Using Online Prices for Measuring Real Consumption Across Countries
We show that online prices can be used to construct quarterly purchasing power parities (PPPs) with a closely-matched set of goods and identical methodologies in a variety of developed and developing countries. Our results are close to those reported by the International Comparisons Program (ICP) in 2011 and the OECD in 2014, and can be used to obtain more up-to-date estimates of real consumption across countries without the need for consumer price index extrapolations. We discuss advantages and limitations associated with the use of online prices for PPs, including issues of representativeness and limited coverage of product categories and countries.
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Copy CitationAlberto Cavallo, W. Erwin Diewert, Robert C. Feenstra, Robert Inklaar, and Marcel P. Timmer, "Using Online Prices for Measuring Real Consumption Across Countries," NBER Working Paper 24292 (2018), https://doi.org/10.3386/w24292.Download Citation
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Non-Technical Summaries
- Data gathered online can be used quickly and transparently to compute PPP measures, but the results may be less accurate in countries...
Published Versions
Alberto Cavallo & W. Erwin Diewert & Robert C. Feenstra & Robert Inklaar & Marcel P. Timmer, 2018. "Using Online Prices for Measuring Real Consumption across Countries," AEA Papers and Proceedings, vol 108, pages 483-87. citation courtesy of 
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