European consumer price indices since 1870

Jonas Ljungberg ()
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Jonas Ljungberg: Lund University

Cliometrica, 2025, vol. 19, issue 1, No 2, 29-80

Abstract: Abstract This article presents a database with the probably most up-to-date and reliable consumer price indices for a large sample of European countries since 1870. The database is a compilation but a contribution by going back to original or ignored works. For some countries, where CPIs have been missing, new provisional indices are constructed, and some are reconstructed for critical periods. The article critically examines historical CPIs in oft-used online databases and uncover some alarming inaccuracies and even fallacies. Despite the importance of accurate CPIs in long-term analyses, previously little effort has been put in assessing the quality and comparability of data between countries. Realism of the CPIs is examined within a framework of economic integration that qualifies received views. Lack of integration of Mediterranean countries before mid-20th century is validated, and contradictory patterns of integration in interwar and postwar Europe uncovered.

Keywords: Consumer price indices; Cost of living; Source criticism; Economic integration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E31 N13 N14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s11698-024-00283-6

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