Mismeasurement of the CPI / Kenn Ariga, Kenji Matsui.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ariga, Ken, 1950-

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Matsui, Kenji.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w9436.

NBER working paper series no. w9436

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2003.

Summary:

In this paper, we investigate several key problems in Japanese economic statistics. We use CPI mismeasurements and biases as an example to explore the roots of the problems and also to offer guidelines for improvements. We emphasize 3 major shortcomings shared by many official statistics in Japan: (1) long delays in adjustments, (2) lack of proper coordination, and 3) insufficient information disclosure. In the analysis of CPI bias, we limit our focus to potential biases due to aggregation, survey methodology and sample selection procedures. We estimate that, in recent years, the commodity CPI inflation rate is biased upward by at least 0.5% per year, even if we assume away the potential bias associated with the quality adjustment, delay in incorporating changes in consumption basket, and other important unresolved problems.

Notes:

Print version record

January 2003.