Scanner Data and Price Indexes

Robert C. Feenstra · Matthew D. Shapiro

Nov 2007 · National Bureau of Economic Research Studies in Income and Wealth Book 64 · University of Chicago Press

About this ebook

Every time you buy a can of tuna or a new television, its bar code is scanned to record its price and other information. These "scanner data" offer a number of attractive features for economists and statisticians, because they are collected continuously, are available quickly, and record prices for all items sold, not just a statistical sample. But scanner data also present a number of difficulties for current statistical systems.

Scanner Data and Price Indexes assesses both the promise and the challenges of using scanner data to produce economic statistics. Three papers present the results of work in progress at statistical agencies in the U.S., United Kingdom, and Canada, including a project at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to investigate the feasibility of incorporating scanner data into the monthly Consumer Price Index. Other papers demonstrate the enormous potential of using scanner data to test economic theories and estimate the parameters of economic models, and provide solutions for some of the problems that arise when using scanner data, such as dealing with missing data.

Ratings and reviews

People, before you fly off the handle on the price of this item, note it is not an app. This is a book. Seems not everyone can afford to pay attention.

Very bad , Don't waste ur money.

You want me to pay for an app that helps gather data for other peoples research? No I don't think so.

About the author

Robert C. Feenstra is associate professor of economics at the University of California at Davis and is coeditor of the Journal for International Economics.