This textbook offers a comprehensive yet concise introduction to the theory behind price indices, covering the basics, historical background, necessary mathematical foundations, and contemporary cutting-edge theories. For those looking to study price indices, the most commonly used resources have traditionally been the comprehensive but voluminous CPI Manual, which is aimed at statistical practitioners, or Balk (2008), which, while covering theory concisely, requires advanced mathematical skills. This book is distinctive in that it (1) places emphasis on the relationship between price indices and economic theory, (2) presents cutting-edge methods and topics such as multilateral indices using scanner data and price measurement using Engel curves, and (3) provides explanations of essential mathematical techniques like functional equations, thus enabling self-study from the fundamentals to the forefront of modern index number theory.
Introduction.- History of Price Measurement.- Characteristics of Typical Indices.- Axiomatic Approach.- Economic Approach.- Divisia Index.
Naohito Abe is a professor at the Institute of Economic Research at Hitotsubashi University, where he has been a faculty member since 2000 after earning his Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University. Since 2020, he has also served as an assistant vice president at Hitotsubashi University. He is on the editorial board of the Review of Income and Wealth. In 1999, he was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution. He has also been a visiting researcher at the Bank of Japan, the Ministry of Finance, and University College London.
His research interests span several areas, including economic growth theory, business cycles, corporate governance, household consumption, and price dynamics. Since 2008, he has focused on analyzing high-frequency scanner data. His initial investigations centered around the implications of scanner data for macroeconomics, such as estimating the frequency of price changes and examining the permanent consumption hypothesis. Over time, his research interests expanded to include price indices and index number theory. Currently, his work revolves around international price comparisons, exploring household-level heterogeneity in price indices, and studying chain drifts resulting from product turnover. His work on index number theory, consumption behaviors, and price stickiness has been published in various economic journals, including the Journal of Monetary Economics and the Journal of Official Statistics.
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