This paper provides an extensive literature review and analyses some open issues in the measurement of inflation that can only be explored in depth using micro price data. It builds on the analysis done in the context of the ECB's strategy review, which pointed at directions for improvement of...

This paper provides an extensive literature review and analyses some open issues in the measurement of inflation that can only be explored in depth using micro price data. It builds on the analysis done in the context of the ECB’s strategy review, which pointed at directions for improvement of...

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) currently only includes rentals for housing (paid by tenants) and auxiliary housing expenditures (paid by both tenants and owners). The inclusion of an item for owner-occupied housing (OOH) would be desirable for both representativeness and...

The well-known problem of too many instruments in dynamic panel data GMM is dealt with in detail in Roodman (2009, Oxford Bull. Econ. Statist.). The present paper goes one step further by providing a solution to this problem: factorisation of the standard instrument set is shown to be a valid...

The well-known problem of too many instruments in dynamic panel data GMM is dealt with in detail in Roodman (2009, Oxford Bull. Econ. Statist.). The present paper goes one step further by providing a solution to this problem: factorisation of the standard instrument set is shown to be a valid...

Summary “Which index formula at the elementary level, where no expenditure share weights are available, corresponds to a desired aggregate index?” To answer this question, this paper develops a statistical approach. It proposes a theoretical framework which makes it possible to achieve...

The present paper explores, both theoretically and empirically, the bias of unit value indices as opposed to genuine price indices in foreign trade. An analysis of German data reveals conceptual and methodological differences, and their impact on economic indicators, namely imported inflation,...

Inflation rates of more than 3% in Germany during some months in the spring and summer of 2008 have been giving rise to claims from both politicians and the unions for social measures for welfare recipients. It is argued that the burden of inflation is heterogeneously distributed among different...

How much does quality adjustment matter in measuring consumer price inflation? To address this question, we use different sources of micro and macro price data for Germany and the euro area. For Germany, we find that quality adjustment applies to a large range of goods and services but, on...