Online Program

Variance Estimation for a Revised CPI

Keywords: price indices, variance estimation, replicates

The U.S. Consumer Price Index has recently undergone modifications in its design. Among other changes, the choice of replicates for variance estimation purposes has been left up to the analyst instead of being tied to replicate construction in feeder surveys that estimate expenditures. We explore various candidates for variance estimator that this new flexibility allows, with a particular concern how best to deal with the possible distorting effects of outliers and non-response.