New Products, Quality Changes and Welfare Measures Computed From Estimated Demand Systems /

This paper examines the construction of a price index based on an estimated demand system. In principle the method examined can produce a price index that accounts for introduction of new products and quality changes in existing products. However, I isolate two key assumptions that have to be made...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
1. Verfasser:
Nevo, Aviv
Körperschaft:
National Bureau of Economic Research
Format:
Elektronisch E-Book
Sprache:
Englisch
Veröffentlicht:
Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2001.
Cambridge, Massachusetts : National Bureau of Economic Research, 2001.
Zusammenfassung:
This paper examines the construction of a price index based on an estimated demand system. In principle the method examined can produce a price index that accounts for introduction of new products and quality changes in existing products. However, I isolate two key assumptions that have to be made in order to interpret the demand estimates into welfare measures. Using estimates of a brand-level demand system for ready-to-eat cereal I demonstrate the empirical importance of the assumptions. For the data I use, depending on the interpretation of the demand estimates, a price index can range between a 35% percent increase over the five years examined to a 2.4% decrease.
Umfang:
1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);
Anmerkungen:
August 2001.
Schlagworte: