Product Turnover and the Cost-of-Living Index: Quality versus Fashion Effects

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics
Year: 2019
Volume: 11
Issue: 2
Pages: 310-47

Authors (3)

Kozo Ueda (Australian National University) Kota Watanabe (not in RePEc) Tsutomu Watanabe (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper evaluates the effects of product turnover on a welfare-based cost-of-living index by incorporating the quality effect and the fashion effect. Employing scanner data for Japan for the years 1988–2013, we find that (i) the price and quantity of a new product tend to be higher than those of its predecessor at its exit; (ii) a considerable fashion effect exists for the entire sample period, while the quality effect is declining over time; and (iii) the discrepancy between the cost-of-living index estimated based on our methodology and the price index constructed only from a matched sample is not large.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejmac:v:11:y:2019:i:2:p:310-47
Journal Field
Macro
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-29