IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/imf/imfwpa/2007-121.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Do Unit Value Export, Import, and Terms of Trade Indices Represent or 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 measurement 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 relatively low cost compared with establishment price surveys. This paper provides evidence of substantial 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Mick Silver, 2007. "Do Unit Value Export, Import, and Terms of Trade Indices Represent or Misrepresent Price Indices?," IMF Working Papers 2007/121, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2007/121
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=20943
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hoffmann, Johannes & Kurz-Kim, Jeong-Ryeol, 2006. "Consumer price adjustment under the microscope: Germany in a period of low inflation," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2006,16, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Baumgartner, Josef & Glatzer, Ernst & Rumler, Fabio & Stiglbauer, Alfred, 2005. "How frequently do consumer prices change in Austria? Evidence from micro CPI data," Working Paper Series 523, European Central Bank.
    2. Randal Verbrugge & Alan Dorfman & William Johnson & Fred Marsh III & Robert Poole & Owen Shoemaker, 2017. "Determinants of Differential Rent Changes: Mean Reversion versus the Usual Suspects," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 45(3), pages 591-627, July.
    3. Migliardo, Carlo, 2012. "Heterogeneity in price setting behavior, spatial disparities and sectoral diversity: Evidence from a panel of Italian firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 1106-1118.
    4. Hinterlang, Natascha & Moyen, Stephane & Röhe, Oke & Stähler, Nikolai, 2023. "Gauging the effects of the German COVID-19 fiscal stimulus package," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    5. Kai Christoffel & Keith Kuester & Tobias Linzert, 2006. "Identifying the Role of Labor Markets for Monetary Policy in an Estimated DSGE Model," 2006 Meeting Papers 544, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    6. John K. Ashton, 2007. "Synchronisation and Staggering of Deposit Account Interest Rate Changes," Working Papers 07-14, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia.
    7. Klenow, Peter J. & Malin, Benjamin A., 2010. "Microeconomic Evidence on Price-Setting," Handbook of Monetary Economics, in: Benjamin M. Friedman & Michael Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Monetary Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 6, pages 231-284, Elsevier.
    8. J. Konieczny, A. Skrzpacz, 2006. "Search, Costly Price Adjustment and the Frequency of Price Changes - Theory and Evidence," Working Papers eg0054, Wilfrid Laurier University, Department of Economics, revised 2006.
    9. Snir, Avichai & (Allan) Chen, Haipeng & Levy, Daniel, 2022. "Zero-ending prices, cognitive convenience, and price rigidity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 519-542.
    10. Kurri, Samu, 2007. "Price changes in Finland: some evidence from micro CPI data," Working Paper Series 728, European Central Bank.
    11. Gautier, Erwan & Karadi, Peter & Conflitti, Cristina & Fabo, Brian & Fadejeva, Ludmila & Fuss, Catherine & Kosma, Theodora & Jouvanceau, Valentin & Martins, Fernando & Menz, Jan-Oliver & Messner, Tere, 2023. "Price adjustment in the euro area in the low-inflation period: evidence from consumer and producer micro price data," Occasional Paper Series 319, European Central Bank.
    12. Luis J. Álvarez & Emmanuel Dhyne & Marco Hoeberichts & Claudia Kwapil & Hervé Le Bihan & Patrick Lünnemann & Fernando Martins & Roberto Sabbatini & Harald Stahl & Philip Vermeulen & Jouko Vilmunen, 2006. "Sticky Prices in the Euro Area: A Summary of New Micro-Evidence," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(2-3), pages 575-584, 04-05.
    13. repec:awi:wpaper:0477 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Nicoletta Berardi & Thomas Eife & Erwan Gautier, 2014. "Optimal price setting during a currency changeover: theory and evidence from french restaurants," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(23), pages 2766-2782, August.
    15. Knotek, Edward S., 2024. "The roles of price points and menu costs in price rigidity," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    16. Florin O. Bilbiie & Fabio Ghironi & Marc J. Melitz, 2008. "Monetary Policy and Business Cycles with Endogenous Entry and Product Variety," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2007, Volume 22, pages 299-353, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Cristina Conflitti & Riemer P. Faber & Brian Fabo & Ludmila Fadejeva & Erwan Gautier & Valentin Jouvanceau & Jan-Oliver Menz & Teresa Messner & Pavlos Petroulas & Pau Roldan-Blanco & Fabio Rumler & Se, 2022. "New Facts on Consumer Price Rigidity in the Euro Area (Erwan Gautier, Cristina Conflitti, Riemer P. Faber, Brian Fabo, Ludmila Fadejeva, Valentin Jouvanceau, Jan-Oliver Menz, Teresa Messner, Pavlos Pe," Working Papers 240, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
    18. Doron Sayag & Avichai Snir & Daniel Levy, 2024. "Price Setting Rules, Rounding Tax, and Inattention Penalty," Papers 2411.13427, arXiv.org.
    19. Peng Zhou & Huw Dixon, 2019. "The Determinants of Price Rigidity in the UK: Analysis of the CPI and PPI Microdata and Application to Macrodata Modelling," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 87(5), pages 640-677, September.
    20. Patrick Lünnemann & Thomas Y. Mathä, 2010. "Consumer price behaviour: evidence from Luxembourg micro data," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2-3), pages 177-192.
    21. Péter Gábriel & Ádám Reiff, 2010. "Price setting in Hungary-a store-level analysis," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2-3), pages 161-176.

    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:imf:imfwpa:2007/121. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Akshay Modi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/imfffus.html .

    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.