Presenter(s): Jens Mehrhoff, Bundesbank
e-mail(s): jens.mehrhoff@bundesbank.de
Date: 18 March 2020
Webinar aims
This webinar aims at introducing price measurement in official statistics, in particular challenging, new areas of measurement. The objective is to introduce participants to the various practical and technical issues encountered while attempting to construct price indices. Questions include:
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What are the conceptual and practical measurement problems in measuring inflation in the digital economy?
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What are the methodological issues and practical experiences with the use of big data for compiling consumer price indices?
Webinar learning outcomes
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To understand the basic principles of consumer price indices and inflation measurement in official statistics.
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To become familiar with the challenges in modern price statistics, including limitations of data and methods.
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To be aware of the need for high-quality data used in monitoring the state and development of the economy.
Webinar content
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The European Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices
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The impact of digitalisation on inflation measurement
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The use of big data sources for consumer price indices
Difficulty level
Introductory
Prerequisites for the webinar
A sound understanding of basic statistical theory is necessary.
Further reading and resources
On consumer prices in general
Eurostat (2018), Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP): Methodological Manual, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3859598/9479325/KS-GQ-17-015-EN-N.pdf
ILO, IMF, OECD, Eurostat, UN, World Bank (2019), Consumer Price Index Manual: Concepts and Methods, Draft September 2019.
https://www.imf.org/~/media/Files/Data/CPI/cpi-manual-concepts-and-methods.ashx?la=en
On digitalisation in particular
Reinsdorf, M., and Schreyer, P. (2019), ‘Measuring Consumer Inflation in a Digital Economy,’ OECD Statistics Working Papers, No. 2019/01.
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/1d002364-en.pdf
Quirós-Romero, G., and Reinsdorf, M. (2019), ‘Digitalisation and the Measurement of Inflation and Growth,’ 62nd ISI World Statistics Congress, Kuala Lumpur.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1c33xlwnxdG0pm9WLG7qKSmWEUJyVvOGi
On new data sources in particular
Mehrhoff, J. (2019), ‘The Value Chain of Scanner and Web-Scraped Data,’ Economics and Statistics, No. 509, pp. 5 – 11.
https://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques/fichier/4203538/509_Mehrhoff-EN.pdf
Mehrhoff, J. (2018, updated 2019), ‘Promoting the Use of a Publically Available Scanner Data Set in Price Index Research and for Capacity Building.’
https://github.com/eurostat/dff/blob/master/docs/dff.pdf
Presentation material
Presentation Webinar Consumer Price Indices
Recording of the webinar
Video Recording Webinar Consumer Price Indices