IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/imfstp/v56y2009i2p297-322.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Unit Value Export, Import, and Terms-of-Trade Indices Misrepresent Price Indices?

Author

Listed:
  • Mick Silver

Abstract

Unit value export and import indices compiled from returns to customs authorities are often used as surrogates for price indices in the analysis of inflation transmission, terms of trade (effects), and to deflate import and export value series to derive volume series. Their widespread use is mainly due to their low cost relative to establishment price surveys. This paper provides evidence of substantial errors and bias in their representation of such price changes. Their continued use would mislead economic analysis. The paper considers the efficacy of alternative strategies for their improvement, and argues for a move to establishment-based price surveys. IMF Staff Papers (2009) 56, 297–322. doi:10.1057/imfsp.2008.24; published online 23 September 2008

Suggested Citation

  • Mick Silver, 2009. "Do Unit Value Export, Import, and Terms-of-Trade Indices Misrepresent Price Indices?," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 56(2), pages 297-322, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:imfstp:v:56:y:2009:i:2:p:297-322
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/imfsp/journal/v56/n2/pdf/imfsp200824a.pdf
    File Function: Link to full text PDF
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/imfsp/journal/v56/n2/full/imfsp200824a.html
    File Function: Link to full text HTML
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luciana Juvenal, 2020. "Terms-of-Trade Shocks are Not all Alike," IMF Working Papers 2020/280, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Mick Silver, 2010. "The Wrongs And Rights Of Unit Value Indices," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 56(s1), pages 206-223, June.
    3. Claire Giordano & Enrico Tosti, 2024. "Weathering the storm: a characterization of the recent terms-of-trade shock in Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 831, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Dai, Mi & Nucci, Francesco & Pozzolo, Alberto F. & Xu, Jianwei, 2021. "Access to finance and the exchange rate elasticity of exports," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    5. Andreas Benedictow & Pål Boug, 2014. "Calculating the real return of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global by alternative measures of the deflator," Discussion Papers 775, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    6. Fast Don & Fleck Susan E. & Smith Dominic A., 2022. "Unit Value Indexes for Exports – New Developments Using Administrative Trade Data," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 38(1), pages 83-106, March.
    7. Sonam Choudhry & Abhinav Narayanan & Anshul, 2024. "Dynamics of Price Transmission: Evidence from India’s Import Basket," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 59(2), pages 252-278, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:imfstp:v:56:y:2009:i:2:p:297-322. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.