Abstract
At a time when increasing attention is being paid to the international Comparison of the cost of living, this article begins with a catalog of the limitations of existing comparisons. The authors then analyze the major problems of estimation and interpretation. These problems include the determination of patterns of consumption and setting weights and prices; making monetary and fiscal adjustments; and, finally, accounting for international differences in the standard of living.
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*The authors are, respectively, Special Research Assistant and Research Fellow, International Business Unit, Department of Management Sciences, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. The article has been written in the light of the authors' experience in estimating international cost-of-living differences in producing the National Association of Schoolmasters report on “The Teacher in Europe,” and separate work on comparisons between West Germany and the U.K.
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Ruff, HJ., Jackson, G. Methodological Problems in International Comparisons of the Cost of Living. J Int Bus Stud 5, 57–67 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490709
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490709