Using Online Prices for Measuring Real Consumption across Countries
Name
pandp.20181037.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
477.3 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
eb217df7508aeca0acde0a008fc784dd
Author(s)
Cavallo, Alberto F.
Diewert, W. Erwin
Feenstra, Robert C.
Inklaar, Robert
Timmer, Marcel P.
Date Issued
May 2018
Journal
AEA Papers and Proceedings
Publisher
American Economic Association
Citation
Cavallo, Alberto et al. "Using Online Prices for Measuring Real Consumption across Countries." AEA Papers and Proceedings 108 (May 2018): 483-87
Version
Final published version
Abstract
We show that online prices can be used to construct quarterly purchasing power parities (PPPs) with a closely matched set of goods and identical methodologies in a variety of developed and developing countries. Our results are close to those reported by the International Comparisons Program (ICP) in 2011 and the OECD in 2014, and can be used to obtain more up-to-date estimates of real consumption across countries without the need for consumer price index extrapolations. We discuss advantages and limitations associated with the use of online prices for PPs, including issues of representativeness and limited coverage of product categories and countries.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20181037
