A growing empirical literature finds that firms pass the cost of minimum wage hikes onto consumers via higher retail prices. Yet, little is known about minimum wage effects on wholesale prices and whether retailers face a wholesale cost shock in addition to the labor cost shock. I exploit the...

We use Canadian home scanner data to study household food inflation rates during periods of low and high inflation. We find that during the post-pandemic surge in inflation, the actual inflation rates experienced by different households varied more widely. Low-income households faced higher...

Ordinary consumer price indices customarily overstate increases in the cost of living because they do not allow for consumer substitution as relative prices change. This study looks for a more accurate measure of variations in the cost of living in Argentina over the years 1960 to 1995, taking...

This paper reviews the theory of the true cost of living index and its approximation through superlative index numbers, as well as the Vartia quantum theory of bias in index numbers as applied to substitution bias in consumer price indices. Estimated adjustments are proposed for the Argentine...

Intertemporal consumer preference shifts, although common in modern macro-economic models as drivers of demand shocks, have important but largely unexplored implications for price index theory and thus, for empirically measured price changes. The current practice of inflation measurement...

The effect on the household consumption price index from possible sources of error in capturing digital products depends on the weight of the affected products. To calculate upper bounds for this effect, we apply weights based on the average structure of household consumption in OECD countries...

This paper shows that the products and prices offered in markets are correlated with local income-specific tastes. To quantify the welfare impact of this variation, I calculate local price indexes micro-founded by a model of non-homothetic demand over thousands of grocery products. These indexes...

In this document we analyze the evidence of daily seasonality found in the weekly price variations of food, beverages, and tobacco in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City. Our research is based on the daily price quotes of 2,724 goods, collected by Banco de México for the Consumer Price Index...

This paper shows that the products and prices offered in markets are correlated with local income-specific tastes. To quantify the welfare impact of this variation, I calculate local price indexes micro-founded by a model of non-homothetic demand over thousands of grocery products. These indexes...