Using Online Prices for Measuring Real Consumption across Countries

Alberto Cavallo, Walter Diewert, Robert Feenstra, Robert Inklaar and Marcel Timmer

AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2018, vol. 108, 483-87

Abstract: We show that online prices can be used to construct quarterly purchasing power parities (PPPs) with a closely matched set of goods and identical methodologies in a variety of developed and developing countries. Our results are close to those reported by the International Comparisons Program (ICP) in 2011 and the OECD in 2014, and can be used to obtain more up-to-date estimates of real consumption across countries without the need for consumer price index extrapolations. We discuss advantages and limitations associated with the use of online prices for PPs, including issues of representativeness and limited coverage of product categories and countries.

JEL-codes: C43 E21 E31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
Note: DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20181037
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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