Post-Laspeyres : The Case for a New Formula for Compiling Consumer Price Indexes /

Consumer price indexes (CPIs) are compiled at the higher (weighted) level using Laspeyres-type arithmetic averages. This paper questions the suitability of such formulas and considers two counterpart alternatives that use geometric averaging, the Geometric Young and the (price-updated) Geometric Low...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Armknecht Jr., Paul
Other Authors: Silver, Mick
Format: Journal
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2012.
Series:IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2012/105
Online Access:Full text available on IMF
Description
Summary:Consumer price indexes (CPIs) are compiled at the higher (weighted) level using Laspeyres-type arithmetic averages. This paper questions the suitability of such formulas and considers two counterpart alternatives that use geometric averaging, the Geometric Young and the (price-updated) Geometric Lowe. The paper provides a formal decomposition and understanding of the differences between the two. Empirical results are provided using United States CPI data. The findings lead to an advocacy of variants of a hybrid formula suggested by Lent and Dorfman (2009) that substantially reduces bias from Laspeyres-type indexes.
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Physical Description:1 online resource (28 pages)
Format:Mode of access: Internet
ISSN:1018-5941
Access:Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students