Journal of Economic and Social Measurement - Volume 37, issue 3

Authors: Klevmarken, N. Anders | Grünewald, Olle | Allansson, Henrik

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: A long lasting controversy in Sweden as well as internationally is how to best estimate a price on the services of owner occupied housing in a consumer price index. There is no international consensus and different approaches have been adopted. …In this article we use a true cost-of-living index previously suggested by one of the authors, apply the model to Swedish data and compare the results to the official Swedish consumer price index. We find that the official index has underestimated changes in the cost-of-living and suggest a region in which a better approximation should lie. Show more

Keywords: Price index, cost-of-living index, compensation index, price of housing services, D91

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2012-0362

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 177-195, 2012

Authors: Herman, Douglas A. | Ulrick, Shawn W.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper provides a guide to understanding physician claims data. Physician claims data reflect the prices and quantity of procedures provided by physicians and billed to insurers. These data are often used by policy analysts, legal professionals, and academics to …analyze price dynamics in markets for physician specialties. Given recent legislation, such data will become ever more common and accessible in the near future. The data are very complex, and there is little in terms of publically available sources to explain how they convey prices. Our goal is to aid the reader new to these data by providing a substantive overview of them. Show more

Keywords: Claims data, health care costs, electronic medical/health records, measuring health care price changes

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2012-0356

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 197-224, 2012

Authors: Di Fonzo, Tommaso | Marini, Marco

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: We present a new technique for temporally benchmarking a time series according to a Growth Rates Preservation (GRP) principle. This procedure basically looks for the solution to a non linear program, according to which a smooth, non-convex function of the …unknown values of the target time series has to be minimized subject to linear equality constraints which link the more frequent series to a given, less frequent benchmark series. We develop a Newton's method with Hessian modification applied to a suitably reduced-unconstrained problem. This method exploits the analytic Hessian of the GRP objective function, making full use of all the derivative information at disposal. We show that the proposed technique is easy to implement, computationally robust and efficient, all features which make it a plausible competitor of other benchmarking procedures currently used by statistical agencies. Show more

Keywords: Temporal benchmarking, movement preservation, constrained non-linear optimization, newton's method, performance profile

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2012-0358

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 225-252, 2012

Authors: Klemm, Alexander

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper extends the effective average tax rate (EATR) developed in Devereux and Griffith [3] by relaxing the assumption of a one-period perturbation in the capital stock. While this may appear to be a purely technical change, it has important …implications. First, it allows the EATR to be calculated in the presence of special regimes such as tax holidays, which are an important part of tax systems, especially in developing countries. Second, it reveals an interesting feature of the original EATR: despite the assumption of a one-period investment, the original measure is informative about long-term investments, thanks to the assumption of pooled depreciation. Without this assumption – which is justifiable in a few countries only – the EATR based on one-period perturbation in the capital stock would be less useful for analyzing medium and long-term investments. Show more

Keywords: Effective tax rates, discrete investment, tax holidays

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2012-0361

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 253-264, 2012

Authors: Niu, Yongzhi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This study employs both linear and non-linear approaches to examine tax audit productivity in New York State. Both approaches show a positive relationship between audit revenue collections and the number of the direct audit staff. In addition, the non-linear approach …of the reciprocal model discovers the diminishing marginal returns. Using a narrower definition of "direct staff" which excludes upper level audit managers, we find that at the current staff level (877 as of November 2008), the marginal return of an extra staff member is $602 thousand annually, which is consistent with the results of the linear model. The results also show that in order to maximize net audit revenue the State needs to increase the number of direct auditors to 1,522, assuming the marginal cost of an additional auditor is constant at $200 thousand. The non-linear model provides a convenient way to determine the optimal level of staff, given the marginal cost of an additional auditor. Hence policymakers can use this non-linear model as a tool to maximize the State's net audit revenue. Show more

Keywords: Tax audit, audit productivity, audit revenue collections, audit effort, tax deficiency, reciprocal model

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2012-0359

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 265-275, 2012