Data for: Hicksian separability does not hold over space: Implications for the design of household surveys and price questionnaires

Abstract of associated article: If relative prices of goods within a commodity group are constant, Hicksian separability lets the price of a single good represent the group price level. This is relied on by price questionnaires used with household surveys in developing countries and when constructing temporal and spatial deflators. Methods of estimating demand systems from household survey data also rely on Hicksian separability. Yet this restriction remains untested in cross-sections. We use unique data from Vietnam with multiple specifications from within the same food groups to test if within-group relative prices are constant over space. The data firmly reject these restrictions. Some guidelines for survey design are discussed, in terms of the characteristics of commodity groups that should be disaggregated and those that should have more elementary goods added to their linked price questionnaire.

相关文章摘要：若同一商品组内商品之间的相对价格保持恒定，希克斯可分性允许单个商品的价格代表该商品组的定价水平。这一原理被发展中国家在家庭调查中使用的价格问卷以及构建时空平减器的过程中所依赖。从家庭调查数据中估算需求系统的方法也依赖于希克斯可分性。然而，这种限制在横截面分析中尚未得到验证。我们利用越南的独特数据，通过同一食品组内的多种规格来测试组内相对价格在空间上的恒定性。数据明确否定了这些限制。此外，针对调查设计的一些指导原则也得到探讨，涉及应进行细分的商品组特征，以及应添加更多基础商品至其关联的价格问卷中。