The standard cost-of-living index hinges on the assumption that there is free trade. Applying it to situations where trade barriers are present yields biased results with respect to a true cost-of-living index. Import price indices are particularly vulnerable to this bias since many of the goods...

The Norwegian productivity puzzle is rooted in three seemingly contradictory “facts”: First, Norway is one of the most productive OECD countries. Second, Norway has experienced high growth in productivity. Third, Norway has a relatively low level of R&D intensity. In this article, I show...

The consumer price index commonly computed by national statistical agencies can be interpreted as a weighted average of price indices for individual households, with the weights proportional to the total consumption expenditure of each household. In other words, the aggregate consumer price...

The debate over including asset prices in the construction of an inflation statistic has attracted renewed attention in recent years. Virtually all of this (and earlier) work on incorporating asset prices into an aggregate price statistic has been motivated by a presumed, but unidentified...

The paper shows that the assessment of the speed of productivity growth crucially depends on how one chooses to measure value added. According to a widely held view, the growth rate of labour productivity has increased significantly in the U.S. since the mid-90s. The U.S. is perceived to...

Welche Bedeutung sollte dem ökonomischen Theorieansatz und damit insbesondere dem ökonomischen Kostenindex der Lebenshaltung (im Folgenden als "nutzenbasierter Ausgabenindex", NBA, bezeichnet) in der amtlichen Inflationsmessung eingeräumt werden? In diesem Beitrag werden die Potenziale des...

This paper develops a novel multilateral test approach to the problem of international comparisons. Many of the associated tests are justified as "reasonable" using the fact that they are direct analogues to properties of the cost-of-living index. Further support is bestowed upon the new...

La détection de phénomènes de bulles de prix dans le secteur immobilier, c’est-à-dire de surévaluation des biens immobiliers par rapport à leur valeur fondamentale, est un enjeu de stabilité financière. En effet, la correction brutale de ces bulles peut être un facteur significatif de...

We estimate the distribution of household-level inflation and show a strong and stable negative relationship between income and inflation that reflects the differences in consumption bundles along the income distribution (2010–2012). Inflation decreases as education levels increase. It is...

The paper criticizes the translation of the so called GEKS (Gini - Eltetö - Köves - Szulc) method to make consistent (transitive, or "drift free") international comparisons of price indices (parities), into the intertemporal framework. It shows that transitivity appears to be "over-ambitious"...