the need for price observation runs largely parallel because in both cases the same detailed information on price developments will probably be used.
Price analysis gives the possibility of a step-by-step approach in building up a system of price index numbers.     

ELEMENTARY AGGREGATES, MICRO-INDICES AND SCANNER DATA: SOME ISSUES IN THE COMPILATION OF CONSUMER PRICE INDICES

The paper argues for the use of scanner data from EPOS systems for use in the compilation of consumer price indices. A number of methods of calculating micro-indices from such data are outlined. Scanner data for colour television sets in the U.K. are used as an example. The Tornqvist chained index is used as a benchmark against which alternative formulations, including those based on representative products, can be judged, the errors often being substantial. The paper argues for the use of scanner data, illustrates methods of compiling micro-indices and points to the potential for serious errors from conventional methods.     

Who Faces Higher Prices? An Empirical Analysis Based on Japanese Homescan Data

On the basis of household‐level scanner data (called homescan data) for Japan, we construct a household‐level price index and investigate the causes of price differences across households. We observe large price differentials across households, a result that is consistent with the previous research based on the data in the USA. However, the differences across age and income groups are small. In addition, we find that elderly people face higher prices than the younger ones, which is contrary to the results of the previous research. The most important determinant of the price level is the extent to which households rely on bargain sales; doubling purchases of goods at bargain sales decreases the price level by about 2%, while shopping frequency only has a limited effect on the price level.     

EXCHANGE RATE PASS‐THROUGH INTO RETAIL PRICES

We study exchange rate pass‐through and its determinants using scanner data on fast moving consumer goods sold by 1,041 outlets in the United Arab Emirates between 2006 and 2010. The data are augmented with country of origin information. Our main finding is that exchange rate pass‐through varies more across retailers within regions than across regions, and in particular that pass‐through increases with retailer market share. We also find that exchange rate pass‐through is negatively correlated with both product quality and the elasticity of substitution of the product category and positively correlated with the frequency of price adjustment.     

MEASUREMENT BIAS IN PRICE INDEXES FOR CAPITAL GOODS*

The official U.S. price deflators for investment goods continue to be based on defective methodology, despite frequent criticism in recent years. This paper contributes new price information, which is combined with the empirical results from other studies to yield a revised investment deflator for the 1954–1963 period which (a) rises much more slowly than the official index and (b) declines relative to a revised price index for consumption expenditures.     

Is there a quality bias in the Canadian CPI? Evidence from microdata

Rising consumer prices may reflect shifts by consumers to new higher‐priced products, mostly for durable and semi‐durable goods. I apply Bils’ (2009) methodology to newly available Canadian consumer price data for non‐shelter goods and services to estimate how price increases can be divided between quality growth and price inflation. I find that less than one third of observed price increases during model changeovers should be attributed to quality growth. This implies overall price inflation close to inflation measured by the official index. I conclude that, according to Bils’ methodology, the quality bias is not an important source of potential mismeasurement of CPI inflation in Canada.     

农村公共品建设意愿一致性研究 ——基于我国“十县百村”的实证分析

本文利用“十县百村”的大样本调研数据研究农村公共品建设意愿的一致性问题。统计分析表明,农户最需要的三类公共品分别是乡村道路、灌溉设施和农村社会保障。通过对比村级和农户的公共品建设意愿发现,农村公共品建设的一致性程度很低。进而本文采用多元logit分析和线性回归分析得出影响一致性的因素有：性别、是否党员、是否从事农业生产、人均土地面积、是否是新农村示范村、村长是否选举、村级公共开支总额。本文最后提出了相关的政策建议。     

环境信息披露机制与企业发展——以日常耐用品生产企业为例

日常耐用消费品与人们的生活息息相关,其环保程度,对大众的身体健康有着重要影响。企业通过信息披露机制反映自身关于企业污染、治理方面的信息,可反映企业产品的环保程度,有利于消费者更好地了解企业,更好地反映产品的品质信息。企业披露高质量的环境信息,有利于建立良好的社会形象,有利于发展与消费者、政府间的互信机制,有利于强化企业产品的差异化程度,增强产品市场竞争力。     

An IMPOSSIBILITY THEOREM IN PURE PUBLIC GOODS ECONOMIES WITH FEASIBILITY CONSTRAINTS: VOTING BY COMMITTEES IN NON-RECTANGULAR FEASIBLE SETS*

We consider the problem of choosing an alternative in a pure public goods economy with feasibility constraints when voters have "additively-separable and single-peaked"preferences.Our purpose is to identify tops-only voting procedures satisfying "nonmanipulability" and "voter sovereignty". First, we show that such procedures are generalizations of the schemes of "voting by committees"¹)introduced by Barbera, Sonnenschein and Zhou (1991) in the sense that these procedures are defined similarly for the generalized feasible set. Second, we establish that when no two goods can be simultaneously produced at their maximal feasible levels, the procedures are characterized by the existence of a very powerful voter.     

Defining the Abatement Cost in Presence of Learning-by-Doing: Application to the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle

We consider a partial equilibrium model to study the optimal phasing out of polluting goods by green goods. The unit production cost of the green goods involves convexity and learning-by-doing. The total cost for the social planner includes the private cost of production and the social cost of carbon, assumed to be exogenous and growing at the social discount rate. Under these assumptions the optimization problem can be decomposed in two questions: (i) when to launch a given schedule; (ii) at which rate the transition should be completed that is, the design of a transition schedule as such. The first question can be solved using a simple indicator interpreted as the MAC of the whole schedule, possibly non optimal. The case of hydrogen vehicle (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles) offers an illustration of our results. Using data from the German market we show that the 2015–2050 trajectory foreseen by the industry would be consistent with a carbon price at 52€/t. The transition cost to achieve a 7.5 M car park in 2050 is estimated at 21.6 billion € that is, to JEl 4% discount rate, 115 € annually for each vehicle which would abate 2.18 tCO\(_2\) per year.     

Caste at Birth? Redefining Disparity in India

Using household information in the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) 1992/93 data, this paper examines regional variations in intercaste disparity in India. Based on five variables that are indicators of the standard of living of the three major caste/tribe groups identifiable in the data, a "caste deprivation index" is constructed that can be reversed to read as a "caste development index." Mapping the regional variation in this index, the paper makes a plea for focusing on caste as an essential ingredient in the study of stratification patterns in India's population.     

THE MEASUREMENT OF REAL INCOME

This paper is about the theory of the measurement of real income. By "theory of measurement" I mean the characterization of statistical terms as variables in a model, just as real consumption is characterized as an indicator of utility and the consumer price index is characterized as the cost of attaining a given level of utility in the economic theory of index numbers developed by Konus, Frisch and others half a century ago. I identify five logically distinct and internally-consistent concepts of real income: maximum sustainable consumption, consumption plus the output of new capital goods, consumption plus the increase in the capital stock where capital can be measured in two quite separate ways, and the sum of actual consumption and consumption forgone in the investment process. The last of these concepts is the most appropriate as a guide to producing long time series of real income for measuring a country's rate of economic growth.     

云南省大学生到村任职的现状调查与研究

选聘高校毕业生到村任职是新时期我党加强和改善农村基层政权、建设社会主义新农村、全面实现建设小康社会的重大举措。然而,目前大学生村官的状况如何？存在哪些问题？如何使大学生村官队伍建设成为长期战略行动？以云南省大学生村官、乡镇领导、村委会和村民为调查对象,通过对其生活状况、工作状况、思想状况等方面的调查,分析云南省大学生村官存在的主要问题,并提出完善云南大学生村官的建议。     

劳动价值论视角下的信息商品及其劳动分析

信息科学技术革命浪潮不仅创造出一种全新的信息商品,劳动创造价值的形式也发生巨大变化。概述了信息商品及其使用价值和价值的主要特性,并在此基础上分析其派生出来的新现象：创造信息商品价值的劳动具有不确定性;规范信息商品的实现过程成为信息产业发展中亟须解决的问题;信息服务业的劳动创造价值问题。     

农村公共产品供给绩效评价指标体系的构建与实证性检验

大量研究文献证明,我国农村公共产品供给是低绩效的、而目前对农村公共产品供给绩效的研究,大多停留在价值的选择上,很少有人提出一整套的量化指标体系.本文以农村公共产品绩效评价指标的新理念为核心,采用标准化评分方法,创新性的构建了一套操作性较强的农村公共产品供给绩效评价指标体系,并将西部某省一些县乡取消农业税后公共产品供给情况的调研数据,代入所构建的绩效评价指标体系中进行实证分析和检验,结果显示:该指标体系不仅可以反映出政府在农村公共产品供给上的行为偏好,而且可以说明政府农村公共产品供给政策合理与否,为以后展开相关研究提供了一种思路和参考.     

Informative advertising by an environmental group

Consuming a product does not (necessarily) reveal the environmental damage it may cause. In terms of environmental damage, most goods are credence goods. Therefore, advertising and pricing rarely can transmit such information effectively to consumers. This article considers the scope with which an environmental group (EG) can signal this information to consumers via advertising and campaigning. Although an EG can inform the public, the welfare effects are ambiguous. Therefore, the EG may not have an incentive to acquire information about the firm’s production practices. However, when the firm chooses the level of environmental damage and the EG chooses whether to acquire information, there exists a mixed-strategy equilibrium for some parameter values, such that the EG acquires information, and the threat of advertising causes the firm to produce an environmentally friendly good.     

A price index for Canada, 1688 to 1850

This paper presents the first price index for any region of Canada that spans from the colonial era to the mid‐19th century. I constructed it using prices from the account books of religious congregations with estates throughout modern‐day Quebec. It represents a substantial improvement over previous indexes thanks to the consistent price quotations in the source material, the high frequency of observations for many goods, the vast number of goods and the inclusion of numerous non‐agricultural and non‐food goods. Its price trends differ mildly from those of existing but less‐comprehensive price indexes. I link this new index with post‐1850 indexes to create a 328‐year price index for Canada.