Handbook on hedonic indexes and quality adjustments in price indexes : special application to information technology products

Description

Price indexes can be constructed using a hedonic method that adjusts for changes in the quality of a product by focusing on a set of key product characteristics. This handbook contributes to a better understanding of the merits and shortcomings of conventional and hedonic price indexes and methods, and provides an analytic basis for choosing among them. It sets out best practice principles for constructing hedonic indexes and examines criticisms of hedonic indexes. The handbook brings together material that is now scattered in a wide number of places, but goes beyond the economic literature in significant respects. It has been written because there is a widespread view that the principles for conducting hedonic investigations are not readily assembled for statistical agency work, which is the primary audience of this volume.--Publisher's description.  Read more... Quality adjustments in conventional price index methodologies -- Hedonic price indexes and hedonic quality adjustments -- When do hedonic and matched model indexes give different results? and why? -- Principles for estimating a hedonic function : choosing the variables -- Estimating hedonic function : other research issues -- Some objectives to hedonic indexes