Searching for the holy grail of index number theory

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Balk, Bert M.^{a; b; *}

Affiliations: [a] Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: bbalk@rsm.nl | [b] Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg, The Netherlands

Correspondence: [*] The author thanks Stephen Casler for his comments on an earlier version.

Abstract: The index number problem is known as that of decomposing aggregate value change, in ratio or difference form, into two, ideally symmetric, factors. This note comments on a recent contribution of Casler [6].

Keywords: Index number theory, ideal indices, decomposition

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2008-0295

Journal: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 19-25, 2008