We consider three approaches to estimating quality-adjusted price changes: (i) the dummy variable approach from a hedonic regression, (ii) a superlative or exact hedonic index and (iii) a matching technique-a technique akin to that used by statistical offices. The dummy variable approach is...

Consumer sentiments indices are widely used by business and government. Their potential for forecasting future economic activity is the subject of ongoing research. This paper aims to assess the directional accuracy and potential value to external users of households' sentiments data compiled by...

The nature of the time series properties of real exchange rates remains a contentious issue primarily because of the implications for purchasing power parity. In particular are real exchange rates best characterized as stationary and non-persistent; nonstationary but non-persistent; or...

We examine the relationship between the prices paid by households and their shopping patterns measured in terms of shopping frequency and the range of stores visited. We use the TNS data which allows us to control for household heterogeneity. The main contribution of the paper is that we find...

This paper outlines the potential use of bar-code scanner data from retailers for the measurement of inflation. The source benefits from its extensive coverage in providing data on prices, quantities and values of transactions of each model of a good sold. Relative weights can thus be ascribed...

The most frequently applied test statistics for a unit root are the Dickey-Fuller tests, which are built into many econometric packages along with MacKinnon's empirical response functions. This article provides empirical response functions for some easy to compute alternative test statistics...

We show that the behaviour of the real exchange rates of the UK, Germany, France and Japan has been characterised by structural breaks which changed the adjustment mechanism. In the context of a Time-Varying Smooth Transition AutoRegressive of the kind introduced by Lundbergh et al (2003), we...