Benchmark averaging and the measurement of changes in international income inequality

Review of World Economics

Volumn 151, Issue 4, 2015, Pages 767-801

  Hill, Robert J ^a   Melser, Daniel ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GRAZ   (Austria)

^b RMIT UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

Benchmark averaging; Dissimilarity index; International comparisons program; Multilateral price index; Penn World Table; Spatiotemporal consistency; Substitution bias

Indexed keywords

EID: 84944351843     PISSN: 16102878     EISSN: 16102886     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10290-015-0229-6     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. Aizenman, J., & Jinjarak, Y. (2006). Globalization and developing countries—A shrinking tax base? (NBER Working Paper 11933).
2. Almås, I. (2012). International income inequality: Measuring PPP bias by estimating engel curves for food. American Economic Review, 102(2), 1093–1117.
3. Balassa, B. (1964). The purchasing power parity doctrine: A reappraisal. Journal of Political Economy, 72(6), 584–596.
4. Baumol, W. J., Blackman, S. A. B., & Wolff, E. N. (1989). Productivity and American leadership: The long view. Cambridge and London: MIT Press.
5. Bhagwati, J. N. (1984). Why are services cheaper in the poor countries? The Economic Journal, 94(374), 279–286.
6. Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1978). Measures of relative equality and their meaning in terms of social welfare. Journal of Economic Theory, 18(1), 59–80.
7. Castles, I., & Henderson, D. (2004). Economics, emissions scenarios and the work of the IPCC. Energy and Environment, 14(4), 415–435.
8. de la Fuentes, A. (1997). The empirics of growth and convergence, a selective review. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 21(10), 23–73.
9. Deaton, A., & Heston, A. (2010). Understanding PPPs and PPP-based national accounts. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2(4), 1–35.
10. Diewert, W. E. (1976). Exact and superlative index numbers. Journal of Econometrics, 4(2), 115–145.
11. Diewert, W. E. (1999). Axiomatic and economic approaches to international comparisons. In A. Heston & R. E. Lipsey (Eds.), International and interarea comparisons of income (pp. 13–87). Chicago: Output and Prices, NBER, University of Chicago Press.
12. Diewert, W. E. (2002). Similarity and dissimilarity indexes: An axiomatic approach. (Discussion Paper 02-10). Vancouver, Canada: Department ofEconomics, University of British Columbia.
13. Diewert, W. E. (2009). Similarity indexes and criteria for spatial linking. In D. S. P. Rao (Ed.), Purchasing power parities of currencies: Recent advances in methods and applications, Chap 8 (pp. 183–216). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
14. Dowrick, S., & Akmal, M. (2005). Contradictory trends in global income inequality: A tale of two biases. Review of Income and Wealth, 51(2), 201–229.
15. ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) (1978). Series Históricas del Crecimento de AméricaLatina, Cuadernos Estadisticos de la CEPAL 3, Santiago de Chile.
16. Eltetö, O., & Köves, P. (1964). On a problem of index number computation relating to international comparison. Statisztikai Szemle, 42, 507–518.
17. Feenstra, R. C., Inklaar, R., & Timmer, M. (2013). The next generation of the Penn World Table. (NBER Working Paper 19255).
18. Firebaugh, G. (1999). Empirics of world income inequality. American Journal of Sociology, 104(6), 1597–1630.
19. Geary, R. G. (1958). A note on the comparison of exchange rates and PPPs between countries. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, 121(1), 97–99.
20. Gerschenkron, A. (1951). A dollar index of soviet machinery output, 1927–28 to 1937. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.
21. Gini, C. (1931). On the circular test of index numbers. International Review of Statistics, 9(2), 3–25.
22. Grier, K., & Grier, R. (2007). Only incomes diverge: A neoclassical anomaly. Journal of Development Economics, 84(1), 25–45.
23. Heston, A., Summers, R., & Aten, B. (2009) Penn World TableVersion 6.3, Center for International Comparisons of Production, Income and Prices at the University of Pennsylvania.
24. Hill, R. J. (1997). A taxonomy of multilateral methods for making international comparisons of prices and quantities. Review of Income and Wealth, 43(1), 49–69.
25. Hill, R. J. (2000). Measuring substitution bias in international comparisons based on additive purchasing power parity methods. European Economic Review, 44(1), 145–162.
26. Hill, R. J. (2004). Constructing price indexes across space and time: The case of the European union. American Economic Review, 94(5), 1379–1410.
27. Hillebrand, E. (2008). The global distribution of income in 2050. World Development, 36(5), 727–740.
28. Johnson, S., Larson, W., Papageorgiou, C., & Subramanian, A. (2013). Is newer better? Penn World Table revisions and their impact on growth estimates. Journal of Monetary Economics, 60(2), 255–274.
29. Khamis, S. H. (1972). A new system of index numbers for national and international purposes. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, 135(1), 96–121.
30. Kravis, I. B., & Lipsey, R. E. (1983). Toward an explanation of national price levels. Princeton studies in international finance, No. 52 Princeton: Princeton University Press.
31. Maddison, A. (1987). Growth and slowdown in advanced capitalist economies: Techniques of quantitative assessment. Journal of Economic Literature, 25(2), 649–698.
32. Maddison, A. (2001). The world economy: A millennial perspective. Paris: OECD.
33. Neary, J. P. (2004). Rationalizing the Penn World Table: True multilateral indices for international comparisons of real income. American Economic Review, 94(5), 1411–1428.
34. Neary, J. P., & Gleeson, B. (1997). Comparing the wealth of nations: Reference prices and multilateral real income indexes. Economic and Social Review, 28(4), 401–421.
35. Neumayer, E. (2003). Beyond income: Convergence in living standards, big time. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 14(3), 275–296.
36. Nuxoll, D. A. (1994). Differences in relative prices and international differences in growth rates. American Economic Review, 84(5), 1423–1436.
37. OECD (2002). Purchasing power parities and real expenditures: 1999 benchmark year. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
38. Pritchett, L. (1997). Divergence: Big time. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 11(3), 3–17.
39. Rao, D.S.P. (2013). The framework of the international comparison program, Chap. 1. In Measuring the real size ofthe world economy: The framework, methodology and results of theinternational comparisons program (pp. 13–46). ICP Global Office, World Bank: Washington DC.
40. Rao, D. S. P., Rambaldi, A., & Doran, H. (2010). Extrapolation of purchasing power parities using multiple benchmarks and auxiliary information: A new approach. Review of Income and Wealth, 56(Special Issue 1), S59–S98.
41. Rogoff, K. (2009). Exchange rates in the modern floating era: What do we really know? Review of World Economics/Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, 145(1), 1–12.
42. Sala-i-Martin, X. (2006). The world distribution of income: Falling poverty and.. convergence, period. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 121(2), 351–397.
43. Samuelson, P. A. (1964). Theoretical notes on trade problems. Review of Economics and Statistics, 46(2), 145–154.
44. Silver, M. (2010). IMF applications of purchasing power parity estimates. (IMF Working Paper WP/10/253). Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
45. Stehrer, R., & Wörz, J. (2003). Technological convergence and trade patterns. Review of World Economics/Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, 139(2), 191–219.
46. Summers, R. (1973). International price comparisons based upon incomplete data. Review of Income and Wealth, 19(1), 1–16.
47. Summers, R., & Heston, A. (1988). A new set of international comparisons of real product and price level estimates for 130 countries, 1950–1985. Review of Income and Wealth, 34(1), 1–25.
48. Summers, R., & Heston, A. (1991). The Penn World Table (Mark 5): An expanded set of international comparisons, 1950–1988. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106(2), 327–368.
49. Szulc, B. (1964). Indices for multiregional comparisons. Przeglad Statystyczny 3 Statistical Review, 3, 239–254.