TY - BOOK ID - 11282586 TI - An index number formula problem : the aggregation of broadly comparable items PY - 2009 SN - 1451916027 1462376975 145187166X 9786612842412 1282842412 1452717796 PB - [Washington D.C.] : International Monetary Fund, DB - UniCat KW - Business & Economics KW - Economic Theory KW - Index numbers (Economics) KW - Economic indicators. KW - Business indicators KW - Economic indicators KW - Indicators, Business KW - Indicators, Economic KW - Leading indicators KW - Numbers, Index KW - Economic history KW - Quality of life KW - Economic forecasting KW - Social indicators KW - Economics KW - Prices KW - Indexation (Economics) KW - Macroeconomics KW - Index Numbers and Aggregation KW - leading indicators KW - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data KW - Price Level KW - Inflation KW - Deflation KW - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure KW - Size Distribution of Firms KW - Information and Product Quality KW - Standardization and Compatibility KW - Price indexes KW - Export price indexes UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:11282586 AB - Index number theory informs us that if data on matched prices and quantities are available, a superlative index number formula is best to aggregate heterogeneous items, and a unit value index to aggregate homogeneous ones. The formulas can give very different results. Neglected is the practical case of broadly comparable items. This paper provides a formal analysis as to why such formulas differ and proposes a solution to this index number problem. ER -