Approximating the Cost-of-Living Index for a Storable Good
用动态结构模型估计两种耐用品的真实生活成本指数，发现固定基期指数在价格体制变化后误差高达300%，并评估了两种新指数对真实指数的近似效果。
This paper estimates a cost-of-living index using a dynamic structural model for two storable product categories. In each category, regime shifts to higher or lower retail prices are observed. Fixed-base indexes do a poor job of capturing changes in welfare after a regime shift, and deviate from the dynamic index by as much as 300 percent. I evaluate the extent to which two recently proposed indexes can approximate the model-derived index. These indexes improve welfare measurement and are straightforward to compute. The category’s competitive structure and features of the regime shift determine which of the two provides a better approximation.