The Consumer Price Index Manual (2004) provides guidelines for aggregation formulas that are promulgated at IMF training courses and technical assistance missions. This paper develops elementary level aggregation theory to better inform users and compilers. Most countries use either the Dutot or...

Statistical offices try to match item models when measuring inflation between two periods. For product areas with a high turnover of differentiated models, however, the use of hedonic indexes is more appropriate since they include the prices and quantities of unmatched new and old models. The...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. HEDONIC INDEXES -- III. WHY HEDONIC IMPUTATION AND DUMMY TIME HEDONIC INDEXES DIFFER -- IV. CHOICE BETWEEN HEDONIC INDEXES AND DUMMY TIME HEDONIC INDEXES -- V. CONCLUSIONS -- References.

Statistical offices try to match item models when measuring inflation between two periods. However, for product areas with a high turnover of differentiated models, the use of hedonic indexes is more appropriate since they include unmatched new and old models. There are two main competing...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. ELEMENTARY INDEX NUMBER FORMULAS, THEIR USE AND JUSTIFICATION -- III. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE JEVONS AND DUTOT FORMULAS -- IV. EMPIRICAL WORK -- V. IMPLICATIONS FOR CPI COMPILATION -- VI. SUMMARY -- Data Annex.

Unit value export and import indices compiled from returns to customs authorities are often used as surrogates for price indices in the measurement of inflation transmission, terms of trade (effects), and to deflate import and export value series to derive volume series. Their widespread use is...

The IMF’s main uses of the International Comparison Program’s (ICP) estimates of purchasing power parity (PPP)-adjusted Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are as an element of the formula used to help guide decisions on its members’ quotas and in the World Economic Outlook (WEO)....

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. CONCEPTS AND PRACTICAL ISSUES -- III. SOURCES OF ERROR AND BIAS IN A CPI -- IV. THE METHODS -- V. HOW TO CHOOSE AMONG METHODS: JUDGING WHICH IS BEST -- VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS -- REFERENCES.

Index number theory informs us that if data on matched prices and quantities are available, a superlative index number formula is best to aggregate heterogeneous items, and a unit value index to aggregate homogeneous ones. The formulas can give very different results. Neglected is the practical...

This paper provides an overview of statistical measurement issues relating to alternative measures of core inflation, and the criteria for choosing among them. The approaches to measurement considered include exclusion-based methods, imputation methods, limited influence estimators, reweighting,...