Price Level Measurement, Volume 196

An Overview of the Papers on Price Level Measurement (W.E. Diewert). The Theory of the Cost-of-Living Index (R.A. Pollak). The Theory of the Cost-of-Living Index and the Measurement of Welfare Change (W.E. Diewert). Comments (R.R. Russell). Individual and Social Cost-of-Living Indexes (D.W. Jorgenson, D.T. Slesnick). Comments (R.R. Russell). Leisure Time and the Measurement of Economic Welfare (W.C. Riddell). Comments (J. Bossons). Preference Diversity and Aggregate Economic Cost-of-Living Indexes (C. Blackorby, D. Donaldson). Axiomatic Foundation of Price Indexes and Purchasing Power Parities (W. Eichhorn, J. Voeller). Comments (C. Blackorby). Name Index. Subject Index.

Among the theoretical issues covered in this volume are the "economic" and the "axiomatic" or "test" approaches to the problem of constructing and choosing among alternative cost-of-living index formulas; "bounds" and "econometric" alternatives for developing empirically computable approximations of theoretically desirable indexes; recommendations concerning the incorporation of leisure time in measures of the cost-of-living; and the formulation of social and group cost-of-living indexes. The Jorgenson-Slesnick paper also presents a far-reaching empirical study of price changes in the U.S.

The importance of this book to those with an interest in economic theory is obvious. However, this book also holds out the opportunity and challenge to applied researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the index numbers of which they make daily use.