Faster, Smaller, Cheaper: An Hedonic Price Analysis of PDAs / Paul D. Chwelos, Ernst R. Berndt, Iain M. Cockburn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chwelos, Paul D.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Berndt, Ernst R.

Cockburn, Iain M.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w10746.

NBER working paper series no. w10746

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Faster, Smaller, Cheaper

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2004.

Summary:

We compute quality-adjusted price indexes for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) for the period 1999-2004, using data on prices and characteristics of 203 models sold by 12 manufacturers. The PDA market is growing in size, it is technologically dynamic with very substantial changes in measured characteristics over time, and it has experienced rapid rates of product introduction. Hedonic regressions consistently show prices to be positively related to processor performance, RAM memory, permanent storage capacity, and battery life, as well as several measures of screen size and quality. Features such as networking, biometric identification, camera, and cellphone capability are also positively associated with price. Hedonic price indexes implied by these regressions decline at an AAGR of 21.1% to 25.6% per year during this period. A matched model price index computed from a subset of observations declines at 18.75% per year. Though these PDA rates of price decline are lower than have been estimated for desktop and laptop PCs, consumers in this "ultra-portable" segment of the computer market appear to have enjoyed substantial welfare gains over the past five years.

Notes:

Print version record

September 2004.