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Hedonic Price Indexes with Unobserved Product Characteristics, and Application to PC's

Author

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  • Benkard, C. Lanier

    (Stanford U)

  • Bajari, Patrick

    (Duke U)

Abstract

We show that hedonic price indexes may be biased when not all product characteristics are observed. We derive two primary sources of bias. The first is a classical selection problem that arises due to changes over time in the values of unobserved characteristics. The second comes from changes in the implicit prices of unobserved characteristics. Next, we show that the bias can be corrected for under fairly general assumptions using extensions of factor analysis methods. We test our methods empirically using a new comprehensive monthly data set for desktop personal computer systems. For this data we find that the standard hedonic index has a slight upward bias of approximately 1.4% per year. We also find that omitting an important characteristic (CPU benchmark) causes a large bias in the index with standard methods, but that this bias is essentially eliminated when the proposed correction is applied.

Suggested Citation

  • Benkard, C. Lanier & Bajari, Patrick, 2003. "Hedonic Price Indexes with Unobserved Product Characteristics, and Application to PC's," Research Papers 1841, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:stabus:1841
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Robert C. Feenstra & Christopher R. Knittel, 2009. "Re-Assessing the U.S. Quality Adjustment to Computer Prices: The Role of Durability and Changing Software," NBER Chapters,in: Price Index Concepts and Measurement, pages 129-160 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Robert C. Feenstra & Christopher R. Knittel, 2009. "Reassessing the US Quality Adjustment to Computer Prices: The Role of Durability and Changing Software," NBER Chapters, in: Price Index Concepts and Measurement, pages 129-160, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Francisco Requena‐Silvente & James Walker, 2006. "Calculating Hedonic Price Indices with Unobserved Product Attributes: An Application to the UK Car Market," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 73(291), pages 509-532, August.
    4. Bajari, Patrick & Benkard, C. Lanier, 2004. "Demand Estimation With Heterogeneous Consumers and Unobserved Product Characteristics: A Hedonic Approach," Research Papers 1842, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    5. C. Lanier Benkard & Patrick Bajari, 2004. "Demand Estimation with Heterogeneous Consumers and Unobserved Product Characteristics: A Hedonic Approach," NBER Working Papers 10278, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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