National Bureau of Economic Research

Conference on Research in Income and Wealth:

Ernst R. Berndt and Charles M. Hulten, Organizers

HARD-TO-MEASURE GOODS AND SERVICES:

ESSAYS IN MEMORY OF ZVI GRILICHES

September 19-20, 2003

Hyatt Regency Bethesda

One Bethesda Metro Center

Bethesda MD  20814

 

Preliminary Program

 

 

Friday September 19, 2003

 

 

8:00 a.m.

Continental Breakfast

 

 

8:30 a.m.

Welcome and Opening Remarks by

 

Jacques Mairesse, ENSAE and NBER

 

Ernst R. Berndt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NBER

 

 

9:00 a.m.

Session I:  Zvi Griliches and Economic Measurement

 

CHAIR:  Jacques Mairesse, ENSAE

 

 

 

On the Theory and Political Economy of Data:

 

An Essay in Memory of Zvi Griliches

 

Charles R. Hulten, University of Maryland and NBER

 

 

9:30 a.m.

Session II:  Output Measurement in the Service Sectors

 

CHAIR:  Thomas L.  Mesenbourg, Bureau of the Census

 

 

 

Services Productivity in the United States:  Griliches' Services Volume Revisited

 

Barry Bosworth and Jack E. Triplett, Brookings Institution

 

 

 

The Diffusion of Health Care Technology

 

Jonathan S. Skinner and Douglas L. Staiger, Dartmouth College and NBER

 

 

 

DISCUSSANT:  Martin Baily, Institute for International Economics

 

 

11:00 a.m.

Break

 

 

11:15 a.m.

Session III:  Issues in the Measurement of Capital

 

CHAIR:  Frank Wykoff, Pomona College

 

 

 

Why do Computers Depreciate?

 

Valerie Ramey, University of California, San Diego and NBER

 

Matthew Shapiro, University of Michigan and NBER

 

Michael Geske, University of Michigan

 

 

 

Technology and the Theory of Vintage Aggregation

 

Michael J. Harper, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

 

 

Discussant:  Dan Sichel, Federal Reserve Board

 

 

12:45 p.m.

Luncheon

 

SPEAKER, Jack E. Triplett, Brookings Institution

 

"Zvi Griliches' Contributions to Economic Measurement"

 

 

2:00 p.m.

Session IV:  Issues in Data Development:  Consistent Accounting

 

CHAIR:  J. Steven Landefeld, Bureau of Economic Analysis

 

 

 

Information Technology and the G7 Economies      Tables

 

Dale W. Jorgenson, Harvard University

 

 

 

A Consistent Accounting of U.S. Productivity Growth

 

Eric J. Bartelsman, Free University of Amsterdam

 

J. Joseph Beaulieu, Federal Reserve Board

 

 

 

Discussant:  Barbara Fraumeni, Bureau of Economic Analysis

 

 

3:30 p.m.

Break

 

 

3:45 p.m.

Session V:  Issues in the Measurement Labor Inputs

 

CHAIR:  Dan Hamermesh, University of Texas at Austin and NBER

 

 

 

Production Function and Wage Equation Estimation with Heterogeneous Labor: Evidence from a New Matched Employer-Employee Data Set

 

Judith Hellerstein,  University of Maryland and NBER

 

David Neumark, Public Policy Institute of California and NBER

 

 

 

Where Does the Time Go?: Concepts and Measurement in the American Time-Use Survey

 

Harley Frazis, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Jay Stewart, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

 

 

Discussant:   John Abowd, Cornell University and NBER

 

 

5:15 p.m.

CRIW MEMBERSHIP MEETING (5:15-6:00)

 

 

6:00 p.m.

Adjourn

 

 

 

 

Saturday, September 20

 

 

8:30 a.m.

Continental Breakfast

 

 

9:00 a.m.

Session VI:  New Developments in Price Measurement

 

CHAIR:  Timothy Bresnahan,  Stanford University and NBER

 

 

 

On Hedonic Quality Adjustments, the Stability of Hedonic Coefficients

 

and their Implications for CPI Measurement

 

Saeed Heravi and Mick Silver, Cardiff University

 

 

 

A Century of Housing Shelter Prices: How Big is the CPI Bias?

 

Robert J. Gordon, Northwestern University and NBER

 

(joint with Todd vanGoethem)

 

 

 

Price Indexes for Microsoft’s Personal Computer Software Products

 

Jaison R. Abel, Analysis Group

 

Ernst R. Berndt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NBER

 

Alan G. White, Analysis Group

 

 

 

Discussant:   David Johnson, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

 

11:00 a.m.

Break

 

 

11:15 a.m.

Session VII:  Issues in Data Development:  Measurement Error

 

CHAIR:  Katherine Abraham, University of Maryland and NBER

 

 

 

Should Exact Index Numbers Have Standard Errors?

 

 Integrating the Stochastic and Economic Approaches

 

Robert C. Feenstra, University of California, Davis and NBER

 

Marshall B. Reinsdorf, Bureau of Economic Analysis

 

 

 

What Really Happened to Consumption Inequality in the U.S.?

 

Orazio Attanasio, University College London and Institute for Fiscal Studies

 

Erich Battistin, Institute for Fiscal Studies

 

Hide Ichimura, University College London and Cemmap

 

 

 

Discussant:  Angus Deaton, Princeton University

 

 

12:45 p.m.

Luncheon

 

 

2:00 p.m.

Session VIII:  Measurement Problems in the "New Economy"

 

CHAIR:  Carol Corrado, Federal Reserve Board

 

 

 

The Role of Semiconductor Inputs in IT Hardware Price Decline:

 

Computers vs. Communications

 

Ana Aizcorbe, Federal Reserve Board

 

Kenneth Flamm and Anjum Khurshid, University of Texas at Austin

 

 

 

Pricing at the On-ramp to the Internet:

 

Price Indices for Integrated Service Providers during the 1990s

 

Shane Greenstein, Northwestern University and NBER

 

Greg Stranger, Boston Consulting Group

 

 

 

Computer Networks and U.S. Manufacturing Plant Productivity:

 

The Impact of Computer Investment and Computer Network Use on Productivity

 

B. K. Atrostic and San V. Nguyen, U.S. Census Bureau

 

 

 

Discussant: Mark Roberts, Pennsylvania State University and NBER

 

 

4:00 p.m.

Break

 

 

4:15 p.m.

Session IX:  Panel Discussion on Zvi Griliches Remembered

 

CHAIR:  Ernst Berndt, M.I.T. and NBER

 

 

 

PANEL: Timothy Bresnahan,  Stanford University and NBER

 

Robert J. Gordon, Northwestern University and NBER

 

Dan Hamermesh, University of Texas at Austin and NBER

 

Judith Hellerstein,  University of Maryland and NBER

 

Walter Oi, University of Rochester and NBER

 

 

5:30 p.m.

Adjourn