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1.Hedonicpricemethods
1.1.Introduction
Sincetheendofthe20thcenturytherehasexistedintheofficialpricestatistics
far-reachingproblemconsistinginlackofanefficientmethodofmeasuring
actualpricechangeincaseswhencomparedgoodsareofdifferentquality.
Theimportanceofthisissuehasbeengrowingwiththerapidprogressionof
technologywhenthepermanentdevelopmentofproductionengineeringand
emergingofcompletelynew,advancedtechnologieshavecausedacceleration
ingoods’qualitychanges.Thisshorteningofproductslifecycleshasledtothe
situationinwhichthegoodspresentonthemarketwerenotcomparablewith
thegoodswhichpriceswereobservedinthepast(see,e.g.,[Boskinetal.1996;
Berndtetal.1995]).Asaresult,standardmethodsofpricechangesmeasurement
haveyieldedbiasedresults,usuallymanifestedasoverestimationofpricegrowth
rates.
Theproblemofquantificationoftheso-called“true”pricechangeaffectstwo
classesofheterogeneousgoods:
y
goodswhichundergoveryrapidtechnologicaldevelopment(e.g.,ITandICT
devices,consumerelectronics,householdappliances),
y
goodswhicharestrictlyheterogeneous,andthereforeitishighlyunlikelyto
encountertwoidenticalspecimens,thepricesofwhichcouldbecompared
withouttheriskofquality-relatedbiases(e.g.apartments,houses,land
parcels,usedautomobiles).
Incaseofthefirstclassofgoodsthedifficultiesincomparingpricesfromthe
periodstandt-1ariseeitherfromsignificantchangeingood’scharacteristic
(e.g.,whenthecomputerisendowedwiththeharddriveofconsiderablylarger
capacity),orfromtotalwithdrawalofacertaingoodfromthemarket(e.g.,
withdrawalofobsolete,dangerous,orotherwiseneedlessgood,whichprice
havebeenmeasuredintheperiodt-1),orfromdevelopmentofcompletely
newtechnology(e.g.,replacementofCDbyDVDdrives).Intheclassofstrictly
heterogeneousgoods,thepriceofagoodobservedintheperiodt-1mayonlybe
comparedwiththepriceintheperiodtof“similar”good.Becauseoftheabove-
