Journal of Economic and Social Measurement - Volume 29, issue 4

Authors: Durand, René

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: General equilibrium estimates of the real value of commodities and of their aggregates are consistent (comparable) only if based on a single numeraire. Current estimates of aggregates in national accounts are shown to be based on more than one numeraire …and thus to be inconsistent and, in particular, to be non-additive, for whatever choice of index number formula used in their computation. Under a weak separability assumption, these aggregates may alternatively be viewed as physical volumes of macro commodities. As such, they need not satisfy the consistency requirement of the real value estimates. However, the existence of such macro commodities is dubious and would they exist, one could still question their usefulness for economic analysis. Show more

Keywords: index numbers, separability, national accounting, real values, real expenditure, deflation

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2004-0234

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 411-426, 2004

Authors: de Haan, Jan

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper has two aims. First, it shows how the time dummy method to adjust for quality changes fits into the methodology of statistical agencies applying a geometric mean price index formula at the elementary aggregation level. Second, the paper …argues that the ordinary or direct time dummy approach cannot cope with systematic price effects of new and disappearing products. Several 'indirect' alternatives are discussed in which the time dummy coefficient serves as a common adjustment factor and in which systematic effects of new or disappearing products are explicitly taken into account. Special attention is paid to the role of the sampling design, in particular proportional to expenditure sampling. Show more

Keywords: consumer price index, hedonic regression, quality adjustment, sampling

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2004-0235

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 427-443, 2004

Authors: Neumark, David | Kawaguchi, Daiji

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Short panel data sets constructed by matching individuals across monthly files of the Current Population Survey (CPS) have been used to study a wide range of questions in labor economics. But because the CPS does not follow movers, these panels …exhibit significant attrition, which may lead to bias in longitudinal estimates. The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) uses essentially the same sampling frame and design as the CPS, but makes substantial efforts to follow movers. We therefore use the SIPP to construct "data-based" rather than "model-based" corrections for bias from selective attrition. The approach is applied to two questions that have been studied with CPS data – union wage differentials and the male marriage wage premium. The evidence suggests that in many applications the advantages of using matched CPS panels to obtain longitudinal estimates are likely to far outweigh the disadvantages from attrition biases, although we should allow for the possibility that attrition bias leads the longitudinal estimates to be understated. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2004-0236

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 445-472, 2004

Authors: Blanchard, Troy C. | Levin, Martin L. | Cossman, Jeralynn S.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In this paper we develop a method for the hierarchical analysis of individual mortality outcomes by pooling data from the Census of Population and Housing Public Use Microdata Samples and Multiple Cause of Death files. This methodology provides a data …source for estimating hierarchical event history models that incorporate spatial context into the modeling of mortality outcomes. The implementation of this method will provide researchers a means for understanding how structural factors that cannot be measured by aggregations of individual-level characteristics, such as health infrastructure, community organization, and physical environment, condition health disparities across rural and urban portions of the US. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2004-0237

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 473-485, 2004

Authors: Keith, Kristen | LeSage, James P.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: We propose a robust Bayesian approach to the analysis of wage differentials based on the standard wage decomposition model. Although this model has been widely used to study wage discrimination based on race or gender, little attention has been given …to the impact of aberrant observations (outliers) or heteroscedasticity on the resulting inferences regarding the discrimination effect. Results from Monte Carlo experiments demonstrate the advantages of our approach in the presence of outliers and heteroscedasticity. Simulation examples provide a comparison of estimates and inferences from the robust Bayesian approach with those from more traditional least-squares methods of wage decomposition analysis. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2004-0238

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 487-505, 2004

Authors: Hill, Robert J.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: A new axiom for price indexes is proposed, referred to here as monotonicity in price relatives. This axiom requires that if prices of all goods and services rise more in country A than in country B, then the price index for A must exceed …that for B. Although monotonicity in price relatives seems fundamental, all the main weighted price index formulae (including all known superlatives) and even some elementary price indexes violate it. The implications of this somewhat paradoxical finding for the index number literature are explored. It is shown that violation of monotonicity in price relatives is only a concern for elementary price indexes, thus strengthening the case for Jevons over Dutot, since the latter violates this axiom. Show more

Keywords: superlative price index, elementary price index, axiomatic approach, monotonicity, Fox paradox

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2004-0239

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 507-520, 2004