Regional price comparisons : a documentation of methodologies used worldwide based on 5 practical examples

Abstract

"Developing regional price indices takes enormous effort due to the requirement that only the same kind of products can be compared. In order to contribute to the simplification of creating regional price indices and thus, the facilitation of continuous monitoring of regional price level developments in Germany, this article will provide an overview and comparison of international experiences and methodological approaches. Starting from the regional price surveys conducted in Germany during the 1990s, other countries such as Australia, Great Britain, and the United States of America will be discussed regarding basic price concepts, representativity, comparability, brands, quality, and methods of quality adjustment. Additionally, the methodological approach of the World Bank will be outlined. This approach uses the EKS method (Eltetö/Köves/Szulc) for EU/OECD countries and the Country-Product-Representativity-Dummy (CPRD) method for any other country in order to maintain the transitivity of results in multilateral price comparisons. International comparisons make clear that other regional price surveys are conducted in shorter time horizons or more regular intervals than in Germany. Moreover, international comparison reveals that in some countries, such as in the United States, private solutions are additionally taken into account to calculate regional price indices. Finally, the article discusses to which extent additional surveys are required to supplement consumer price index surveys and whether the existing data of consumer price index statistics could be modified for use in regional price comparisons." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Stoyanov, B. (2010): Regionale Preisvergleiche. Eine Darstellung internationaler Verfahren anhand von fünf Praxisbeispielen. In: J. Möller, E. Hohmann & D. Huschka (Hrsg.) (2010): Der weiße Fleck - zur Konzeption und Machbarkeit regionaler Preisindizes (IAB-Bibliothek, 324), p. 263-301.