An Application of the Hedonic Approach to Clothing Items in the Consumer Price Index (CPI): A Pilot Study Using Checklists - ARCHIVED

Articles and reports: 62F0014M1998011
Description: This paper is the second in a series reporting on the current progress of a study whose purpose is to explore the feasibility of using the hedonic approach for making quality adjustments to the Clothing component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). In this phase of the study, two preliminary checklists were developed for obtaining prices and quality characteristics for Men's Dress Shirts and Men's Sports Jackets. These checklists were then used for data collection in the field on expanded CPI samples for the two items. To date, the resulting database for Men's Dress Shirts has been used to derive a hedonic model. The main conclusions that can be made at this point are: 1) checklists represent a certain improvement over the current method of reporting and should be developed for all clothing items in the CPI; 2) if the hedonic approach to quality adjustment in clothing is to be formally adopted then the CPI samples will have to be augmented, at least periodically to permit estimation; and 3) more experience is needed with the hedonic approach in research mode, using clothing items with more complexity, before we can say whether the hedonic approach should be formally adopted as an alternative to our current method of quality adjustment for clothing items.
no: 11
Issue Number: 1998011
Frequency: Occasional
Author(s): Markle, Terri
Main Product: Prices Analytical Series
Format Release date More information
PDF May 13, 1999

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