This book provides an introduction to index numbers for statisticians, economists and numerate members of the public. It covers the essential basics, mixing theoretical aspects with practical techniques to give a balanced and accessible introduction to the subject. The concepts are illustrated by exploring the construction and use of the Consumer Prices Index which is arguably the most important of all official statistics in the UK. The book also considers current issues and developments in the field including the use of large-scale price transaction data. A Practical Introduction to Index Numbers will be the ideal accompaniment for students taking the index number components of the Royal Statistical Society Ordinary and Higher Certificate exams; it provides suggested routes through the book for students, and sets of exercises with solutions.
There is no book currently available that gives a comprehensive treatment of the design, construction, and use of index numbers. However, there is a pressing need for one in view of the increasing and more sophisticated employment of index numbers in the whole range of applied economics and specifically in discussions of macroeconomic policy. In this book, R. G. D. Allen meets this need in simple and consistent terms and with comprehensive coverage. The text begins with an elementary survey of the index-number problem before turning to more detailed treatments of the theory and practice of index numbers. The binary case in which one time period is compared with another is first developed and illustrated with numerous examples. This is to prepare the ground for the central part of the text on runs of index numbers. Particular attention is paid both to fixed-weighted and to chain forms as used in a wide range of published index numbers taken mainly from British official sources. This work deals with some further problems in the construction of index numbers, problems which are both troublesome and largely unresolved. These include the use of sampling techniques in index-number design and the theoretical and practical treatment of quality changes. It is also devoted to a number of detailed and specific applications of index-number techniques to problems ranging from national-income accounting, through the measurement of inequality of incomes and international comparisons of real incomes, to the use of index numbers of stock-market prices. Aimed primarily at students of economics, whatever their age and range of interests, this work will also be of use to those who handle index numbers professionally.
This book Index Number and Time Series has been written to meet the requirement of graduate/post graduate students of all Indian Universities. This book is also helpful for the preparation of I.A.S/P.C.S and other competitions. The book contains a large number of solved examples including those asked in previous years universities papers. Theory and proof of the theorems are given in a very simple manner. Short note on important topics also included. The book contains exhaustive list of formulae for ready reference.
Index numbers of price and quantity play an important role in the index-linking of government loans. The object of this study is to ascertain what formulae should be used in the construction of new index numbers to replace those known to produce biased measures of price and volume change.
'An authoritative survey with exciting new insights of special interest to economists and econometricians who analyse intertemporal and interspatial price relationships.' - Professor Angus Maddison, Groningen University This book presents a comprehensive review of recent developments in the theory and construction of index numbers using the stochastic approach, demonstrating the versatility of this approach in handling various index number problems within a single conceptual framework. It also contains a brief, but complete, review of the existing approaches to index numbers with illustrative numerical examples. The stochastic approach considers the index number problem as a signal extraction problem. The strength and reliability of the signal extracted from price and quantity changes for different commodities depends upon the messages received and the information content of the messages. The most important applications of the new approach are to be found in the context of measuring rate of inflation; fixed and chain base index numbers for temporal comparisons and for spatial intercountry comparisons; the latter generally require special index number formulae that result in transitive and base invariant comparisons.
Excerpt from The Making of Index Numbers: A Study of Their Varieties, Tests, and Reliability All sciences are characterized by a close approach to exact measurement. How many of them could have made much progress without units of measurement, generally understood and accepted, it is difficult to imagine. In order to determine the pressure of steam, we do not take a popular vote: we consult a gauge. Concerning a patient's temperature, we do not ask for anybody's opinion: we read thermometer. In economics, however, as in education, though the need for quantitative measurement is as great as in physics or in medicine, we have been guided in the past largely by opinions and guesses. In the future, we must substitute measurement for guesswork. Toward this end, we must first agree upon instruments of measurement. To the Pollak Foundation for Economic Research it seems fitting, therefore, that its first publication should be The Making of Index Numbers. In this book, the author tests by every useful method, not only all the formulae for index numbers that have been used, but as well all that reasonably could be used; and he tests them by means of actual calculations, extensive and painstaking, based on actual statistical records. He proves that several of the methods of constructing index numbers now in common use are grossly inaccurate; he makes clear why some formulae are precise and others far from it; he points out how to save time in the work of calculation; and he shows how to test the results. Thus he provides us with methods of measuring such illusive things as fluctuations in real wages, in exchange rates, in volume of trade, in the cost of living, and in the purchasing power of the dollar. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."
