Who Shrunk China? Puzzles in the Measurement of Real GDP

J. Peter Neary, Robert Feenstra and Hong Ma and D.S. Prasada Rao
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Hong Ma and D.S. Prasada Rao ()

No 566, Economics Series Working Papers from University of Oxford, Department of Economics

Abstract: The latest World Bank estimates of real GDP per capita for China are significantly lower than previous ones. We review possible sources of this puzzle and conclude that it reflects a combination of factors, including substitution bias in consumption, reliance on urban prices which we estimate are higher than rural ones, and the use of an expenditure-weighted rather than an output-weighted measure of GDP. Taking all these together, we estimate that real per-capita GDP in China was 50% higher relative to the U.S. in 2005 than the World Bank estimates.

Keywords: EKS; Geary-Khamis and GAIA indexes; Gerschrenkron effect; International comparisons of real income and GDP; Measurement economics; Substitution bias (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C43 F10 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-09-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cba, nep-dev and nep-tra
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Who Shrunk China? Puzzles in the Measurement of Real GDP (2013)
Working Paper: Who Shrunk China? Puzzles in the Measurement of Real GDP (2012)
Working Paper: Who Shrunk China? Puzzles in the Measurement of Real GDP (2011)
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