Anatomy of regional price differentials: evidence from micro-price data

Micro-price data collected from Germany's consumer price index are used to compile a highly disaggregated regional price index for the 402 counties and cities of Germany. A multistage version of the weighted country-product-dummy (CPD) method is introduced. The unique quality of the price data allows one to depart from previous spatial price comparisons and to compare only exactly identical products. It is found that the price levels are spatially autocorrelated and largely driven by the cost of housing. The price level in the most expensive region is about 27% higher than in the cheapest region.本研究采用德国消费者价格指数（Consumer Price Index, CPI）项下的微观价格数据，为德国402个县及城市构建了高度细分的区域价格指数。本文引入了多阶段加权国家产品虚拟变量（country-product-dummy, CPD）方法。得益于该价格数据的独有特性，本研究得以突破既往空间价格比较的局限，仅对完全同质的产品进行对比分析。研究发现，区域价格水平存在空间自相关性，且其变动在很大程度上由住房成本驱动。物价水平最高的区域较最低区域高出约27%。