This thesis investigates several theoretical and practical problems in index numbers. In Chapter 2 a hedonic elementary price index for accessing the Internet in Canada is constructed. We find that the quality-adjusted price index declines at about 15% per year. Detailed data are readily available on-line. We discuss the use of different functional forms in the regression, their ease of use and performance, and compare the result with the matched model approach. Problems in using the Box-Cox transformation and in handling packages with unlimited access are also discussed. Chapter 3 studies the problems associated with the treatment of seasonal commodities in a consumer price index. Economic assumptions behind various commonly used methods are examined from the cost-of-living perspective. A new theoretical justification based on the theory of preference change is provided for the maximum overlap method. Empirical studies using a particular data set show that indices based on various approaches give substantially different results. Direct measurement techniques have recently been employed by some statistical agencies for government output components in the SNA. These methods use proxies and indicators for outputs due to the inherent lack of market valuations. Chapter 4 investigates the pros and cons of these new approaches and compares them with the traditional cost method. This leads us to take a deeper look at the purposes, objectives, and uses of the SNA. The current method can be justified from a collective household point of view, but the lack of direct output data frustrates students of productivity analysis. By taking the economic approach in index number theory, some direct measurement methods can be compatible with the cost-of-living approach in the CPI. Using implicit expected utility theory, a money metric for utility derived from playing a lottery game is developed in Chapter 5. Using a kinked parametric functional form, outputs of the Canadian Lotto 6/49 are estimated. Results show that this direct economic approach yields an average output three times that of the official GDP. The estimated price elasticity of demand -0.67 closely resembles results for the U.K. in previous studies.

Thesis (PH. D.)--Columbia University, 1926. / Vita. Published also as Teachers College, Columbia University, Contributions to education, no. 208. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. "Selected bibliography": p. 31-35.

Thesis (PH. D.)--Johns Hopkins University. / From the Journal of political economy Dec., 1901, March, 1902. Cover-title bound at end of volume. Cover title.

This thesis investigates several theoretical and practical problems in index numbers. In Chapter 2 a hedonic elementary price index for accessing the Internet in Canada is constructed. We find that the quality-adjusted price index declines at about 15% per year. Detailed data are readily available on-line. We discuss the use of different functional forms in the regression, their ease of use and performance, and compare the result with the matched model approach. Problems in using the Box-Cox transformation and in handling packages with unlimited access are also discussed. Chapter 3 studies the problems associated with the treatment of seasonal commodities in a consumer price index. Economic assumptions behind various commonly used methods are examined from the cost-of-living perspective. A new theoretical justification based on the theory of preference change is provided for the maximum overlap method. Empirical studies using a particular data set show that indices based on various approaches give substantially different results. Direct measurement techniques have recently been employed by some statistical agencies for government output components in the SNA. These methods use proxies and indicators for outputs due to the inherent lack of market valuations. Chapter 4 investigates the pros and cons of these new approaches and compares them with the traditional cost method. This leads us to take a deeper look at the purposes, objectives, and uses of the SNA. The current method can be justified from a collective household point of view, but the lack of direct output data frustrates students of productivity analysis. By taking the economic approach in index number theory, some direct measurement methods can be compatible with the cost-of-living approach in the CPI. Using implicit expected utility theory, a money metric for utility derived from playing a lottery game is developed in Chapter 5. Using a kinked parametric functional form, outputs of the Canadian Lotto 6/49 are estimated. Results show that this direct economic approach yields an average output three times that of the official GDP. The estimated price elasticity of demand -0.67 closely resembles results for the U.K. in previous studies. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1931. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 199-211).

Presented as part of Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1931. / Collective title from added t.p. Part 1 reprinted from Quarterly journal of economics, vol. XLVII (Nov. 1932), p. 36-62 -- Part 2 reprinted from Journal of the American Statistical Association, Mar. 1931, p. [36]-40 -- Part 3 reprinted from The economic journal : the quarterly journal of the Royal Economic Society, vol. XLII, no. 165 (Mar. 1932), p. [17]-26 -- Part 4 reprinted from Journal of the American Statistical Association, vol. 31 (June 1936), p. 258-272. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis: M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1975 / Bibliography: leaves 86-87. / by Peter F. Hollings and George Raff. / M.S. / M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management

The effectiveness of monetary policy in achieving its macroeconomic objectives such as price stability and economic growth depend on the monetary policy tools that are implemented by the Central Bank. Monetary aggregates are one of the tools that have been used as indicators of economic activity and as intermediate targets to achieve these economic objectives. Until recently, monetary aggregates have been questioned and criticised on their usefulness in monetary policy. This has been attributed to the economic, financial and technological developments that have distorted the relationship between monetary aggregates and major macroeconomic variables. This study investigates the relevance of monetary aggregation by comparing the traditional simple sum and Divisia index monetary aggregates which was constructed for the first time for South Africa using the Tornquist-Theil method. The Polynomial Distributed Lag model is employed to compare the performance of these monetary aggregates using their relationship with inflation and manufacturing index. Furthermore, the aggregates are compared in terms of their controllability and information content. Overall, the study found a very strong relationship between inflation and all the monetary aggregates. However, more specifically the results suggested that the Divisia indices are superior to the simple sum in terms of predicting inflation. The evidence further suggests that the Divisia aggregates provide higher information about inflation than the simple sum aggregates. Regarding the controllability of the monetary aggregates, the findings suggest that the monetary authorities can hardly control the monetary aggregates using monetary base. Finally, the relationship between manufacturing index and all the monetary aggregates was very weak.

Orientador: Luiz Antonio Daniel / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Agricola / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T02:45:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_MarcosRobertoda_M.pdf: 353242 bytes, checksum: b9155986ab1f3a4e32ff75d3c314b432 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003 / Resumo: O Sistema Plantio Direto (SPD) está consagrado na agricultura, no entanto muitas informações ainda estão distantes dos agricultores, principalmente as relacionadas com a tecnologia utilizada pelos fabricantes de máquinas na oferta de modelos de semeadoras-adubadoras de precisão indicadas para o sistema. O principal veículo de informações sobre modelos de semeadoras-adubadoras é o catálogo de fabricante, cuja finalidade é expressar de maneira resumida as principais características técnicas que compõem os modelos. Frente a esses fatos e apoiados em análise bibliográfica e na vivência prática, estabeleceu-se a hipótese de que com técnicas de sistematização de dados e recursos da informática é possível processar esses dados de catálogos e produzir um ¿estudo censitário¿ referente à variabilidade ofertada nos modelos de emeadoras-adubadoras produzidas pela indústria brasileira e, que também é possível, com base na ¿teoria de números índices¿ estabelecer um parâmetro que expresse as características de cada modelo, permitindo uma classificação em categorias de acordo com as suas características técnicas. O objetivo do trabalho foi o de sistematizar os dados contidos num conjunto de catálogos tecnológicos referente aos modelos de semeadoras-adubadoras de precisão, analisando as informações de modo a permitir a construção de um banco de dados e posteriormente subsidiar a aplicação de métodos estatísticos viabilizando a obtenção de um levantamento das características técnicas dos modelos oferecidos no mercado brasileiro, além de possibilitar a proposição de um índice classificatório dos modelos com base nas suas características técnicas. Os resultados mostram uma análise em 93 catálogos fornecidos por fabricantes brasileiros de semeadoras-adubadoras de precisão, que representam aproximadamente 90 % do mercado nacional, gerando informações para caracterizar 278 modelos. Constitui-se um banco de dados com base em 40 características técnicas descritas nos catálogos, sendo que 15 foram selecionadas para análise estatística e, dentre estas, 7 foram utilizadas na formulação de um número índice, denominado ¿Índice de Adequação¿ de semeadoras-adubadoras para semeadura direta cuja aplicação permitiu classificar 250 modelos em cinco categorias diferentes; sendo que 73% dos modelos analisados compõem as categorias A e B; indicadas para pequenas e médias propriedades; 19% compõem a categoria C, indicada para médias e grandes propriedades e 8% dos modelos compõem as categorias D e E; indicadas para grandes propriedades. Conclui-se então que o levantamento destas informações com base em catálogos fornecidas pelos fabricantes permite uma análise detalhada das características técnicas que compõem os modelos de semeadoras-adubadoras de precisão para o SPD ofertadas no mercado e, que a proposição de um número índice permitiu sintetizar as informações de catálogos e classificar o modelo de acordo com as categorias de adequação, específicas para cada tipo de propriedade agrícola / Abstract: No-Tillage Farming is consecrated in agriculture nowadays. However many information is still far from the farmers, especially those related to the technology used by the machinery manufacturers in offering no-till and precision models planting and fertilizing equipment. The most important information vehicle about the planters is the manufacturer¿s catalogue, which objective is to show the major techniques characteristics of the machine models in a concise manner. So, considering those facts, with bibliographical analysis and practical experience a hypothesis was established, that those catalogue data can be processed with data systematization techniques and electronic informative computer science resources. It produces a census study related to the technological variability offered by the Brazilian models of planting-fertilizing machines, what is also possible based on the index numbers theory to establish a parameter that express each model characteristics and permits to classify the machines according with its techniques characteristics. The objective of this work was to systematize the data of a set of 93 planting machine catalogues, which represent 90% of the national market approximately. A data base was constructed and further used to provide information to the application of the statistical analysis. This made possible the knowledge of the techniques characteristics of models of direct planting and fertilizing precision machine offered by the Brazilian manufacturers and their classification based in theirs characteristics. Each machine¿s data base enclosed 40 techniques characteristics and 15 of them was selected for the statistical analysis and, amongst these, 7 had been used in the formularization of a number index, called "Index of Adequacy". From this, it was possible to classify 250 models in 5 different categories: in the A and B categories, for small and medium properties 73% was fitted; 19% compounded the category C, for the medium and big properties and 8% of the machines were classified in the categories D and E, for the largest properties. The results showed that the survey of the machine catalogue data, furnished by the manufacturers permits a detailed analysis of the techniques characteristics of the precision and direct planting and fertilizing machines and that the models available in the market can be classified using an index number or adequacy index, that synthesize the catalogues¿ data / Mestrado / Agua e Solo / Mestre em Engenharia Agrícola

This dissertation consists of three essays. In the first essay, econometric models are used to measure price risk in a study for major grains (wheat, rice, corn, and soybeans) in China. Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) models and Multiplicative Heteroskedasticity (M Het) models are applied to estimate time-varying price variance, and then covariances are estimated by a simple two-step process assuming constant conditional correlations. An aggregate price risk index is constructed from these variances and covariances using an economic index number approach. In theory, this approach is superior to the more common approach of estimating a univariate GARCH model for an aggregate price index. This easay compares the two approaches to measuring aggregate price risk and finds low correlations. Thus there is substantial difference between the two approaches in practice as well as in theory. The previous essay measures aggregate price risk but does not explain price risk. The second essay attempts to investigate potential factors that contribute to aggregate price risk of major grain products (rice, wheat, corn and soybeans) on monthly base in China from mid 1980s to recent year from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. The superlative price risk indexes are explained by a set of key variables that characterize China’s economy, agricultural market and trade as well as biological system of major grain in China. These variables account for much of the variation in the aggregate price risk index. Moreover empirical results favor use of the superlative index of aggregate risk rather than standard measures of aggregate risk. The third essay is an extension of previous two essays by explaining price risk at disaggregate level. Price variances and covariances are modeled using both Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Seemly Unrelated Regression (SUR) techniques. Results are broadly consistent with the previous essays.