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Estimating the Benefits of New Products

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  • W. Erwin Diewert
  • Robert C. Feenstra

Abstract

A major challenge facing statistical agencies is the problem of adjusting price and quantity indexes for changes in the availability of commodities. This problem arises in the scanner data context as products in a commodity stratum appear and disappear in retail outlets. Hicks suggested a reservation price methodology for dealing with this problem in the context of the economic approach to index number theory. Hausman used a linear approximation to the demand curve to compute the reservation price, while Feenstra used a reservation price of infinity for a CES demand curve, which will lead to higher gains. The present paper evaluates these approaches, comparing the CES gains to those obtained using a quadratic utility function using scanner data on frozen juice products. We find that the CES gains from new frozen juice products are about five times greater than those obtained using the quadratic utility function.

Suggested Citation

  • W. Erwin Diewert & Robert C. Feenstra, 2019. "Estimating the Benefits of New Products," NBER Working Papers 25991, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25991
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    1. Feenstra, Robert C, 1994. "New Product Varieties and the Measurement of International Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(1), pages 157-177, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gabriel Ehrlich & John C. Haltiwanger & Ron S. Jarmin & David Johnson & Matthew D. Shapiro, 2020. "Reengineering Key National Economic Indicators," NBER Chapters, in: Big Data for Twenty-First-Century Economic Statistics, pages 25-68, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Rachel Soloveichik, 2021. "Including Illegal Market Activity in the U.S. National Economic Accounts," Survey of Current Business, Bureau of Economic Analysis, February.
    3. W. Erwin Diewert & Kevin J. Fox & Paul Schreyer, 2022. "Experimental Economics and the New Commodities Problem," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(4), pages 895-905, December.
    4. Diewert W. Erwin & Fox Kevin J., 2022. "Measuring Inflation under Pandemic Conditions," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 38(1), pages 255-285, March.
    5. Rachel Soloveichik, 2022. "Theoretical Inflation for Unavailable Products," BEA Working Papers 0193, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    6. Goldhammer Bernhard, 2022. "Creative and Exhaustive, but Less Practical – a Comment on the Article by Diewert and Fox," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 38(1), pages 291-293, March.
    7. Erik Brynjolfsson & Avinash Collis & W. Erwin Diewert & Felix Eggers & Kevin J. Fox, 2020. "Measuring the Impact of Free Goods on Real Household Consumption," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 110, pages 25-30, May.
    8. Rachel Soloveichik, 2021. "Including Illegal Market Activity in the U.S. National Economic Accounts," Survey of Current Business, Bureau of Economic Analysis, vol. 101(2), pages 1-4, February.
    9. Daan Freeman & Robert Inklaar & W. Erwin Diewert, 2021. "Natural Resources and Missing Inputs in International Productivity Comparisons," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(1), pages 1-17, March.
    10. Crystal Konny, 2020. "Modernizing data collection for the Consumer Price Index," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 55(1), pages 45-52, January.
    11. Diewert, Erwin & FOX, Kevin J. Fox & SCHREYER, Paul, 2017. "The Digital Economy, New Products and Consumer Welfare," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2017-12, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 14 Dec 2017.
    12. Mayneris, Florian & Martin, Julien & Theophile, Ewane, 2020. "The price of remoteness: Product availability and local cost of living in Ethiopia," CEPR Discussion Papers 14515, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. W. Erwin Diewert & Kevin J. Fox, 2020. "Measuring Real Consumption and CPI Bias under Lockdown Conditions," NBER Working Papers 27144, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Thomas von Brasch & Arvid Raknerud, 2022. "The impact of new varieties on aggregate productivity growth," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 124(3), pages 646-676, July.
    15. Lorraine Aeberhardt & Florian Hatier & Marie Leclair & Benoît Pentinat & Jean-Denis Zafar, 2020. "Does the Digital Economy Distort the Volume-Price Split of GDP? The French Experience," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 517-518-5, pages 139-156.

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    JEL classification:

    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory

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