The consumer price index: underlying concepts and caveats.

Part of a special section on the consumer price index (CPI). Correct use of the CPI requires an understanding of its relationship to an ideal cost-of-living index (CLI) and of the problems of implementation. The CPI, produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is a fixed market basket approximatio...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Monthly Labor Review Vol. 116; pp. 3 - 13
Autor principal: Fixler, Dennis
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: US Department of Labor December 1993
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Part of a special section on the consumer price index (CPI). Correct use of the CPI requires an understanding of its relationship to an ideal cost-of-living index (CLI) and of the problems of implementation. The CPI, produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is a fixed market basket approximation of a true CLI. The theory of how the CLI provides the conceptual foundations for the CPI and warnings governing the use of the CPI as an approximation of a CLI are reviewed. In addition, sources of measurement errors in prices and weights that impede the construction of the CPI are discussed.