IMF Working Papers

Post-Laspeyres: The Case for a New Formula for Compiling Consumer Price Indexes

By Paul A. Armknecht, Mick Silver

April 1, 2012

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Paul A. Armknecht, and Mick Silver. Post-Laspeyres: The Case for a New Formula for Compiling Consumer Price Indexes, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2012) accessed November 8, 2024
Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

Consumer price indexes (CPIs) are compiled at the higher (weighted) level using Laspeyres-type arithmetic averages. This paper questions the suitability of such formulas and considers two counterpart alternatives that use geometric averaging, the Geometric Young and the (price-updated) Geometric Lowe. The paper provides a formal decomposition and understanding of the differences between the two. Empirical results are provided using United States CPI data. The findings lead to an advocacy of variants of a hybrid formula suggested by Lent and Dorfman (2009) that substantially reduces bias from Laspeyres-type indexes.

Subject: Consumer price indexes, Expenditure, Inflation, Labor, Price indexes, Prices

Keywords: Consumer Price Index, Consumer price indexes, Geometric Young, Geometric Young price index, Index Numbers, Inflation, Laspeyres, Lowe formula, Lowe index, Lowe index Formula, Lowe price index, Number formula, Price index, Price indexes, Superlative, Törnqvist index, WP, Young

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    28

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

    ---

  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 2012/105

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA2012105

  • ISBN:

    9781475502954

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941

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