New approach to single market monitoring

1
New approach to single market monitoring

• Session 4 Typology of needs and data
  requirements
• Eurostat Conference
• Reviewing the business architecture of consumer
  price statistics
• Alexandre Makaronidis
• Head of Price Statistics Unit

2
New approach to single market monitoring

• The new approach to single market monitoring has
  put detailed price data at the centre of this
  policy and thus, in Eurostat's view, the need for
  a new strategy for price statistics high within
  the statistical priorities of the ESS.
• Not all policy-data issues are for official
  statistics to address, but this need is one we
  think the ESS can address.
• The following provides an attempt to sum-up new
  and established user needs and show a way forward
  taking into consideration the results of
  empirical work so far.

3
New approach to single market monitoring
ESS
STRATEGY FOR PRICE STATISTICS
DETAILED PRICES
4
What are the needs in terms of consumer prices?

• More detailed price indices
• more detailed sub-indices for HICPs and PPPs
• regional HICPs and PPPs
• more special aggregates for the HICP
• (frequent out-of-pocket purchases HICP at
  constant taxes)
• /

5
What are the needs in terms of consumer
prices?(continued)

• Regular measurement of price dispersion
• across markets, over space and time
• Regular measurement of detailed price levels
• across markets, over space and time
• Better integration of consumer price statistics
  with other price statistics
• picture of prices through the supply chain

6
Can we achieve it?

• Some say the detailed prices project is
• By far too much,
• By far too difficult, and if so
• We need to start from scratch
• However, empirical work so far suggests that
• It can be achieved at reasonable costs.
• In particular, much can be achieved by better
  integrating HICP and PPP (data and methodologies)

7
What are the key issues?

• More classifications work
• more detailed COICOP, common to HICPs, PPPs and
  HBSs (from min. 600 to max. 1,000 positions)
• more effective use of the classification systems
  used by retailers
• A more efficient approach to specifying the
  prices we collect (through HICP or PPP samples)
• An infrastructure that enables a more effective
  use of the prices collected

8
For this to be achieved

• We need to debate old fixed positions on
• what is comparable and what is representative
• how these statistics are collected,
• what they mean, and
• what they could be used for.
• Statisticians working in both domains will need
  to debate and compromise.
• Better adjust temporal comparisons to
  developments in quality and consumer preferences.
• Base spatial comparisons on alternative
  definitions.

9
Benefits to both HICPs and PPPs

• There will be one platform for both HICPs and
  PPPs for a constant dialogue between users and
  producers on which data can best be used to
  address present, emerging and shifting needs in
  the future.
• Reduction of known statistical inconsistencies
  between HICPs and PPPs
• Further integration will allow better quality
  control and improve the reliability of both
  statistics.