Description
The compilation of price indices should be based on clearly specified, representative products for which prices are tracked over time with due attention to quality change. Pricing (or charging) arrangements or mechanisms for the sale of services are often such that it is difficult for the compiler to observe prices for a repeated service transaction.
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Chapter 2. Main pricing methods for Service Producer Price Indices
The primary motivation of this chapter is to help to develop a better understanding of the
variety of pricing methods used. It characterises the various approaches within a broad
conceptual framework that facilitates understanding and international comparability by
providing links between the various pricing mechanisms used by service providers and
the methods used by index compilers to measure price change.
1
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The compilation of price indices should be based on clearly specified, representative
products for which prices are tracked over time with due attention to quality change. For
services, this principle is often difficult to follow:
1. Pricing (or charging) arrangements or mechanisms for the sale of services are
often such that it is difficult for the compiler to observe prices for a repeated
service transaction;
2. Identifying quality change can be a significant task, particularly in the context of
services, where the very notion of quality is often problematic. Is a haircut
delivered in one hour better or worse than a haircut that takes two hours for
example?
3. Many service products are unique. In these cases, prices cannot be observed over
multiple periods and so assumptions on quality changes have to be made
(typically, constant quality is assumed) that are mostly based on convention rather
than reflecting “reality”.
In practice therefore, SPPI compilers may have to use a number of pricing methods to
track price changes in service products, with the methods typically depending on the
producing industry or product and on the pricing mechanisms used.
2.1. Pricing mechanisms and methods
Pricing methods refer to the procedures put in place by index compilers to make price
data suitable for use in index compilation. These procedures are carried out prior to
elementary index compilation and are solely concerned with data relating to prices.
2
The
selection of the appropriate pricing method for a service product or industry is largely
determined by the pricing mechanism employed for that product or industry.
2.1.1. Pricing mechanisms
Pricing mechanisms refer to charging arrangements put in place by economic
operators. In practice service providers use a variety of mechanisms to price their output
but these can be characterised under three broad groups defined as follows:
• An explicit fee/price for the service is charged and payable (excluding those
services charged as a function of time-spent), and referred to, for convenience, as
explicit output charged mechanisms;
• An explicit fee/price for the service is charged and payable as a function of time-
spent, referred to as time-spent mechanisms;
• No explicit fee/price is charged and the payment for the service is not explicitly
identifiable but is instead bundled within the price of another good or service.
Two types of services are typically priced in this way. The first reflects the output
of the retail/wholesale/distribution activities and the second reflects financial
intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM). This mechanism is for
convenience referred to as margin-pricing.
Price information is available for the majority of services products. However, this
price information may not necessarily meet the fundamental principle underlying price
indices, which is to follow prices of products with comparable quality in consecutive
periods. In other words the fact that price information is observable does not,
unfortunately, mean that measuring price change is a trivial task. Therefore the compiler
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must examine the available price information and determine how it can be used in index
compilation.
2.1.2. Data type in surveys
A key factor in determining the range of appropriate pricing methods is the data
available to the compiler. Therefore before giving an overview of the various pricing
methods widely used in practice by countries, it is instructive to consider the typical price
data available:
1. Real transaction price: the price of a service actually paid in the market, taking
the form of a receipt, bank statement or electronic database. It represents the
actual price paid (inclusive of any discounts, surcharges or rebates) for an
individual transaction that can be observed repeatedly;
2. List price: a price quoted from the producer’s price list, catalogue, Internet site,
etc. It is generally the gross price exclusive of all discounts, surcharges or rebates
that may apply to an actual transaction. A list price is therefore less suitable than
a real transaction price for SPPI compilation. Note that list prices for fixed
amounts of working time are known as standard hourly rates;
3. Revenue
3
and amount sold: data on both revenue and amount sold which allows
for calculation of an average price for a large number of transactions. These data
may be used in several pricing methods (unit value, component pricing, model
pricing, and hourly charge-out rates). The revenue corresponds to the value of
output sold or the value of invoiced sales of goods or services supplied to third
parties during the reference period. The amount sold is a measure of the quantity
of homogeneous services;
4. Acquisition and selling prices: data on both acquisition and selling prices where
the difference between the two allows for calculation of a margin price. The
acquisition price is the cost to the seller of purchasing a product or a service from
a supplier excluding any taxes and rebates. The selling price is the cost to the
purchaser excluding any taxes and transport charges;
5. Percentage fees and related value: data on both the value of a good or service,
and a percentage fee from which an actual fee (price) can be calculated. The
percentage fee could in practice be taken from a list, estimated by an expert or
calculated as an average from real transactions. The related value refers to that of
the underlying good (or other product) to which the service relates;
6. Expert estimate: price based on the potentially subjective judgment of the expert
in the responding unit who completes the survey. The estimate can reflect
different types of units, for instance only components of an entire service, or
prices per working time and per product;
7. Input data: Price data for all (or a number of) input components needed to
produce a set amount of service output. The profit margin is always to be
included as an important input component. Input data can be taken from business
enterprise records based on real transactions or be estimated by an expert. Strictly
speaking, the input prices can be taken from a list, estimated by an expert, or
calculated as an average from real transactions. However, an input price is set
apart as it is not an output price.
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2.1.3. Introduction to pricing methods
The following section summarises the main pricing methods used to compile SPPIs
from the different types of price data. The list does not claim to be exhaustive but it does
reflect an exhaustive assessment of commonly used methods:
• Direct use of prices of repeated services represents the ideal of using real
transaction prices or, less preferably, list prices, of the same service product in
successive survey periods. Adjustments will be needed to account for any
changes that occur when the observed product is replaced or if its quality
changes. The method is discussed in section 2.2.1;
• Contract pricing refers to the use of prices in long term contracts for the
repeated delivery of the same (or a very similar) service. This is a special case of
using real transaction prices. The contract pricing method is discussed in section
2.2.2;
• The unit value method constructs a price index based on observed revenue and
quantity data. Note that the unit value method as defined here is limited to cases
where price observations refer directly to service output. The method is discussed
in section 2.2.3;
• The percentage fee method calculates the value of the service as the product of
the percentage fee and value of the product to which the fee relates. The method
is discussed in section 2.2.4;
• The component pricing method is particularly relevant when only information
on total revenues and number of sales are typically available, but where the
products sold are relatively heterogeneous – invalidating the unit value approach.
The approach specifies a representative product and estimates its price on the
basis of the prices of identifiable components that determine the overall price.
The method is discussed in section 2.2.5;
• The model pricing method is typically applied in cases where the service
provided is unique. The approach specifies a standardised product, that is
sufficiently representative of the type of service provided, and respondents are
asked to provide a price quote for this standardised product. The method is
discussed in section 2.2.6;
• Time based methods reflect cases where a service is specified in terms of the
time spent providing a particular service and not necessarily in terms of the actual
service provided. See section 2.2.7;
• Margin pricing method: Margin prices are defined here as those prices that are
not directly observable but where the value of the service can be measured as the
difference between the observed acquisition and selling prices of a given product.
The method is discussed in section 2.2.8. It is important to differentiate this
method from pricing mechanisms that may be used by typical margin charging
industries. In some cases these industries will specify the price of a service for a
given delivery/provision of a product, which may also be invoiced as a
percentage of the value of the underlying product. In these cases the appropriate
methods are those that relate real transaction prices or percentage fees. There are
however similarities in practice between the percentage fee and margin pricing
methods.
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Box 2.1. shows the pricing methods as defined in this Guide. They are presented
linked to pricing mechanisms and results of pricing methods (namely the price that enters
into index compilation). Therefore three main classes of pricing methods are
distinguished and defined as such:
• Pricing methods which result in a price of final service outputs (left-hand side of
box 2.1.): price-determining factors of services are well-specified; they are fully
defined in terms of all the characteristics that influence their transaction prices.
Price observations refer directly to specified service outputs and result in prices of
final services output;
• Pricing methods which result in time based prices: (central part of box 2.1.): price
observations refer to the time used in the provision of the service rather than on
the service itself. Adjustments to reflect productivity changes may be necessary;
• Pricing methods which result in margin prices (right-hand side of box 2.1.): price
observations that are used in this method refer to the difference in the price that
paid by the service provider for the good or service they transformed and the
price paid by the final consumer.
The resulting prices derived from using each of the methods applied are emphasised
as they are important in monitoring practices and in analysing price and volume
developments across different countries. In particular, price indices based on final service
outputs may need to be interpreted differently from time based price indices. In the first
case, the volume of output is, in principle, correctly measured (albeit depending on how
well price-determining factors are specified) but this is not necessarily the case for time
based methods, particularly where quality changes have occurred in the output, or
productivity changes impact on the input (hours spent). This issue is further discussed in
section 2.2.7.
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Box 2.1. Classification of main pricing methods for SPPI
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EUROSTAT-OECD METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE FOR DEVELOPING PRODUCER PRICE INDICES FOR SERVICES © OECD/European Union, (2014)
2.2. Main pricing methods for SPPI
2.2.1. Direct use of prices of repeated services
The direct use of prices of repeated services represents the ideal and refers to
transaction prices for well-specified, repeated services which can be either simple
services or packages of services. It corresponds to the transaction pricing typically
observed in CPI and PPI compilation. This method captures price movements of real
transactions of the same service products in successive survey periods.
Data type in the survey
The price data used are ideally real transaction prices (inclusive of any discounts,
surcharges or rebates
4
) extracted from enterprise records or accounts in each survey
period. If real transaction prices are not directly available they can be estimated by the
respondent.
List prices can occasionally be used as proxies for real transaction prices. List prices
are collected from standard price lists established by a business enterprise for the service
products it sells. These prices may either directly match the required service specification
or be as close to it as possible if prices for the exact specification are not available. List
prices should only be used in an SPPI if there are good reasons to believe that they
accurately reflect the evolution of actual transaction prices. This is not the case when
discounts, surcharges or rebates vary over time in response to changing market
conditions.
Use of the direct use of prices of repeated services method
Direct use of prices of repeated services is the preferred and easiest pricing method
because indices can be directly compiled using standard PPI compilation procedures.
Respondents are asked to select a number of service products that are representative of
their total output. The prices of these services are observed over time, as are their
characteristics in order to control for quality changes.
While the pricing of simple services is often straightforward, pricing of service
packages is more difficult when their structure changes or when customers switch their
purchases towards more favourable packages. For example, in the telecommunication
sector a package might consist of fixed amount of phone call minutes (perhaps further
split across network providers), SMS (short message service) messages and data as well
as a fixed fee. New packages which provide differing amounts of phone call minutes,
SMS messages and data are regularly introduced. Older packages may become less
representative over time as customers switch to new ones, thereby leading to survey bias.
However, replacing less representative service packages in an index with more
representative ones may lead the statistician away from the pricing of repeated services to
alternative methods to ensure service products remain representative while pricing is to
constant quality.
The direct use of prices of repeated services is typically used for pricing the following
industries: air transport, warehousing and storage, cargo handling, postal and courier
activities, telecommunication, technical testing and analysis, employment activities, food
& accommodation, other monetary intermediation, security and commodity contracts
brokerage, insurance activities and rental and leasing activities.
As shown in box 2.2., one of the main issues when using direct use of prices of
repeated services is to define and standardise the specification of the service to ensure
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that the specification continues over time. An overly tight specification entails the risk
that the service may not be transacted again.
Box 2.2. Direct use of prices of repeated services: passenger car rental industry
Type of service: passenger car rental for leisure travel
Location n°: 6437500
Establishment number and street: 64375 BLS parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45260. Corporate-
owned establishment. Airport site. Standard rate plan.
Duration of car rental period: one day
Class : standard
Age of rental vehicle: 12-24 months
Model/name of rental vehicle: Pontiac grand am
Passenger count of rental vehicle: five passengers
Daily rate
One-way rental (pick-up and drop-off points are at different locations), pick-up point: 64375
BLS parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45260. Drop-off point: 80631 Dol place, Cincinnati, Ohio
45309.
Unlimited mileage (no extra charge)
No fuel charge (for rental car with full tank of gas; returned with full tank).
Advance reservation.
The service is transacted every survey period. The price is the total daily rental.
Special case: the use of data collected for the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
The use of price data collected for the CPI can be considered as a special case of
direct use of prices of repeated services. This situation arises particularly for service
industries where the vast share of output from the sector goes to final demand. In other
words, when services that are predominantly but not exclusively destined for household
consumption such as passenger transportation, food & accommodation or finance &
insurance, the use of CPI data may prove to be an attractive option. The use of CPI data
can, in particular, help to remove or minimise the requirement for data collection.
CPI data can be used either exclusively (only CPI data are used as proxies for the
SPPI) or in tandem with other producer price data not covered by the CPI, especially
those relating to business users (collected by a dedicated SPPI survey). However, when
using CPI data due attention should be paid to the two following issues:
1. CPI data that is used in the compilation of SPPIs must be adjusted such from
valuation at purchasers’ prices to basic prices by deducting any taxes including
VAT and trade margins.
5
Basic prices are better aligned to the remuneration that
producers actually receive to compensate them for expenditures on goods and
services used as intermediate inputs, for labour costs and as a return to capital;
6
2. When CPI data are used as a full proxy for the SPPI, special attention needs to be
given to the potential for prices charged to businesses to display different trends
to those charged to household consumers. The assumption that prices for business
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users and households move in a similar trend, with a similar composition of
consumption, should be tested.
3. CPIs are typically used as proxies in the compilation of BtoAll indices, such as
postal and couriers activities, telecommunication, technical testing and analysis
(of passenger vehicles) and food and accommodation services.
2.2.2. Contract pricing method
In the contract pricing method, the object of measurement is a single real transaction
of service based on a contract for which prices are agreed for more than one period when
the contract is signed or renewed.
Data type in the survey
Prices for the repeated delivery of the same or a very similar service in many survey
periods, set out in long-term contracts are used in the contract pricing method. The
method uses real transaction prices of a special kind in so far as:
• Prices in a contract are agreed for more than one period when the contract is
signed or renewed;
• Prices may be the same for that period or change according to an agreed pattern.
While surveyed price data are commonly based on a “contract”, this does not
necessarily result in the use of the contract pricing method. In order for contract pricing to
be employed the contract must cover more than one survey period, services provided in
each period must be the same and prices must be agreed at the same time for more than
one period.
Use of the contract pricing method
The contract pricing method works as follows:
• Specific contracts are selected during the respondent initialisation phase (see
chapter 3, section 3.4.). The product description identifies the client explicitly.
The nature and quantity of the service to which the price refers is also stated
clearly, e.g. the total weekly or monthly service (coinciding with payment), or the
price per unit of service delivery, for example one transportation trip, one days’
cleaning or an hour of security provided;
• The price of this product is included in every compilation period although
respondents in some industries have stated that prices change so rarely that the
survey frequency should be lower than the periodicity of SPPI calculation. Where
a contract fixes the period for which a constant quality service is provided for a
specified price, this price can be used in index compilation for the duration of the
contract;
• If there is any change in the actual service, a quality correction has to be made for
which standard methods can be applied. For example, an office cleaning contract
changes from 5 to 3 cleanings per week or the weight of the load of a road
haulage trip increases from 10 to 14 tonnes.
Box 2.3. shows an example of contract pricing methods for freight transport by road.
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Box 2.3. Contract pricing: Freight transport by road
Respondents provide price information on relevant routes and freight types (by customer)
that they have selected themselves. Prices reported by the respondent are real transaction prices.
Prices are set in advance for several survey periods. They are updated about once a year.
Fuel surcharges can be added within the contract period if agreed in the contract.
Weights are not available for each service transaction but at the level of type of service
activity – consequently an un-weighted geometric mean formulation is used to calculate
elementary price indices.
Service Unit Price Price change Weight
t-1 t
Temperature controlled transports 0.25
Customer A: Transport of meat, from A to B €/10
boxes
25 26 1.040
Customer B: Transport of fish, from C to D €/10
boxes
25 27 1.080
Geometric mean 1.060
Tank transports (fertilizers, gas etc.) 0.25
Customer A: Sludge, from A to B, €/ton €/ ton 18.25 18.15 0.995
Customer B: Acid, from C to D, €/ton €/ ton 14.15 14.62 1.033
Geometric mean 1.014
Paper and wood industry transports (paper, cartons, pulp etc.) 0.5
Customer C: Pulp, from A to B €/ ton 6.70 6.9 1.030
Customer D: Timber, from C to D €/ ton 8.72 8.94 1.025
Geometric mean 1.028
Weighted price change from t-1 to t 1.0325
Contract pricing is usually relatively easy to apply where payments are made on an
accrual basis - that for each individual contract the prices are fully in line with
corresponding service output.
However, it is important to note that the contract pricing method can be employed
only under certain conditions. Firstly, if contract pricing is based on a real transaction as
in the case of direct use of prices of repeated services, there is a fundamental difference
between these two methods. Contract pricing is based on a single transaction, whereas the
direct use of prices of repeated services is based on multiple transactions, possibly for
different clients. A contract and its price are thus usually unique for a particular client.
However, as they are repeated over many survey periods the “unique product problem”
does not apply here.
Secondly, the producer-client contract must cover the repeated delivery of a service
over a period of time, whether predefined (for example one year) or open ended. This
pricing method requires therefore that the contract lasts over a sufficiently long period (at
least a number of survey periods), and that service delivery is repeated at least once in
each survey period (remembering that survey periodicity and compilation periodicity do
not need to be the same). However, the price specified in the contract need not be
constant but may change without an accompanying change to the output specified in the
contract. Prices can change via different mechanisms, for instance by yearly
renegotiation, by escalation with another index such as the CPI, or by a clause that states
that the producer is allowed to pass on certain cost changes (for example a fuel
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surcharge). Payments are typically periodic, e.g. every week or month the same amount is
paid.
The method should be used with caution because individual contract prices agreed in
a previous period for future periods may not be representative of current price
development in the industry. Therefore, a crucial concern when applying the contract
pricing method is how well the resulting price index reflects price development in the
industry concerned. In those service industries where contract pricing is the prevailing
pricing mechanism, two issues should be considered to ensure representativeness:
1. Contracts included in the sample should preferably reflect different volumes of
service deliveries because price developments may vary with the size of the
customer;
2. A relatively large sample is required. Otherwise the resulting index may become
too sensitive to the spread of contract periods in the sample. In other words, due
attention should be paid to the temporal representativeness of the sample to
capture the evolution of the market situation. It is possible that the spread of
contract periods is highly seasonal, e.g. contracts are usually signed at the
beginning of the year.
If there is no significant seasonal pattern in the spread of contract periods over the
year and services provided by the industry are relatively homogeneous, the contract
pricing method and a representative sample of contracts might result in an index that is
broadly representative of the whole industry. On the other hand, if there is a strong
seasonal pattern, it may be necessary to also collect prices that are based on alternative
pricing mechanisms. The more prevalent other pricing mechanisms are in an industry the
more important it is to enlarge the sample. This would naturally imply the use of multiple
pricing methods across different respondents for the industry concerned.
Note finally, that “new sales biases” may occur when contract pricing is used. This
problem arises where a new contract is won at a significantly discounted price. Once
custom is secured, prices revert to regular market levels. The resulting SPPI may show an
excessive price increase as the status of a customer moves from “new” to “regular”. A
practical solution to this problem is to avoid the inclusion of prices that are clearly
discounted to win new business.
In summary, the contract pricing can only be applied if: i) the chosen unit of service
7
is repeatedly provided under a single contract over many survey periods and at least once
per survey period and, ii) the surveyed prices reflect the same service each survey period.
If these conditions are not met, the contract pricing method cannot be used:
• Long lasting contracts for unique services, like a three year engineering project,
cannot be surveyed using the contract pricing method, because different services
(or phases of a large service agreement) are produced in each survey period. For
such services, model pricing or a time based method are the main options.
Similarly, framework agreements under which different amounts of service or
different services are delivered in each period are not suitable for contract pricing;
• Contract pricing is not recommended in cases where the same services are
delivered in each period but payments are made less frequently (for example a
large up-front payment). There is no way, other than by estimation, to allocate
these payments over the contract period to determine prices for each sub-period
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and to apply the accrual principle. It is recommended to apply other pricing
methods, such as model pricing, in these cases.
The contract pricing method is typically used for pricing the following industries:
freight transport by road, postal and courier activities, technical testing and analysis,
cleaning activities, waste management and software publishing.
2.2.3. Unit value method
The unit value method is based on repeated real transaction of final service output for
which prices are derived using respondent data that are not output prices. Service output
is subdivided into homogeneous sub-sets for which value and quantity data are available.
Prices are then estimated by dividing the value of service outputs by the corresponding
output quantities.
The unit value method as defined here is limited to those cases where estimated prices
refer directly to final service output. Cases where unit values are employed in the
estimation of hourly rates are included in the section on pricing methods based on
working time (section 2.2.7). In addition, in the case of the component pricing method a
sub-component might be based on unit-value. This situation is covered in the section on
component pricing (section 2.2.5).
Data type in the survey
Under the unit value method, the price of a service is derived by dividing revenues
from sales by volumes of services provided in respect of a large number of transactions.
As shown in the telecommunications example presented in box 2.4., the ‘local calling
price’ is the total revenue from local phone calls divided by the total volume (minutes) of
local phone calls.
Box 2.4. Unit value: Telecommunications (Example 1)
U.K. Business Telecommunication: Local calls
Revenues (£m)
Volumes (million
minutes)
Unit Values
(£ per minute)
Index Value
Year t
Q1 300 14,000 0.02143 100.0
Q2 280 13,500 0.02074 96.8
Q3 260 13,000 0.02000 93.3
Q4 240 12,500 0.01920 89.6
Year t+1
Q1 220 12,000 0.01833 85.6
Q2 200 11,500 0.01739 81.2
Q3 180 11,000 0.01636 76.4
Q4 160 10,500 0.01524 71.1
The unit value method may be appropriate in cases where consistent value and
quantity data are available for sufficiently homogeneous services. However, in practice
the homogeneity requirement is difficult to fully meet. Even a very detailed sub-division
of output does not always ensure that services are homogeneous. Although the quality of
specific services might be homogeneous, measures of revenues and quantities may
include contracts of different sizes (which is an important price determining factor),
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undermining the feasibility of the method. Detailed sub-division of services is of the
utmost importance to ensure that the impact of this problem is minimised.
There are cases, such as postal and courier services, where unit values can often be
considered appropriate.
8
The unit value method may also prove to be the best pricing
method for certain complex services (for example telecommunications and flight
transportation services). Rapid technological development and frequent changes to
invoicing systems may make the implementation of other alternatives so difficult and
costly that a judicious use of the unit value method offers a feasible and cost-effective
option.
9
Note however, that a problem sometimes encountered with unit value indices is that
the required data are not available in time for inclusion in current quarter estimation. This
means that unit value indices are often lagged by one quarter (or month) or alternatively,
indices are published preliminarily and revised when final data become available.
The unit value method is typically used for pricing the following industries: air
transport (see box 2.5.), postal and courier activities, telecommunications, advertising,
accommodation, waste management, publishing of books, periodicals and other
publishing activities, software publishing.
Box 2.5. Unit value: Air freight transport (Example 2)
Freight rates (€/kg) are a commonly employed pricing mechanism in Air freight
transportation. Rates may differ from contract to contract, between customers or according to
different levels of services or goods. However, as both rates and services provided can be quite
homogenous a unit value approach can be used.
Total revenue and volume data is available. For their member airlines, IATA international –
the International Air Transport Association – runs an accounting system for Air Waybills. It
collects information on turnover, transported volume (weight in kg), destination and carrier.
With this information, unit values can be calculated for every destination and airline that
subscribes to the system (and all large international airlines do). FSO Germany receives
quarterly reports from IATA containing turnover and transported volume by airline and
destination, and calculates unit values out of it. For example:
Airline A
Destination X
T T+1
Turnover (€) 150 181
Volume (kg) 25 29
Freight Rate (€/kg) 6.00 6.24
Index value 100 104
The freight rates for airline A by destination X is calculated dividing turnover by transported
volume. It contains multiple, variable transactions. The change in price is calculated by
comparing the calculated freight rates: in this example, the price has risen by 4%.
2.2.4. Percentage fee method
The percentage fee method is used to measure the price development of real
transactions of services that are tied to transactions of products such as goods, contracts
or assets.
Data type in the survey
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In this method, the percentage fee and related value of the product transacted are used
to estimate the price of the final service output by multiplying the percentage and the
value of the good.
The percentage fee and the value of the product value may be collected from different
sources. The percentage fee can be taken from a list, estimated by an expert or calculated
as an average. Often, the price (actual or index) of the good is already available to the
compiler, for example in the case of a price index for leasing of office equipment rented
(box 2.6.) or real estate activities (see box 2.7). In other cases both the percentage fee and
product value are supplied by the respondent.
Box 2.6. Percentage fee: Leasing of office equipment (Example 1)
In the example, prices are calculated by using percentage fees and price indices. For each
survey period (t-1, t, t+1 …), the compiler collects data on percentage fees and combines them
with price indices for the products concerned.
Service price = 1+percentage fee (%) x price index of the product.
Service Period
Percentage fee (%)
(a)
Price index of
personal computer /
copying machines
(year t0 = 100)
(b)
Prices
(1+a) × (b)
Monthly fee for
leasing a personal
computer valued at
250,000 yen for 3
year contract
t-1 3.0 86.5 89.095
T 3.1 83 85.573
Percentage change +3.3% -4.0% -3.9%
Monthly fee for
leasing a copying
machine valued at
1,000,000 yen for 5
year contract
t-1 2.6 95.0 97.47
T 2.7 94.0 96.538
Percentage change +3.8% -1.1% -1.0%
Use of percentage fee method
Typically, the percentage fee method is used in the real estate agencies sector where
the pricing mechanism is based on real estate prices and commission rates (see box 2.7.).
Other examples of services for which the method is used include the placement of
advertisements, architectural services, and rental and leasing services. For this method to
be employed the product to which the service is tied should be a product group rather
than a strictly specified product. The latter case, where the fee for the same product for
consecutive periods is targeted directly (by measurement of the difference between the
acquisition and selling prices of product), is categorised as the margin pricing method.
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Box 2.7. Percentage fee: Real estate activities (Example 2)
Specification of the service:
Residential property sale/purchase. Agents and brokers services provided: listing agent. Full
service. Single family cooperative apartment. Address of property: 804 River RD #4f, Nowhere,
NY. Other property identification: mls #2205775. Number of bedrooms: 2. number of
bathrooms: 1. property value: $176,000. Commission rate: 2.00%.
The exact house has not been transacted every survey period. The property value and
commission rates are updated using actual data from recent sales of comparable properties.
Period Property value Commission Price Index value
T-1 $182,000 2% $3640 100
T $176,000 2% $3520 96.7
The price, based on real transactions, is estimated using commission rate and product price.
In the percentage fee method, the price change is split into two parts, the change of
the percentage fee and the change of the product price. Thus, the price of the service can
be estimated by updating the price in the previous period via the following formula:
P
s
t
= P
s
t-1
×
1 +m
t
1 +m
t-1
×
P
t
P
t-1
Where: P
s
t
, is the price of the final service output in period t;
P
t
, is the value of a group of contracts, assets or products in period t;
m
t
, is the percentage fee in period t that applies to the value.
Capturing price development by applying the above formula is less data demanding
than when fees for well-specified products are targeted directly because only the price
index for the product group and percentage fee are required. However, the underlying
product group should be sufficiently homogeneous over time to provide a valid price
estimate.
A special application of the percentage fee method is employed where the pricing
mechanism is based on a scale with varying percentages that depend on the value of the
underlying product. Typically, the percentage fee decreases according to a schedule as the
value of the product
.
increases.
10
In this case, only products in the same fee schedule
category can be taken as homogeneous. However, the same product (although not directly
observable) might, as a result of more general price inflation, move to a different fee
schedule category where a different commission is applied. This scenario should be
accounted for in index compilation.
It should also be noted that as a consequence of the assumption that the price of the
service is related to the price of the underlying asset or product, any change to the size or
quantity of products will be directly reflected as changes in the volume of services.
2.2.5. Component pricing method
The component pricing method individually measures the price movements of all or
some output components of the final service output. In other words, the service is divided
into a number of key output components of which one or more are then priced separately.
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Data type in the survey
For each output component actual respondent data are used. No subjective estimation
should be used. Component pricing is fully based on real transaction prices of output
components that have been combined to form or estimate a price of the final service
output.
The main restriction on this method is that time based prices (such as the price of one
hour of work) are not used for determining the price of components. Otherwise the
pricing method belongs to time based pricing (see section 2.2.7.). This is due to the fact
that often in the production of services, labour accounts for a high proportion of inputs.
The importance of this principle is particularly apparent in cases where time based pricing
is applied for sub-services that are subject to strong technological development. For
example, the adoption of more advanced technology may lead to increased hourly rates
but also to a reduction in the required working time. Consequently “real” prices and
volumes of services may remain stable. A fixed weight structure, even when updated
frequently, does not capture these changes and a biased sub-component price may end up
contributing to the final price.
11
On the other hand, assessing required working time rather
than keeping it fixed would mean that the method falls into the category of model pricing
where (at least some) subjective estimation is made.
The pricing method used in the reporting of each separate output component (e.g. real
transaction prices, unit value, etc.) should not be considered when determining the overall
pricing method used for the “total” price.
Use of the component pricing method
An advantage of component pricing is its flexibility of use. Care should be taken to
ensure its representativeness over time and therefore sub-components and weight
structures should be updated frequently.
In practice, the price for each individual output sub-component is provided by the
respondent and the compiler then combines this information to compute a price index for
the composite service. There are different ways of combining or aggregating across the
elements for which prices have been collected. Methods include:
• The use of existing bills or contracts to draw up a user profile. For example, a
typical bill for a telecommunications client applies different rates for local phone
calls, national calls, etc., and the total volume of communication is distributed
between these elements (see box 2.8.). Representative distributions of
communication volumes constitute user profiles. These user profiles can provide
the necessary weighting schemata to construct a composite index of
communication services. Sometimes not all elements of composite prices can be
covered. Where this is the case, it has to be assumed that the price of the missing
element moves approximately in line with the average of the other elements.
Omissions may also be acceptable if the user profile shows a very small weight
for the missing element;
• The use of output or consumption weights. Composite prices can be constructed
by collating prices of components using a weighting schemata provided by the
respondent. This kind of pricing can be considered for use in transportation
services, for example.
A total price derived during the application of the component pricing method will not
necessarily correspond to the price of any transacted service because quantities of sub-
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services in the component price may differ from actually transacted services.
Furthermore, some sub-services may not be covered even though it is desirable that the
coverage of sub-services is as exhaustive as possible.
The component pricing method is not widely used except in telecommunication
services (see box 2.8.).
Box 2.8. Component pricing: Telecommunications
Pricing of local telephone services:
(a): Average number per access line (weight) in the base period is obtained by dividing the
total number of units for each type of charge by the total number of access lines.
(b): Average revenue per unit in period t is obtained by dividing revenues for each type of
charge by the total quantity used of each charge.
(a) × (b): Weighted revenue in period t is calculated by multiplying average number per
access line by average revenue per unit.
Type of charge
Average number per
access line
(a)
Average revenue per unit
(b)
Weighted revenue
(a) x (b)
Access line 1 26.7530 26.7530
Usage charges based on time:
Peak minutes 162 0.2589 41.9418
Off-peak minutes 133 0.0824 10.9592
Roaming minutes 10 0.9722 9.7220
Usage charges other than time:
Landline, per call 2 0.1500 0.3000
Other charges, daily rate 1 1.5000 1.5000
Features/Options and feature packages:
Custom calling package 0.65 3.4600 2.2490
Call waiting 0.20 4.8500 0.9700
Call forwarding 0.10 5.1500 0.5150
3-way conference 0.05 5.7500 0.2875
No answer transfer 0.10 4.2500 0.4250
Voice messaging 0.20 4.8000 0.9600
Total (Price in period t) 96.5825
The price, based on real transaction of sub-components, is the sum of weighted revenues.
The method used is not unit value: unit values are used for the components but it is not unit
value pricing method because the various unit values are combined.
2.2.6. Model pricing method
General features of the model pricing method
The model pricing method is the most appropriate approach for use in industries
where service outputs are predominantly unique. As the compiler requires in each period
a price for a standard service with constant specifications, the method allows for
estimation of the price for a standardised final service product, a model transaction which
is not transacted in the comparison period.
12
The model transaction represents a service product that is non-observable (virtual) at
the time of data collection. Two types of model transaction can be considered as follows:
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1. A model can be a service that has never been observed as such, a fictitious single
service that can be set as the re-priceable service product for a group of
respondents;
2. Alternatively, a model can be a service that has been directly observed in the past,
but not during the current pricing period. In other words, the specifications of a
real service provided can be developed as the ‘model’ to price. For example, an
engineering services producer is asked to select a representative contract which it
has signed in the past and for each period to quote the required price to undertake
that project in the survey period. When selecting a real transaction for use as a
model, a recent service transaction is generally selected. A recent transaction may
more accurately represent the current activity of a service producer and the price
may be updated more easily.
It is important that although model prices are not based on observed market
transactions, estimates should capture prices prevailing in the survey period. It is clear
that this is the case for small contracts where respondents have recorded data that can be
directly used in the estimation of model prices. However, the same principle applies also
when a contract covers several periods, that is, estimates for all parts of a project should
be made based on conditions and prices prevailing in the survey period. Deviating from
this rule would mean that the accrual principle is not followed and this could imply biased
measures of service volumes when SPPI are used for deflation.
Noteworthy in the case of contracts that last several periods is the fact that model
prices differ from prices of actual tenders where future changes in inflation, taxation etc.
might be taken into account. They are artificial in the sense that project costs and mark-
ups represent only the market situation in the current survey period although various
stages of a long-term project become actual (or current) at different points in time. On the
other hand, relying only on present price levels is also an advantage from a practical point
of view because there are fewer uncertainties in the estimation of prices and base data
used in the estimation may be directly available.
Estimating model prices
Appropriate models for different service industries will have different requirements. It
is essential that the model is specified in sufficient detail; so that the respondent reports
prices for a constant quality model and that no variation from the model occurs over time
without notification to the compiler.
The estimation of a real transaction price is fully based on expert estimation which
may be subjective. The expert might consider real transaction prices, revenue and amount
sold, list prices and any input data for calculating this price. The resulting total price for
the service is therefore a fictitious expert estimate. The pricing method used to form the
resulting total price should not be a consideration when determining the overall pricing
method.
A central task for the expert is to estimate the working time required to produce a
service. An estimation based on the current market situation is needed, for instance by
keeping recent tenders in mind. Indeed, pricing factors such as hours worked should be
updated in model prices when there is a change in the number of hours required to
provide the service. The re-evaluation of the required working time is essential in order to
capture changes in the efficiency of service provision. If the working time is not
evaluated but assumed unchanged, the method is not categorised as model pricing but as
pricing based on working time. In other words, as prices of the same services (although
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virtual ones) are followed over time, changes in productivity must be taken into account.
In practice, the difference between the methods may not be very significant if respondents
cannot accurately describe how much more or less time a service provision requires
compared to the previous period.
When estimating the price of the model, the expert should pay particular attention to
the following factors: labour costs (staff by skill or experience and numbers of hours);
overheads; and gross profit margin (the representative margin that would apply in the
current competitive climate). For each pricing period, the respondent will need to "re-
cost" each component. Special attention is needed to ensure that the model describes an
output with an associated price and not a list of input components and prices.
As noted above, it is particularly important that labour input is adequately re-
estimated to reflect changes in productivity. The respondent must therefore detail any
change in the number of hours needed for the production of the model described in output
terms (for example 1,000 engineer hours were previously required, now only 930
engineer hours are needed). If this detail is not provided, the model pricing method has
the same ‘productivity problem’ as time based methods. Models might also have to be
modified from time to time to ensure that they remain representative of the type of
outputs of, and production methods used by, the service producer.
The reported profit margin should reflect actual business conditions in the pricing
period, and this component is therefore expected to fluctuate with market conditions (for
example it will be higher in periods of market growth and lower, perhaps even negative,
in periods of recession).
Use of model pricing
Models might be hypothetical and/or based on real transactions from previous
periods. Perhaps the most convenient way to implement the method is to rely in so far as
possible on actual data from more recent periods. A model could be, for example, based
on a contract that was made in a recent period. Use of recent data has a number of
advantages, for example:
• Changes in market conditions will be better accounted for;
• Constant quality of service products will most likely be better ensured;
• Representativeness of service products and prices will be better ensured;
• It is easier for respondents to estimate prices. Fresh data will be available to make
appropriate adjustments in those cases when some features or characteristics of
the service change.
On the whole, compared to a hypothetical or old model, model pricing from the
recent period should give better quality results. This may be the case particularly if
respondents have not undertaken any work in the recent past and are not tendering for any
such work related to the hypothetical model. The type of data that is available for use in
developing the base period model might differ depending on the service and service
provider. Typically, they include data on charge-out rates applied in service projects and
various data on costs. A combination of detailed respondent data from a recent period and
similar data in the survey period provides the best possible framework to capture price
development.
When using model pricing, the starting point is to select a specific service and
adequately specify the details of that service. The respondent is asked to price the same
service in t-1 and t rather than assuming from the outset that the required working hours
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by staff category alone provides a sufficient transaction specification, as is the case in the
hourly rate method (see section 2.2.7.). That means that although price changes mostly
stem from changes in hourly rates, overhead and profit, some changes might also
originate from changes in the number of working hours and other features.
Specifically, if a different number of hours or a different mix of personnel and their
hours are required to provide the exact same service or contract in the survey period, then
those factors have to be updated and the resulting changes shown as price changes. Note
however that if the resulting price changes are large, then the respondent should be
contacted and asked to explain why and to ensure that no changes have been made to the
specified service.
Changes to a model might also result from changes in technology or to regulation
such that the exact same output is provided with a change in the amount of inputs. In such
cases, recording the difference as a price change is fully justified. On the other hand, if it
can be concluded that the change in inputs really does result in a change in the output (or
the service being provided), then a quality adjustment is required. The information can be
used in updating the service description but the price must be adjusted.
Because the respondent is being asked to price the same service in period t-1 and t,
the unit of measurement is actually a price movement. This differs from the normal
situation where a respondent is asked to provide only a price for each sampled service
product for the current period of reference. Therefore, in using this method, the reported
price movements collected each period for the model should be linked together to
measure the evolution of price.
Note finally that a problem with model pricing is that it can be difficult to ensure that
the models employed remain representative. Also, the workload imposed on the
respondent is relatively large even in cases when models are based on recently provided
service products. This implies a risk that the respondent will not commit sufficient effort
to ensuring accurate returns and may instead report model prices that remain unchanged
for several periods. Therefore, it is important to engage with respondents to ensure that
the prices reflect adequately the evolution of the market situation.
The model pricing method is typically employed for the following industries: freight
transport by road, air transport, postal and courier activities, legal activities, accounting,
bookkeeping and auditing activities, tax consultancy, management consultancy activities,
architectural and engineering activities and related technical consultancy (see box 2.9.),
technical testing and analysis, advertising, market research and public opinion polling,
software publishing, insurance activities, health service industries and financial service
activities (combined with percentage fee).
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Box 2.9. Model pricing: Engineering services
Specification of the service: Building related engineering services. Contract identifier:
Project BLS-PPI. Billing invoice number: 123. CLIENT #456. Multi-use building. Non-fixed
(variable-hourly fee). Qualifications based selection. Monthly billing. Review soils @
excavation base; test engineered fill, backfill, observe concrete reinforcement & masonry
construction for compliance; provide proof roll of parking areas; sample & test fresh concrete &
compressive strength; masonry grout & prism testing.
Charge Category Hours Rate Hours × Rate
Compaction testing 1 $40.00 $40.00
Special inspections, concrete 15 $50.00 $750.00
Concrete testing 25 $40.00 $1,000.00
Sample pick-up 6 $40.00 $240.00
Special inspections, masonry 8 $50.00 $400.00
Project mgmt. – Senior project engineer 2 $80.00 $160.00
Total fee $2,590.00
Every survey period the respondent estimates the number of hours and rates for each charge
category required to provide the fixed service described in the specification. The estimated price
is not a price based on working time since the number of hours is not fixed; rather the service
being provided is fixed.
2.2.7. Pricing methods based on working time
General features of pricing methods based on time worked
Pricing based on working time differs from other pricing methods in that the price of
the service finally provided is not identified but that the price of the time spent in the
provision of the service is used instead. Services are assumed to correspond directly or
predominantly to different types of chargeable hours worked for a client. The validity of
the method depends on how realistic this assumption is; that is the extent to which the
quantity and quality of chargeable hours worked remains constant over consecutive
periods.
Measurements of prices based on hourly (or charge out) rates represent pricing
mechanisms rather than the actual prices of real services. The price of a real service is
made up of all payments to the service provider and it is this total price rather than the
hourly rate that should, in ideal circumstances, be observed. The degree of
appropriateness of time based pricing methods for direct use in SPPI compilation depends
largely on the services concerned.
Characteristics of the methods based on prices of working time become apparent
when a time based index is used in the deflation of National Accounts. If a price index is
assumed to equal the development of hourly rates, the measure of volume corresponds to
the time devoted to the service provision (number of worked hours) rather than the
volume of services provided. No change in productivity is reflected in these measures
except those stemming from changes in the staff structure – productivity development is
slightly positive if the share of higher-paid staff goes up and is negative in the reverse
case. Productivity change is not picked up within each staff grade.
The assumption of unchanged productivity in each staff grade is particularly strong in
a situation where the staffing structure is subject to change. Changes in the staffing
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structure often mean that the content (and value) of work changes within grades. For
example, with the help of new technology some tasks previously carried out exclusively
by professionals may now be delivered by support staff. As a result the volume and
quality of the work of support staff and perhaps professional staff change – undermining
the assumptions underlying the method. An adjustment procedure is needed because of a
quality change to the unit priced, the chargeable hour. It depends on each actual situation
and data availability as to how adjustments are made in practice. However, this does not
solve the productivity problem which would require that “real” service output should be
identified.
The acquisition of, or improvements to, office machinery, software and other
equipment are expected to improve real service output and productivity. The time worked
to produce services may shorten and the quality of services might change. Thus, SPPIs
based solely on time worked for clients, tend to be positively biased, particularly in those
service industries greater amounts of equipment are used in production.
Nevertheless, hourly rates represent observable pricing mechanisms and are a natural
starting point for the compilation of certain SPPIs.
13
For some services it may be difficult
to identify more suitable options than hourly rates. In such cases the resulting SPPI may
be accurate in the short term but in the longer term it might be subject to an increasing
risk of bias, depending on the type of service. There are very few market services where
productivity improvements are not expected over the longer term.
The pricing methods based on worked time are in principle straightforward. Several
time based methods can be distinguished and these are briefly discussed in the following
sub-sections. They can be broadly classified into two main categories:
1. Methods where the resulting price is fully based on working time required to
provide a service;
2. Methods that use a significant element of time based measure as part of the
estimation are referred to as predominantly based on prices of working time.
Special attention needs to be paid to the sensitivity of the methods to changes in the
scope of billable working hours.
14
For example, if support staff is ceased to be charged
separately and charge-out rates of professionals increase to account for this, then the
resulting price index would increase and in theory the estimate of volume change for the
industry would decrease after deflation even though the actual service output is
unchanged. Put differently, savings gained by a more efficient use of staff are not
reflected in prices but the index becomes upwards biased. A similar example occurs
where charge-out rates for professionals increase due to the application of new
technology, which allows them to complete tasks quicker thus reducing their billable
hours whilst providing the same service to clients.
Thus, when using time based methods, the compiler should be vigilant to potential
changes in the coverage of billable hours and, provided that the method is considered
applicable in the situation, should adjust for them as appropriate (by excluding changes in
charge-out rates which do not result from pure price change).
Compilers could, for example, inquire if a change in hourly rates between the current
and previous period has been influenced by factors such as changing technology,
administrative reorganisation or changes to billing structures. Resulting adjustments
might eliminate some volatility in the index. However in order to make a comprehensive
adjustment, the relevant service products have to be explicitly or implicitly identified, in
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which case the method would fall into the category of model pricing rather than
belonging to time based pricing.
Where business enterprises increasingly outsource their activities the use of hourly
rates may not be appropriate. The service purchaser may receive the same service as
before but pay a higher hourly rate applied to a reduced number of billable hours. In such
cases a deflator based on hourly rates will result in a reduced estimate of the volume of
services produced. There is no obvious adjustment procedure for this situation.
2.2.7.1. Resulting price fully based on time worked in the provision of service
The target measure is the price of chargeable working time. In this pricing method the
monetary amount charged to a buyer of a service, for a standard amount (e.g. one hour) of
work by an employee of the producer contributing to the provision of that service is
utilised. However, the method has four variants depending on the availability of price
data.
2.2.7.2. Hourly charge-out rate
The hourly charge-out rate method represents the simplest case where transaction
prices are available by labour categories. However, depending on the type or price data in
the survey two variants exist in practice.
First, the resulting price could be estimated as a weighted average of hourly rates. In
this case, respondents provide average hourly rates charged, subdivided by type of labour.
This data could be taken directly from on-going projects or – more subjectively – they
could reflect the respondent’s estimate of the general market situation. The overall price
change is a weighted average of changes of charged hourly rates in different labour
categories:
P
t
=
? ?
t
ì
r
t
ì
ì
? ?
t
ì
ì
; P
t+1
=
? ?
t
ì
r
t+1
ì
ì
? ?
t
ì
ì
Where: P
t
is the price in period t;
r
t
ì
, is average hourly charge-out rates in staff class i in period t;
?
t
ì
, is the number of hours worked in staff category i in period t.
Box 2.10. shows an example of hourly charge-out rate in engineering activities.
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Box 2.10. Pricing based on working time / Hourly charge-out rate: Engineering
activities
Respondents report of the average hourly rates of different types of personnel (total rate /
total hours worked during the reference period).
Service Unit Price Price
change
Weight
t-1 t
Machine and process designing 0.25
Senior Consultant, Person A €/hour 54.5 55.21 1.013
Senior Consultant, Person B €/hour 54.5 53.52 0.982
Consultant, Person A €/hour 45.4 45.24 0.996
Consultant, Person B €/hour 43.2 42.1 0.975
Junior Designer, Person A €/hour 43.8 42.5 0.970
Geometric mean 0.987
Electrical wiring designing 0.75
Designer, Person C €/item 59 59.2 1.003
Junior Designer, Person A 54.2 55.2 1.018
Junior Designer, Person B €/item 53 56 1.057
Geometric mean 1.026
Weighted change from t-1 to t 1.016
The same method is applied for business and management consultancy activities.
Respondents usually report hourly-rates (Rate / hours worked) directly from their accounting
systems.
A second kind of charge-out rate method uses average hourly rates for staff classes
directly in the compilation of an SPPI. The price is derived by dividing revenues for
service by number of hours worked.
P
t
ì
=
R
t
ì
?
t
ì
; P
t+1
ì
=
R
t+1
ì
?
t+1
ì
Where: P
t
ì
, is the price in period t;
R
t
ì
, is the total of revenues in staff category i in period t;
?
t
ì
, is the number of hours worked for clients in staff category i in period t
These kinds of unit rates are called average “realised hourly rates” in the Netherlands
and “fee income per grade of worker” in the U.K. (see box 2.11). Note that as with all
unit value indices, the homogeneity of the classes is an issue.
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Box 2.11. Pricing based on working time / realised hourly rates: Engineering
activities
The income in € and the number of hours worked are provided in each period via the survey.
From these, the realised hourly rate is calculated as their ratio (for instance, in the top line 147,
991 / 2, 980 = 49.6 € per hour).
After calculating these realised hourly rates for both the base period and the comparison
period, an item index is calculated for each item. In the example below, the hourly rate of the
experienced drawer in the two periods are €49.6 and €55.4 per hour respectively. The item index
for experienced drawer is 55.4 / 49.6 = 1.10
Based period Comparison period
Index
Base
period =
100
Income (€)
(a)
Hours
worked
(b)
Realized
hourly rate
(income/hours
worked) (a) /
(b)
Income (€)
(a)
Hours
worked
(b)
Realized
hourly rate
(income/hours
worked) (a) /
(b)
Experienced
drawer
147,991 2,980 49.6 100,200 1,809 55.4 111.7
Consultant-
engineer
18,000 226 79.6 22,456 313 71.7 90.1
Designer 163,090 1,624 100.4 120,668 1,050 114.9 114.4
Senior project
manager
47,010 471 99.8 50,505 533 94.8 95
2.2.7.2.1. Hourly list rates
When transaction prices of working hours are not available, list prices (also known as
standard hourly rates) could be used to derive the price of a service. Business enterprises
often compile a list of external commercial hourly rates for different staff grades. These
rates can be used in the compilation of an index. The classification of labour might vary
between enterprises. On the other hand, some enterprises, particularly small ones, may
have individual rates per person that are typically drawn up once per year. Note however
that the rates might often serve as a reference rather than as the charging rates actually
transacted. If so, adjustments based on the difference between realised and implied
revenues are of particular importance.
Prices could be derived as follows when using hourly list rates. Note that as in the
case of hourly charge-out rates, the method can also be applied separately for individual
staff category (unit rates).
P
t
=
R
t
R
t
?
×
R
t
?
? ?
t
ì
ì
; P
t+1
=
R
t+1
R
t+1
?
×
? ?
t
ì
r
t
ì
?
ì
? ?
t
ì
ì
With:
R
t
= ? h
t
I
I
i
t
I
, the total of realised revenues in period t
R
t
?
= ? h
t
I
I
i
t
I
?
, the estimated total revenues in period t
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Where:
P
t
is the price in period t;
h
t
I
, is the number of hours worked in staff category i in period t;
i
t+1
I
?
, is the average hourly list rate in staff category i in period t+1.
It is of particular importance that the total of realised revenues (R
t
) used in the
adjustment is consistent with estimated total revenues (R
t
*
). This means that data on
realised revenues are accrual based rather than cash based.
Meting this requirement is often not possible and consequently the ratio of realised
and implied revenues might have to be independently evaluated. In such cases the
adjustment ratio to be used is an estimate of the average discount rate. As in the case of
normal discounts, there is no need for adjustment if the same discounts are applied in
consecutive periods.
Indices compiled, using this method, are closely comparable with those of the hourly
rate method. In order for them to agree exactly, the adjustment for discounts should be
made and the relative difference between real and list prices should be the same in all
categories of labour.
2.2.7.2.2. Wages rates
If charge-out rates are not directly available then data on hourly wage rates might be
used. Respondents are asked to provide data on wages for, and hours worked for clients
by, a number of staff categories. Wage rates must be adjusted to correspond to revenues.
This means that wages have to be multiplied by an estimate of the ratio of revenues to
wages.
15
P
t
= _
R
w
]
t
×
? ?
t
ì
w
t
ì
ì
? ?
t
ì
ì
; P
t
= _
R
w
]
t+1
×
? ?
t
ì
w
t+1
ì
ì
? ?
t
ì
ì
Where:
P
t
, is the price in period t;
[
R
w
¸
t
, is the revenue/wage ratio in period t;
w
t
I
, is the average hourly wage in staff category i in period t;
h
t
I
, is the number of hours worked in staff category i in period t;
R
t
, is the total of revenues in period t;
The wage rate method is very sensitive to the estimation of the revenue/wage ratio
and therefore a strict correspondence between revenues and wages is essential. Revenues
should be accrual based to provide comparable prices for consecutive periods. With a
high quality ratio, results generated by the wage rate method are closely comparable with
results obtained when using the previously described time based methods. The relative
accuracy of the methods depends on whether wage- or charge-out rates better reflect the
differences in the performance of staff in various categories of labour.
As in the case of hourly charge-out rates and hourly list rates, the method can also be
applied separately for individual staff categories (unit rates).
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Box 2.12. shows an example of the use of wages rates.
Box 2.12. Pricing based on working time: Wage rates
The wage and the revenue/wage ratio are provided in each period via the survey. If the
wages change only twice a year, bi-annual surveying suffices. The revenue/wage ratio (R/W) on
the other hand changes faster.
The price is the average wage multiplied by the R/W ratio (third line).
Quarter 1 (base) 2 3 4 5
Wage 40 € 40 € 41 € 41 € 45 €
Revenue/wage ratio
(R/W)
2.00 1.90 1.85 1.95 1.90
Price (wage × R/W) 80.0 € 76.0 € 75.9 € 80.0 € 85.5 €
Price index (quarter
1 = 100)
100.0 95.0 94.8 99.9 106.9
2.2.7.2.3. Working days
Occasionally data on working time are not available on an hourly basis but perhaps in
terms of working days. In these cases the compilation procedures are in principle the
same as for hourly rates. However, the unit used in the estimation is less precise and this
may influence the accuracy of results.
2.2.7.3. Resulting price predominantly based on working time spent in the provision of
service
The category of “methods predominantly based on prices of working time spent in the
provision of service” describes practices where a price is not directly time based but
instead time based measures are used as building blocks in the estimation of price. In
other words, the resulting price is not fully measured in terms of a clearly specified
service.
Different situations may arise where pricing methods fall into the category of “time
based methods” although price evolution of identical and clearly specified service output
was initially the target measure:
• Prices are made-up of several sub-components – as defined under the component
pricing method (section 2.2.5.) – including compensation for a fixed number of
hours of work to produce a given service. The use of time based prices for sub-
components that are subject to significant technological development, particularly
when their weight in the calculation of the price is high, imply a high risk of bias;
• Price are virtual and thus resemble model pricing (section 2.2.6.) but the working
hours underlying the price are always assumed to be the same as in the previous
period rather than based on genuine evaluation;
• Prices are estimated using fees that are associated with service projects or
contracts (like in percentage fee method, section 2.2.4.) for which price
development is measured using a time based-method.
As previously noted, an important aim of the classification of pricing methods is to
monitor the characteristics of resulting price indices. Therefore, it is essential to separate
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time based methods from those methods under which the price development of identical
service transactions is targeted.
2.2.8. Margin pricing method
The margin pricing method is used to measure price development in services that are
not separately invoiced and where the service is related to the transformation in space or
time of an item. The item may be a product, such as a good purchased and sold by a
retailer or a loan provided by a financial intermediary. The price of the service can be
estimated as the difference between the price paid by the service provider for the good or
service they transformed and the price paid by the final consumer (at the same point in
time).
16
Data type in the survey
There are two distinct types of margin prices: those charged by retailers and
wholesalers, in relation to the goods and services they sell, and those charged by financial
intermediaries, in relation to the loans and deposits they provide.
In the case of wholesalers and retailers the data sources are acquisition and selling
prices for selected items/products or services purchased for resale. The difference
between selling and acquisition prices – both real transaction prices – results in a margin
price that reflects the actual transaction price of services provided by wholesalers and
retailers.
In practice the information will cover a heterogeneous mix of products. Ideally the
calculation of margin prices should be based on a product list that is as detailed as
possible. Separate price indices should be compiled for individual products and these
should be combined by weighting in accordance with the value of sales of the individual
products. In this approach, the margin price method splits the price change into two parts,
a change in the margin rate (similar to a percentage fee, see section 2.2.4.) and a change
in the price of the product sold. Thus, the price of the margin service for a given product
can be estimated by updating the price in the previous period via the following formula:
P
s
t,ì
= P
s
t-1,I
×
1 +m
t,ì
1 +m
t-1,I
×
P
t,ì
P
t-1,I
Where: P
s
t,ì
, is the price of the final service output in period t related to the
transformation of product i;
P
t,ì
, is the value of a homogeneous product (i) sold in period t;
m
t,ì
is the margin rate (the difference between the total value of homogeneous
products (i) sold by the retailer/wholesaler and the value it would have to pay at time t
as a ratio of the latter).
And so the price index for a group of products sold can be calculated as follows:
=
I
p
s
t,I
p
s
t-1,ì
×
P
t,ì
? P
]
t-1,j
FISIM
A special case of implicitly priced margin services relates to the measurement of
financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM). In layman's terms FISIM
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in the 2008 SNA can be described as the implicit prices charged by a financial
intermediary (typically a bank), which take the form of interest rate margins incorporated
in the rates charged for loans or paid on deposits. In exchange for paying a higher rate of
interest on loans or accepting a lower rate of interest on deposits, customers receive the
following types of services: record keeping, safekeeping, payment processing,
intermediation between savers and borrowers, risk management and advice, and liquidity
provision.
The 2008 SNA describes FISIM as the following (par. 6.163):
One traditional way in which financial services are provided is by means of financial
intermediation. This is understood to refer to the process whereby a financial institution
such as a bank accepts deposits from units wishing to receive interest on funds for
which the unit has no immediate use and lends them to other units whose funds are
insufficient to meet their needs. The bank thus provides a mechanism to allow the first
unit to lend to the second. Each of the two parties pays a fee to the bank for the service
provided, the unit lending funds by accepting a rate of interest lower than that paid by
the borrower, the difference being the combined fees implicitly charged by the bank to
the depositor and to the borrower. From this basic idea the concept emerges of a
“reference” rate of interest. The difference between the rate paid to banks by borrowers
and the reference rate plus the difference between the reference rate and the rate
actually paid to depositors represent charges for financial intermediation services
indirectly measured (FISIM).
At the time of writing the Intersecretariat Working Group on National Accounts
(ISWGNA) Task Force on FISIM was investigating the definition of FISIM in the SNA.
However, this investigation is not expected to have implications for the treatment of
FISIM in the context of SPPI compilation, as the research conducted by the Task Force
chiefly relates to the definition of the reference rate used in the SNA and the scope and
coverage of instruments to which FISIM should be applied. Irrespective of how these
issues are resolved, the recommendation on the appropriate price index (as defined
below) is unaffected. The Task Force has considered whether quantity approaches to
FISIM volume measurement (and so implied deflators for price measurement were
possible) but these have been largely ruled out on practical grounds.
The underlying assumption behind FISIM is that there is a specific service provided
to borrowers and lenders for which a price can be calculated, based on the interest paid or
received on loans or deposits and an underlying reference rate. Currently SNA prescribes
the use of a single reference rate for all loans and deposits irrespective of the maturity
structure of the loans and deposits. The Task Force on FISIM is investigating what the
most appropriate single reference rate should be and also whether specific reference rates
are applicable for loans and deposits with different maturities. One other consideration of
the Task Force relates to credit default risk and whether this should be removed from the
calculation of FISIM (by excluding a component from the interest actually paid by
borrowers). What follows therefore is a generic description of FISIM price measurement
that assumes credit default risk is already removed from the interest flows. If the Task
Force chooses not to remove credit default risk from the value of FISIM, it should be
assumed that the interest flows correspondingly include these payments.
At time t, the balance sheets of financial intermediaries show assets of ?I
m
, where
I
m
reflects the value of loans made by the bank with maturity m, with interest of I
I,m
reflecting the interest received on those loans. The bank also has liabilities of ?Ð
m
to
depositors and pays I
d,m
to depositors.
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Total FISIM in current prices
= (I
I,m
?I
m
× r
m
) +(I
d,m
?Ð
m
× r
m
)
Total FISIM in prices of the previous year
= (I
I,m
?I
m
× r
m
t-1
) +(I
d,m
?Ð
m
× r
m
t-1
)¡P
t
Where:
r
m
t-1
, is the reference rate in the previous year;
P
t
is a general price index (for example the CPI) for year t in relation to year t-1.
The FISIM price index is therefore derived as the quotient of FISIM in current prices
and FISIM in constant prices. It is important to note in the above, that even if only one
reference rate is used such that r
m
is set as r for all m, a breakdown into maturity
structures will still be necessary for the calculation of constant price FISIM.
Bibliography
Buisson B., Kenessey A. & McKenzie R. (2005), Pricing methods, 20
th
Voorburg Group
meeting, Helsinki, Finland available at:
http://www.voorburggroup.org/Documents/2005%20helsinki/papers/2005-32.pdf
European Commission, IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank (eds.) (2009), System of
National Accounts 2008, United Nations, New York.
ILO, IMF, OECD, UNECE, Eurostat, World Bank (eds.) (2004 b), Producer Price Index
Manual, Theory and practice, International Monetary Funds, Washington, DC.
Langer T. & Murphy J. (2009), Glossary of Voorburg Group Terminology for Mini-
Presentations, Sector Papers, and Revisited Sector Papers, Voorburg Group available
at:
http://www.voorburggroup.org/Documents/2009%20Oslo/Papers/2009%20-
%2004.pdf
Murphy B. & Swick R. (2006), Comments on the SPPI definition of pricing methods,
BLS, 21
st
Voorburg Group meeting, Wiesbaden, Germany available at:
http://www.voorburggroup.org/Documents/2006%20wiesbaden/papers/06.pdf
Voorburg Group (2007), Thesaurus of Producer Price Indices for Services (SPPIs),
available at:
http://www.voorburggroup.org/Documents/2007%20Seoul/papers/03.pdf
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Notes
1. Pricing methods are here understood as procedures applied in a “normal” situation or
routine collection, not in a situation where old services are replaced by new ones and
direct adjustments are used to make the service comparable. By convention, even
systematically applied, adjustments are out of scope. They do not refer either to initial
collection procedures.
2. The index formulae and aggregation methods needed to bring together these basic
elements are not discussed in this chapter and reference is made to chapter 3 and the
PPI Manual.
3. The term is often used interchangeably with “sales” and “turnover”. It corresponds to
the value of output sold or the value of invoiced sales of goods or services supplied to
third parties during the reference period.
4. As mentioned in chapter 1, SPPIs should measure actual transaction prices reflecting
revenue received by the producer for services sold to customers. Care must be taken
to ensure that the prices reflect those at the time the transaction occurs, and that “ […]
they must reflect the net prices inclusive of all discounts applied to the transactions
whether they be volume discounts, settlement discounts, or competitive price-cutting
discounts, which are likely to fluctuate with market conditions. Any rebates also need
to be considered. The collection of nominal list prices, or book prices, is not reflective
of actual transactions, is unlikely to yield reliable price indices, and may result in
quite misleading results because fluctuation in market prices are not captured“, PPI
Manual, par. 1.328.
5. See chapter 1: section 1.1.3. and footnote n°8.
6. “The basic price is the amount receivable by the producer from the purchaser for a
unit of a good or service produced as output minus any tax payable, and plus any
subsidy receivable, by the producer as a consequence of its production or sale. It
excludes any transport charges invoiced separately by the producer”, 2008 SNA, par.
6.51.a.
7. It does not matter what the unit of ‘a service’ is; either ‘all cleaning under one
contract’ can be regarded as one service, or a unit of service delivery can be chosen as
e.g. one trip, one days’ cleaning or a week of guarding. Another option, and easiest
for practical purposes, is to adhere to what the surveyed price reflects: a price per trip,
or per day, or the total price of the monthly or quarterly payment. In the last case, the
unit of service can be ‘quarterly charge for twice-a-week road transport’.
8. National accountants often directly use quantity indicators, where volume of output is
a weighted average of quantity indices based on base year weights. The
corresponding price index is the change of output divided by the resulting volume
index. The method is used because detailed turnover data might not be currently
available to estimate unit value prices. To give satisfactory results, a basic
requirement in the method is that quantity indicators cover all output exhaustively.
9. It might also be appropriate to use the Fisher formula in the estimation of price
indices for industries undergoing rapid technological changes. This would require that
quantity and turnover data are collected continuously to update weights for each
period. Weights of firms in the sample become quickly outdated when prices change
significantly like in mobile phone and internet services.
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10. An example of this is ad valorem pricing which is often used in legal services. In this
pricing mechanism fees are either based on a proportion of the value of the claim or
they relate to price classes which represent the various values of claims. The fee
might also change progressively. See section on legal activities.
11. It is recommended to use model pricing in this kind of situation.
12. See also PPI Manual par. 6.83.
13. Note that methods based on working time are sometimes also used when the pricing
mechanism is not time based for example in the case of ad valorem pricing. See
section on legal activities.
14. Defined as the numbers of hours used to produce a good or a service billed to the
client.
15. This method is sometimes referred to as wages with mark-up or input with mark-up as
the mark-up includes administrative and other costs. The term mark-up is not used
here to stress that it covers conceptually revenues minus wages. Thus it includes all
costs (other than wages) and net operating surplus.
16. See 2008 SNA, par. 6.146.
From:
Eurostat-OECD Methodological Guide for
Developing Producer Price Indices for Services
Second Edition
Access the complete publication at:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264220676-en
Please cite this chapter as:
OECD/Eurostat (2014), “Main pricing methods for Service Producer Price Indices”, in Eurostat-OECD
Methodological Guide for Developing Producer Price Indices for Services: Second Edition, OECD
Publishing, Paris.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264220676-5-en
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The compilation of price indices should be based on clearly specified, representative products for which prices are tracked over time with due attention to quality change. Pricing (or charging) arrangements or mechanisms for the sale of services are often such that it is difficult for the compiler to observe prices for a repeated service transaction.
2. MAIN PRICING METHODS FOR SERVICE PRODUCER PRICE INDICES - 37
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Chapter 2. Main pricing methods for Service Producer Price Indices
The primary motivation of this chapter is to help to develop a better understanding of the
variety of pricing methods used. It characterises the various approaches within a broad
conceptual framework that facilitates understanding and international comparability by
providing links between the various pricing mechanisms used by service providers and
the methods used by index compilers to measure price change.
1
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The compilation of price indices should be based on clearly specified, representative
products for which prices are tracked over time with due attention to quality change. For
services, this principle is often difficult to follow:
1. Pricing (or charging) arrangements or mechanisms for the sale of services are
often such that it is difficult for the compiler to observe prices for a repeated
service transaction;
2. Identifying quality change can be a significant task, particularly in the context of
services, where the very notion of quality is often problematic. Is a haircut
delivered in one hour better or worse than a haircut that takes two hours for
example?
3. Many service products are unique. In these cases, prices cannot be observed over
multiple periods and so assumptions on quality changes have to be made
(typically, constant quality is assumed) that are mostly based on convention rather
than reflecting “reality”.
In practice therefore, SPPI compilers may have to use a number of pricing methods to
track price changes in service products, with the methods typically depending on the
producing industry or product and on the pricing mechanisms used.
2.1. Pricing mechanisms and methods
Pricing methods refer to the procedures put in place by index compilers to make price
data suitable for use in index compilation. These procedures are carried out prior to
elementary index compilation and are solely concerned with data relating to prices.
2
The
selection of the appropriate pricing method for a service product or industry is largely
determined by the pricing mechanism employed for that product or industry.
2.1.1. Pricing mechanisms
Pricing mechanisms refer to charging arrangements put in place by economic
operators. In practice service providers use a variety of mechanisms to price their output
but these can be characterised under three broad groups defined as follows:
• An explicit fee/price for the service is charged and payable (excluding those
services charged as a function of time-spent), and referred to, for convenience, as
explicit output charged mechanisms;
• An explicit fee/price for the service is charged and payable as a function of time-
spent, referred to as time-spent mechanisms;
• No explicit fee/price is charged and the payment for the service is not explicitly
identifiable but is instead bundled within the price of another good or service.
Two types of services are typically priced in this way. The first reflects the output
of the retail/wholesale/distribution activities and the second reflects financial
intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM). This mechanism is for
convenience referred to as margin-pricing.
Price information is available for the majority of services products. However, this
price information may not necessarily meet the fundamental principle underlying price
indices, which is to follow prices of products with comparable quality in consecutive
periods. In other words the fact that price information is observable does not,
unfortunately, mean that measuring price change is a trivial task. Therefore the compiler
2. MAIN PRICING METHODS FOR SERVICE PRODUCER PRICE INDICES - 39
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must examine the available price information and determine how it can be used in index
compilation.
2.1.2. Data type in surveys
A key factor in determining the range of appropriate pricing methods is the data
available to the compiler. Therefore before giving an overview of the various pricing
methods widely used in practice by countries, it is instructive to consider the typical price
data available:
1. Real transaction price: the price of a service actually paid in the market, taking
the form of a receipt, bank statement or electronic database. It represents the
actual price paid (inclusive of any discounts, surcharges or rebates) for an
individual transaction that can be observed repeatedly;
2. List price: a price quoted from the producer’s price list, catalogue, Internet site,
etc. It is generally the gross price exclusive of all discounts, surcharges or rebates
that may apply to an actual transaction. A list price is therefore less suitable than
a real transaction price for SPPI compilation. Note that list prices for fixed
amounts of working time are known as standard hourly rates;
3. Revenue
3
and amount sold: data on both revenue and amount sold which allows
for calculation of an average price for a large number of transactions. These data
may be used in several pricing methods (unit value, component pricing, model
pricing, and hourly charge-out rates). The revenue corresponds to the value of
output sold or the value of invoiced sales of goods or services supplied to third
parties during the reference period. The amount sold is a measure of the quantity
of homogeneous services;
4. Acquisition and selling prices: data on both acquisition and selling prices where
the difference between the two allows for calculation of a margin price. The
acquisition price is the cost to the seller of purchasing a product or a service from
a supplier excluding any taxes and rebates. The selling price is the cost to the
purchaser excluding any taxes and transport charges;
5. Percentage fees and related value: data on both the value of a good or service,
and a percentage fee from which an actual fee (price) can be calculated. The
percentage fee could in practice be taken from a list, estimated by an expert or
calculated as an average from real transactions. The related value refers to that of
the underlying good (or other product) to which the service relates;
6. Expert estimate: price based on the potentially subjective judgment of the expert
in the responding unit who completes the survey. The estimate can reflect
different types of units, for instance only components of an entire service, or
prices per working time and per product;
7. Input data: Price data for all (or a number of) input components needed to
produce a set amount of service output. The profit margin is always to be
included as an important input component. Input data can be taken from business
enterprise records based on real transactions or be estimated by an expert. Strictly
speaking, the input prices can be taken from a list, estimated by an expert, or
calculated as an average from real transactions. However, an input price is set
apart as it is not an output price.
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2.1.3. Introduction to pricing methods
The following section summarises the main pricing methods used to compile SPPIs
from the different types of price data. The list does not claim to be exhaustive but it does
reflect an exhaustive assessment of commonly used methods:
• Direct use of prices of repeated services represents the ideal of using real
transaction prices or, less preferably, list prices, of the same service product in
successive survey periods. Adjustments will be needed to account for any
changes that occur when the observed product is replaced or if its quality
changes. The method is discussed in section 2.2.1;
• Contract pricing refers to the use of prices in long term contracts for the
repeated delivery of the same (or a very similar) service. This is a special case of
using real transaction prices. The contract pricing method is discussed in section
2.2.2;
• The unit value method constructs a price index based on observed revenue and
quantity data. Note that the unit value method as defined here is limited to cases
where price observations refer directly to service output. The method is discussed
in section 2.2.3;
• The percentage fee method calculates the value of the service as the product of
the percentage fee and value of the product to which the fee relates. The method
is discussed in section 2.2.4;
• The component pricing method is particularly relevant when only information
on total revenues and number of sales are typically available, but where the
products sold are relatively heterogeneous – invalidating the unit value approach.
The approach specifies a representative product and estimates its price on the
basis of the prices of identifiable components that determine the overall price.
The method is discussed in section 2.2.5;
• The model pricing method is typically applied in cases where the service
provided is unique. The approach specifies a standardised product, that is
sufficiently representative of the type of service provided, and respondents are
asked to provide a price quote for this standardised product. The method is
discussed in section 2.2.6;
• Time based methods reflect cases where a service is specified in terms of the
time spent providing a particular service and not necessarily in terms of the actual
service provided. See section 2.2.7;
• Margin pricing method: Margin prices are defined here as those prices that are
not directly observable but where the value of the service can be measured as the
difference between the observed acquisition and selling prices of a given product.
The method is discussed in section 2.2.8. It is important to differentiate this
method from pricing mechanisms that may be used by typical margin charging
industries. In some cases these industries will specify the price of a service for a
given delivery/provision of a product, which may also be invoiced as a
percentage of the value of the underlying product. In these cases the appropriate
methods are those that relate real transaction prices or percentage fees. There are
however similarities in practice between the percentage fee and margin pricing
methods.
2. MAIN PRICING METHODS FOR SERVICE PRODUCER PRICE INDICES - 41
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Box 2.1. shows the pricing methods as defined in this Guide. They are presented
linked to pricing mechanisms and results of pricing methods (namely the price that enters
into index compilation). Therefore three main classes of pricing methods are
distinguished and defined as such:
• Pricing methods which result in a price of final service outputs (left-hand side of
box 2.1.): price-determining factors of services are well-specified; they are fully
defined in terms of all the characteristics that influence their transaction prices.
Price observations refer directly to specified service outputs and result in prices of
final services output;
• Pricing methods which result in time based prices: (central part of box 2.1.): price
observations refer to the time used in the provision of the service rather than on
the service itself. Adjustments to reflect productivity changes may be necessary;
• Pricing methods which result in margin prices (right-hand side of box 2.1.): price
observations that are used in this method refer to the difference in the price that
paid by the service provider for the good or service they transformed and the
price paid by the final consumer.
The resulting prices derived from using each of the methods applied are emphasised
as they are important in monitoring practices and in analysing price and volume
developments across different countries. In particular, price indices based on final service
outputs may need to be interpreted differently from time based price indices. In the first
case, the volume of output is, in principle, correctly measured (albeit depending on how
well price-determining factors are specified) but this is not necessarily the case for time
based methods, particularly where quality changes have occurred in the output, or
productivity changes impact on the input (hours spent). This issue is further discussed in
section 2.2.7.
42 - 2. MAIN PRICING METHODS FOR SERVICE PRODUCER PRICE INDICES
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Box 2.1. Classification of main pricing methods for SPPI
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2. MAIN PRICING METHODS FOR SERVICE PRODUCER PRICE INDICES - 43
EUROSTAT-OECD METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE FOR DEVELOPING PRODUCER PRICE INDICES FOR SERVICES © OECD/European Union, (2014)
2.2. Main pricing methods for SPPI
2.2.1. Direct use of prices of repeated services
The direct use of prices of repeated services represents the ideal and refers to
transaction prices for well-specified, repeated services which can be either simple
services or packages of services. It corresponds to the transaction pricing typically
observed in CPI and PPI compilation. This method captures price movements of real
transactions of the same service products in successive survey periods.
Data type in the survey
The price data used are ideally real transaction prices (inclusive of any discounts,
surcharges or rebates
4
) extracted from enterprise records or accounts in each survey
period. If real transaction prices are not directly available they can be estimated by the
respondent.
List prices can occasionally be used as proxies for real transaction prices. List prices
are collected from standard price lists established by a business enterprise for the service
products it sells. These prices may either directly match the required service specification
or be as close to it as possible if prices for the exact specification are not available. List
prices should only be used in an SPPI if there are good reasons to believe that they
accurately reflect the evolution of actual transaction prices. This is not the case when
discounts, surcharges or rebates vary over time in response to changing market
conditions.
Use of the direct use of prices of repeated services method
Direct use of prices of repeated services is the preferred and easiest pricing method
because indices can be directly compiled using standard PPI compilation procedures.
Respondents are asked to select a number of service products that are representative of
their total output. The prices of these services are observed over time, as are their
characteristics in order to control for quality changes.
While the pricing of simple services is often straightforward, pricing of service
packages is more difficult when their structure changes or when customers switch their
purchases towards more favourable packages. For example, in the telecommunication
sector a package might consist of fixed amount of phone call minutes (perhaps further
split across network providers), SMS (short message service) messages and data as well
as a fixed fee. New packages which provide differing amounts of phone call minutes,
SMS messages and data are regularly introduced. Older packages may become less
representative over time as customers switch to new ones, thereby leading to survey bias.
However, replacing less representative service packages in an index with more
representative ones may lead the statistician away from the pricing of repeated services to
alternative methods to ensure service products remain representative while pricing is to
constant quality.
The direct use of prices of repeated services is typically used for pricing the following
industries: air transport, warehousing and storage, cargo handling, postal and courier
activities, telecommunication, technical testing and analysis, employment activities, food
& accommodation, other monetary intermediation, security and commodity contracts
brokerage, insurance activities and rental and leasing activities.
As shown in box 2.2., one of the main issues when using direct use of prices of
repeated services is to define and standardise the specification of the service to ensure
44 - 2. MAIN PRICING METHODS FOR SERVICE PRODUCER PRICE INDICES
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that the specification continues over time. An overly tight specification entails the risk
that the service may not be transacted again.
Box 2.2. Direct use of prices of repeated services: passenger car rental industry
Type of service: passenger car rental for leisure travel
Location n°: 6437500
Establishment number and street: 64375 BLS parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45260. Corporate-
owned establishment. Airport site. Standard rate plan.
Duration of car rental period: one day
Class : standard
Age of rental vehicle: 12-24 months
Model/name of rental vehicle: Pontiac grand am
Passenger count of rental vehicle: five passengers
Daily rate
One-way rental (pick-up and drop-off points are at different locations), pick-up point: 64375
BLS parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45260. Drop-off point: 80631 Dol place, Cincinnati, Ohio
45309.
Unlimited mileage (no extra charge)
No fuel charge (for rental car with full tank of gas; returned with full tank).
Advance reservation.
The service is transacted every survey period. The price is the total daily rental.
Special case: the use of data collected for the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
The use of price data collected for the CPI can be considered as a special case of
direct use of prices of repeated services. This situation arises particularly for service
industries where the vast share of output from the sector goes to final demand. In other
words, when services that are predominantly but not exclusively destined for household
consumption such as passenger transportation, food & accommodation or finance &
insurance, the use of CPI data may prove to be an attractive option. The use of CPI data
can, in particular, help to remove or minimise the requirement for data collection.
CPI data can be used either exclusively (only CPI data are used as proxies for the
SPPI) or in tandem with other producer price data not covered by the CPI, especially
those relating to business users (collected by a dedicated SPPI survey). However, when
using CPI data due attention should be paid to the two following issues:
1. CPI data that is used in the compilation of SPPIs must be adjusted such from
valuation at purchasers’ prices to basic prices by deducting any taxes including
VAT and trade margins.
5
Basic prices are better aligned to the remuneration that
producers actually receive to compensate them for expenditures on goods and
services used as intermediate inputs, for labour costs and as a return to capital;
6
2. When CPI data are used as a full proxy for the SPPI, special attention needs to be
given to the potential for prices charged to businesses to display different trends
to those charged to household consumers. The assumption that prices for business
2. MAIN PRICING METHODS FOR SERVICE PRODUCER PRICE INDICES - 45
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users and households move in a similar trend, with a similar composition of
consumption, should be tested.
3. CPIs are typically used as proxies in the compilation of BtoAll indices, such as
postal and couriers activities, telecommunication, technical testing and analysis
(of passenger vehicles) and food and accommodation services.
2.2.2. Contract pricing method
In the contract pricing method, the object of measurement is a single real transaction
of service based on a contract for which prices are agreed for more than one period when
the contract is signed or renewed.
Data type in the survey
Prices for the repeated delivery of the same or a very similar service in many survey
periods, set out in long-term contracts are used in the contract pricing method. The
method uses real transaction prices of a special kind in so far as:
• Prices in a contract are agreed for more than one period when the contract is
signed or renewed;
• Prices may be the same for that period or change according to an agreed pattern.
While surveyed price data are commonly based on a “contract”, this does not
necessarily result in the use of the contract pricing method. In order for contract pricing to
be employed the contract must cover more than one survey period, services provided in
each period must be the same and prices must be agreed at the same time for more than
one period.
Use of the contract pricing method
The contract pricing method works as follows:
• Specific contracts are selected during the respondent initialisation phase (see
chapter 3, section 3.4.). The product description identifies the client explicitly.
The nature and quantity of the service to which the price refers is also stated
clearly, e.g. the total weekly or monthly service (coinciding with payment), or the
price per unit of service delivery, for example one transportation trip, one days’
cleaning or an hour of security provided;
• The price of this product is included in every compilation period although
respondents in some industries have stated that prices change so rarely that the
survey frequency should be lower than the periodicity of SPPI calculation. Where
a contract fixes the period for which a constant quality service is provided for a
specified price, this price can be used in index compilation for the duration of the
contract;
• If there is any change in the actual service, a quality correction has to be made for
which standard methods can be applied. For example, an office cleaning contract
changes from 5 to 3 cleanings per week or the weight of the load of a road
haulage trip increases from 10 to 14 tonnes.
Box 2.3. shows an example of contract pricing methods for freight transport by road.
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Box 2.3. Contract pricing: Freight transport by road
Respondents provide price information on relevant routes and freight types (by customer)
that they have selected themselves. Prices reported by the respondent are real transaction prices.
Prices are set in advance for several survey periods. They are updated about once a year.
Fuel surcharges can be added within the contract period if agreed in the contract.
Weights are not available for each service transaction but at the level of type of service
activity – consequently an un-weighted geometric mean formulation is used to calculate
elementary price indices.
Service Unit Price Price change Weight
t-1 t
Temperature controlled transports 0.25
Customer A: Transport of meat, from A to B €/10
boxes
25 26 1.040
Customer B: Transport of fish, from C to D €/10
boxes
25 27 1.080
Geometric mean 1.060
Tank transports (fertilizers, gas etc.) 0.25
Customer A: Sludge, from A to B, €/ton €/ ton 18.25 18.15 0.995
Customer B: Acid, from C to D, €/ton €/ ton 14.15 14.62 1.033
Geometric mean 1.014
Paper and wood industry transports (paper, cartons, pulp etc.) 0.5
Customer C: Pulp, from A to B €/ ton 6.70 6.9 1.030
Customer D: Timber, from C to D €/ ton 8.72 8.94 1.025
Geometric mean 1.028
Weighted price change from t-1 to t 1.0325
Contract pricing is usually relatively easy to apply where payments are made on an
accrual basis - that for each individual contract the prices are fully in line with
corresponding service output.
However, it is important to note that the contract pricing method can be employed
only under certain conditions. Firstly, if contract pricing is based on a real transaction as
in the case of direct use of prices of repeated services, there is a fundamental difference
between these two methods. Contract pricing is based on a single transaction, whereas the
direct use of prices of repeated services is based on multiple transactions, possibly for
different clients. A contract and its price are thus usually unique for a particular client.
However, as they are repeated over many survey periods the “unique product problem”
does not apply here.
Secondly, the producer-client contract must cover the repeated delivery of a service
over a period of time, whether predefined (for example one year) or open ended. This
pricing method requires therefore that the contract lasts over a sufficiently long period (at
least a number of survey periods), and that service delivery is repeated at least once in
each survey period (remembering that survey periodicity and compilation periodicity do
not need to be the same). However, the price specified in the contract need not be
constant but may change without an accompanying change to the output specified in the
contract. Prices can change via different mechanisms, for instance by yearly
renegotiation, by escalation with another index such as the CPI, or by a clause that states
that the producer is allowed to pass on certain cost changes (for example a fuel
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surcharge). Payments are typically periodic, e.g. every week or month the same amount is
paid.
The method should be used with caution because individual contract prices agreed in
a previous period for future periods may not be representative of current price
development in the industry. Therefore, a crucial concern when applying the contract
pricing method is how well the resulting price index reflects price development in the
industry concerned. In those service industries where contract pricing is the prevailing
pricing mechanism, two issues should be considered to ensure representativeness:
1. Contracts included in the sample should preferably reflect different volumes of
service deliveries because price developments may vary with the size of the
customer;
2. A relatively large sample is required. Otherwise the resulting index may become
too sensitive to the spread of contract periods in the sample. In other words, due
attention should be paid to the temporal representativeness of the sample to
capture the evolution of the market situation. It is possible that the spread of
contract periods is highly seasonal, e.g. contracts are usually signed at the
beginning of the year.
If there is no significant seasonal pattern in the spread of contract periods over the
year and services provided by the industry are relatively homogeneous, the contract
pricing method and a representative sample of contracts might result in an index that is
broadly representative of the whole industry. On the other hand, if there is a strong
seasonal pattern, it may be necessary to also collect prices that are based on alternative
pricing mechanisms. The more prevalent other pricing mechanisms are in an industry the
more important it is to enlarge the sample. This would naturally imply the use of multiple
pricing methods across different respondents for the industry concerned.
Note finally, that “new sales biases” may occur when contract pricing is used. This
problem arises where a new contract is won at a significantly discounted price. Once
custom is secured, prices revert to regular market levels. The resulting SPPI may show an
excessive price increase as the status of a customer moves from “new” to “regular”. A
practical solution to this problem is to avoid the inclusion of prices that are clearly
discounted to win new business.
In summary, the contract pricing can only be applied if: i) the chosen unit of service
7
is repeatedly provided under a single contract over many survey periods and at least once
per survey period and, ii) the surveyed prices reflect the same service each survey period.
If these conditions are not met, the contract pricing method cannot be used:
• Long lasting contracts for unique services, like a three year engineering project,
cannot be surveyed using the contract pricing method, because different services
(or phases of a large service agreement) are produced in each survey period. For
such services, model pricing or a time based method are the main options.
Similarly, framework agreements under which different amounts of service or
different services are delivered in each period are not suitable for contract pricing;
• Contract pricing is not recommended in cases where the same services are
delivered in each period but payments are made less frequently (for example a
large up-front payment). There is no way, other than by estimation, to allocate
these payments over the contract period to determine prices for each sub-period
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and to apply the accrual principle. It is recommended to apply other pricing
methods, such as model pricing, in these cases.
The contract pricing method is typically used for pricing the following industries:
freight transport by road, postal and courier activities, technical testing and analysis,
cleaning activities, waste management and software publishing.
2.2.3. Unit value method
The unit value method is based on repeated real transaction of final service output for
which prices are derived using respondent data that are not output prices. Service output
is subdivided into homogeneous sub-sets for which value and quantity data are available.
Prices are then estimated by dividing the value of service outputs by the corresponding
output quantities.
The unit value method as defined here is limited to those cases where estimated prices
refer directly to final service output. Cases where unit values are employed in the
estimation of hourly rates are included in the section on pricing methods based on
working time (section 2.2.7). In addition, in the case of the component pricing method a
sub-component might be based on unit-value. This situation is covered in the section on
component pricing (section 2.2.5).
Data type in the survey
Under the unit value method, the price of a service is derived by dividing revenues
from sales by volumes of services provided in respect of a large number of transactions.
As shown in the telecommunications example presented in box 2.4., the ‘local calling
price’ is the total revenue from local phone calls divided by the total volume (minutes) of
local phone calls.
Box 2.4. Unit value: Telecommunications (Example 1)
U.K. Business Telecommunication: Local calls
Revenues (£m)
Volumes (million
minutes)
Unit Values
(£ per minute)
Index Value
Year t
Q1 300 14,000 0.02143 100.0
Q2 280 13,500 0.02074 96.8
Q3 260 13,000 0.02000 93.3
Q4 240 12,500 0.01920 89.6
Year t+1
Q1 220 12,000 0.01833 85.6
Q2 200 11,500 0.01739 81.2
Q3 180 11,000 0.01636 76.4
Q4 160 10,500 0.01524 71.1
The unit value method may be appropriate in cases where consistent value and
quantity data are available for sufficiently homogeneous services. However, in practice
the homogeneity requirement is difficult to fully meet. Even a very detailed sub-division
of output does not always ensure that services are homogeneous. Although the quality of
specific services might be homogeneous, measures of revenues and quantities may
include contracts of different sizes (which is an important price determining factor),
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undermining the feasibility of the method. Detailed sub-division of services is of the
utmost importance to ensure that the impact of this problem is minimised.
There are cases, such as postal and courier services, where unit values can often be
considered appropriate.
8
The unit value method may also prove to be the best pricing
method for certain complex services (for example telecommunications and flight
transportation services). Rapid technological development and frequent changes to
invoicing systems may make the implementation of other alternatives so difficult and
costly that a judicious use of the unit value method offers a feasible and cost-effective
option.
9
Note however, that a problem sometimes encountered with unit value indices is that
the required data are not available in time for inclusion in current quarter estimation. This
means that unit value indices are often lagged by one quarter (or month) or alternatively,
indices are published preliminarily and revised when final data become available.
The unit value method is typically used for pricing the following industries: air
transport (see box 2.5.), postal and courier activities, telecommunications, advertising,
accommodation, waste management, publishing of books, periodicals and other
publishing activities, software publishing.
Box 2.5. Unit value: Air freight transport (Example 2)
Freight rates (€/kg) are a commonly employed pricing mechanism in Air freight
transportation. Rates may differ from contract to contract, between customers or according to
different levels of services or goods. However, as both rates and services provided can be quite
homogenous a unit value approach can be used.
Total revenue and volume data is available. For their member airlines, IATA international –
the International Air Transport Association – runs an accounting system for Air Waybills. It
collects information on turnover, transported volume (weight in kg), destination and carrier.
With this information, unit values can be calculated for every destination and airline that
subscribes to the system (and all large international airlines do). FSO Germany receives
quarterly reports from IATA containing turnover and transported volume by airline and
destination, and calculates unit values out of it. For example:
Airline A
Destination X
T T+1
Turnover (€) 150 181
Volume (kg) 25 29
Freight Rate (€/kg) 6.00 6.24
Index value 100 104
The freight rates for airline A by destination X is calculated dividing turnover by transported
volume. It contains multiple, variable transactions. The change in price is calculated by
comparing the calculated freight rates: in this example, the price has risen by 4%.
2.2.4. Percentage fee method
The percentage fee method is used to measure the price development of real
transactions of services that are tied to transactions of products such as goods, contracts
or assets.
Data type in the survey
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In this method, the percentage fee and related value of the product transacted are used
to estimate the price of the final service output by multiplying the percentage and the
value of the good.
The percentage fee and the value of the product value may be collected from different
sources. The percentage fee can be taken from a list, estimated by an expert or calculated
as an average. Often, the price (actual or index) of the good is already available to the
compiler, for example in the case of a price index for leasing of office equipment rented
(box 2.6.) or real estate activities (see box 2.7). In other cases both the percentage fee and
product value are supplied by the respondent.
Box 2.6. Percentage fee: Leasing of office equipment (Example 1)
In the example, prices are calculated by using percentage fees and price indices. For each
survey period (t-1, t, t+1 …), the compiler collects data on percentage fees and combines them
with price indices for the products concerned.
Service price = 1+percentage fee (%) x price index of the product.
Service Period
Percentage fee (%)
(a)
Price index of
personal computer /
copying machines
(year t0 = 100)
(b)
Prices
(1+a) × (b)
Monthly fee for
leasing a personal
computer valued at
250,000 yen for 3
year contract
t-1 3.0 86.5 89.095
T 3.1 83 85.573
Percentage change +3.3% -4.0% -3.9%
Monthly fee for
leasing a copying
machine valued at
1,000,000 yen for 5
year contract
t-1 2.6 95.0 97.47
T 2.7 94.0 96.538
Percentage change +3.8% -1.1% -1.0%
Use of percentage fee method
Typically, the percentage fee method is used in the real estate agencies sector where
the pricing mechanism is based on real estate prices and commission rates (see box 2.7.).
Other examples of services for which the method is used include the placement of
advertisements, architectural services, and rental and leasing services. For this method to
be employed the product to which the service is tied should be a product group rather
than a strictly specified product. The latter case, where the fee for the same product for
consecutive periods is targeted directly (by measurement of the difference between the
acquisition and selling prices of product), is categorised as the margin pricing method.
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Box 2.7. Percentage fee: Real estate activities (Example 2)
Specification of the service:
Residential property sale/purchase. Agents and brokers services provided: listing agent. Full
service. Single family cooperative apartment. Address of property: 804 River RD #4f, Nowhere,
NY. Other property identification: mls #2205775. Number of bedrooms: 2. number of
bathrooms: 1. property value: $176,000. Commission rate: 2.00%.
The exact house has not been transacted every survey period. The property value and
commission rates are updated using actual data from recent sales of comparable properties.
Period Property value Commission Price Index value
T-1 $182,000 2% $3640 100
T $176,000 2% $3520 96.7
The price, based on real transactions, is estimated using commission rate and product price.
In the percentage fee method, the price change is split into two parts, the change of
the percentage fee and the change of the product price. Thus, the price of the service can
be estimated by updating the price in the previous period via the following formula:
P
s
t
= P
s
t-1
×
1 +m
t
1 +m
t-1
×
P
t
P
t-1
Where: P
s
t
, is the price of the final service output in period t;
P
t
, is the value of a group of contracts, assets or products in period t;
m
t
, is the percentage fee in period t that applies to the value.
Capturing price development by applying the above formula is less data demanding
than when fees for well-specified products are targeted directly because only the price
index for the product group and percentage fee are required. However, the underlying
product group should be sufficiently homogeneous over time to provide a valid price
estimate.
A special application of the percentage fee method is employed where the pricing
mechanism is based on a scale with varying percentages that depend on the value of the
underlying product. Typically, the percentage fee decreases according to a schedule as the
value of the product
.
increases.
10
In this case, only products in the same fee schedule
category can be taken as homogeneous. However, the same product (although not directly
observable) might, as a result of more general price inflation, move to a different fee
schedule category where a different commission is applied. This scenario should be
accounted for in index compilation.
It should also be noted that as a consequence of the assumption that the price of the
service is related to the price of the underlying asset or product, any change to the size or
quantity of products will be directly reflected as changes in the volume of services.
2.2.5. Component pricing method
The component pricing method individually measures the price movements of all or
some output components of the final service output. In other words, the service is divided
into a number of key output components of which one or more are then priced separately.
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Data type in the survey
For each output component actual respondent data are used. No subjective estimation
should be used. Component pricing is fully based on real transaction prices of output
components that have been combined to form or estimate a price of the final service
output.
The main restriction on this method is that time based prices (such as the price of one
hour of work) are not used for determining the price of components. Otherwise the
pricing method belongs to time based pricing (see section 2.2.7.). This is due to the fact
that often in the production of services, labour accounts for a high proportion of inputs.
The importance of this principle is particularly apparent in cases where time based pricing
is applied for sub-services that are subject to strong technological development. For
example, the adoption of more advanced technology may lead to increased hourly rates
but also to a reduction in the required working time. Consequently “real” prices and
volumes of services may remain stable. A fixed weight structure, even when updated
frequently, does not capture these changes and a biased sub-component price may end up
contributing to the final price.
11
On the other hand, assessing required working time rather
than keeping it fixed would mean that the method falls into the category of model pricing
where (at least some) subjective estimation is made.
The pricing method used in the reporting of each separate output component (e.g. real
transaction prices, unit value, etc.) should not be considered when determining the overall
pricing method used for the “total” price.
Use of the component pricing method
An advantage of component pricing is its flexibility of use. Care should be taken to
ensure its representativeness over time and therefore sub-components and weight
structures should be updated frequently.
In practice, the price for each individual output sub-component is provided by the
respondent and the compiler then combines this information to compute a price index for
the composite service. There are different ways of combining or aggregating across the
elements for which prices have been collected. Methods include:
• The use of existing bills or contracts to draw up a user profile. For example, a
typical bill for a telecommunications client applies different rates for local phone
calls, national calls, etc., and the total volume of communication is distributed
between these elements (see box 2.8.). Representative distributions of
communication volumes constitute user profiles. These user profiles can provide
the necessary weighting schemata to construct a composite index of
communication services. Sometimes not all elements of composite prices can be
covered. Where this is the case, it has to be assumed that the price of the missing
element moves approximately in line with the average of the other elements.
Omissions may also be acceptable if the user profile shows a very small weight
for the missing element;
• The use of output or consumption weights. Composite prices can be constructed
by collating prices of components using a weighting schemata provided by the
respondent. This kind of pricing can be considered for use in transportation
services, for example.
A total price derived during the application of the component pricing method will not
necessarily correspond to the price of any transacted service because quantities of sub-
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services in the component price may differ from actually transacted services.
Furthermore, some sub-services may not be covered even though it is desirable that the
coverage of sub-services is as exhaustive as possible.
The component pricing method is not widely used except in telecommunication
services (see box 2.8.).
Box 2.8. Component pricing: Telecommunications
Pricing of local telephone services:
(a): Average number per access line (weight) in the base period is obtained by dividing the
total number of units for each type of charge by the total number of access lines.
(b): Average revenue per unit in period t is obtained by dividing revenues for each type of
charge by the total quantity used of each charge.
(a) × (b): Weighted revenue in period t is calculated by multiplying average number per
access line by average revenue per unit.
Type of charge
Average number per
access line
(a)
Average revenue per unit
(b)
Weighted revenue
(a) x (b)
Access line 1 26.7530 26.7530
Usage charges based on time:
Peak minutes 162 0.2589 41.9418
Off-peak minutes 133 0.0824 10.9592
Roaming minutes 10 0.9722 9.7220
Usage charges other than time:
Landline, per call 2 0.1500 0.3000
Other charges, daily rate 1 1.5000 1.5000
Features/Options and feature packages:
Custom calling package 0.65 3.4600 2.2490
Call waiting 0.20 4.8500 0.9700
Call forwarding 0.10 5.1500 0.5150
3-way conference 0.05 5.7500 0.2875
No answer transfer 0.10 4.2500 0.4250
Voice messaging 0.20 4.8000 0.9600
Total (Price in period t) 96.5825
The price, based on real transaction of sub-components, is the sum of weighted revenues.
The method used is not unit value: unit values are used for the components but it is not unit
value pricing method because the various unit values are combined.
2.2.6. Model pricing method
General features of the model pricing method
The model pricing method is the most appropriate approach for use in industries
where service outputs are predominantly unique. As the compiler requires in each period
a price for a standard service with constant specifications, the method allows for
estimation of the price for a standardised final service product, a model transaction which
is not transacted in the comparison period.
12
The model transaction represents a service product that is non-observable (virtual) at
the time of data collection. Two types of model transaction can be considered as follows:
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1. A model can be a service that has never been observed as such, a fictitious single
service that can be set as the re-priceable service product for a group of
respondents;
2. Alternatively, a model can be a service that has been directly observed in the past,
but not during the current pricing period. In other words, the specifications of a
real service provided can be developed as the ‘model’ to price. For example, an
engineering services producer is asked to select a representative contract which it
has signed in the past and for each period to quote the required price to undertake
that project in the survey period. When selecting a real transaction for use as a
model, a recent service transaction is generally selected. A recent transaction may
more accurately represent the current activity of a service producer and the price
may be updated more easily.
It is important that although model prices are not based on observed market
transactions, estimates should capture prices prevailing in the survey period. It is clear
that this is the case for small contracts where respondents have recorded data that can be
directly used in the estimation of model prices. However, the same principle applies also
when a contract covers several periods, that is, estimates for all parts of a project should
be made based on conditions and prices prevailing in the survey period. Deviating from
this rule would mean that the accrual principle is not followed and this could imply biased
measures of service volumes when SPPI are used for deflation.
Noteworthy in the case of contracts that last several periods is the fact that model
prices differ from prices of actual tenders where future changes in inflation, taxation etc.
might be taken into account. They are artificial in the sense that project costs and mark-
ups represent only the market situation in the current survey period although various
stages of a long-term project become actual (or current) at different points in time. On the
other hand, relying only on present price levels is also an advantage from a practical point
of view because there are fewer uncertainties in the estimation of prices and base data
used in the estimation may be directly available.
Estimating model prices
Appropriate models for different service industries will have different requirements. It
is essential that the model is specified in sufficient detail; so that the respondent reports
prices for a constant quality model and that no variation from the model occurs over time
without notification to the compiler.
The estimation of a real transaction price is fully based on expert estimation which
may be subjective. The expert might consider real transaction prices, revenue and amount
sold, list prices and any input data for calculating this price. The resulting total price for
the service is therefore a fictitious expert estimate. The pricing method used to form the
resulting total price should not be a consideration when determining the overall pricing
method.
A central task for the expert is to estimate the working time required to produce a
service. An estimation based on the current market situation is needed, for instance by
keeping recent tenders in mind. Indeed, pricing factors such as hours worked should be
updated in model prices when there is a change in the number of hours required to
provide the service. The re-evaluation of the required working time is essential in order to
capture changes in the efficiency of service provision. If the working time is not
evaluated but assumed unchanged, the method is not categorised as model pricing but as
pricing based on working time. In other words, as prices of the same services (although
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virtual ones) are followed over time, changes in productivity must be taken into account.
In practice, the difference between the methods may not be very significant if respondents
cannot accurately describe how much more or less time a service provision requires
compared to the previous period.
When estimating the price of the model, the expert should pay particular attention to
the following factors: labour costs (staff by skill or experience and numbers of hours);
overheads; and gross profit margin (the representative margin that would apply in the
current competitive climate). For each pricing period, the respondent will need to "re-
cost" each component. Special attention is needed to ensure that the model describes an
output with an associated price and not a list of input components and prices.
As noted above, it is particularly important that labour input is adequately re-
estimated to reflect changes in productivity. The respondent must therefore detail any
change in the number of hours needed for the production of the model described in output
terms (for example 1,000 engineer hours were previously required, now only 930
engineer hours are needed). If this detail is not provided, the model pricing method has
the same ‘productivity problem’ as time based methods. Models might also have to be
modified from time to time to ensure that they remain representative of the type of
outputs of, and production methods used by, the service producer.
The reported profit margin should reflect actual business conditions in the pricing
period, and this component is therefore expected to fluctuate with market conditions (for
example it will be higher in periods of market growth and lower, perhaps even negative,
in periods of recession).
Use of model pricing
Models might be hypothetical and/or based on real transactions from previous
periods. Perhaps the most convenient way to implement the method is to rely in so far as
possible on actual data from more recent periods. A model could be, for example, based
on a contract that was made in a recent period. Use of recent data has a number of
advantages, for example:
• Changes in market conditions will be better accounted for;
• Constant quality of service products will most likely be better ensured;
• Representativeness of service products and prices will be better ensured;
• It is easier for respondents to estimate prices. Fresh data will be available to make
appropriate adjustments in those cases when some features or characteristics of
the service change.
On the whole, compared to a hypothetical or old model, model pricing from the
recent period should give better quality results. This may be the case particularly if
respondents have not undertaken any work in the recent past and are not tendering for any
such work related to the hypothetical model. The type of data that is available for use in
developing the base period model might differ depending on the service and service
provider. Typically, they include data on charge-out rates applied in service projects and
various data on costs. A combination of detailed respondent data from a recent period and
similar data in the survey period provides the best possible framework to capture price
development.
When using model pricing, the starting point is to select a specific service and
adequately specify the details of that service. The respondent is asked to price the same
service in t-1 and t rather than assuming from the outset that the required working hours
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by staff category alone provides a sufficient transaction specification, as is the case in the
hourly rate method (see section 2.2.7.). That means that although price changes mostly
stem from changes in hourly rates, overhead and profit, some changes might also
originate from changes in the number of working hours and other features.
Specifically, if a different number of hours or a different mix of personnel and their
hours are required to provide the exact same service or contract in the survey period, then
those factors have to be updated and the resulting changes shown as price changes. Note
however that if the resulting price changes are large, then the respondent should be
contacted and asked to explain why and to ensure that no changes have been made to the
specified service.
Changes to a model might also result from changes in technology or to regulation
such that the exact same output is provided with a change in the amount of inputs. In such
cases, recording the difference as a price change is fully justified. On the other hand, if it
can be concluded that the change in inputs really does result in a change in the output (or
the service being provided), then a quality adjustment is required. The information can be
used in updating the service description but the price must be adjusted.
Because the respondent is being asked to price the same service in period t-1 and t,
the unit of measurement is actually a price movement. This differs from the normal
situation where a respondent is asked to provide only a price for each sampled service
product for the current period of reference. Therefore, in using this method, the reported
price movements collected each period for the model should be linked together to
measure the evolution of price.
Note finally that a problem with model pricing is that it can be difficult to ensure that
the models employed remain representative. Also, the workload imposed on the
respondent is relatively large even in cases when models are based on recently provided
service products. This implies a risk that the respondent will not commit sufficient effort
to ensuring accurate returns and may instead report model prices that remain unchanged
for several periods. Therefore, it is important to engage with respondents to ensure that
the prices reflect adequately the evolution of the market situation.
The model pricing method is typically employed for the following industries: freight
transport by road, air transport, postal and courier activities, legal activities, accounting,
bookkeeping and auditing activities, tax consultancy, management consultancy activities,
architectural and engineering activities and related technical consultancy (see box 2.9.),
technical testing and analysis, advertising, market research and public opinion polling,
software publishing, insurance activities, health service industries and financial service
activities (combined with percentage fee).
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Box 2.9. Model pricing: Engineering services
Specification of the service: Building related engineering services. Contract identifier:
Project BLS-PPI. Billing invoice number: 123. CLIENT #456. Multi-use building. Non-fixed
(variable-hourly fee). Qualifications based selection. Monthly billing. Review soils @
excavation base; test engineered fill, backfill, observe concrete reinforcement & masonry
construction for compliance; provide proof roll of parking areas; sample & test fresh concrete &
compressive strength; masonry grout & prism testing.
Charge Category Hours Rate Hours × Rate
Compaction testing 1 $40.00 $40.00
Special inspections, concrete 15 $50.00 $750.00
Concrete testing 25 $40.00 $1,000.00
Sample pick-up 6 $40.00 $240.00
Special inspections, masonry 8 $50.00 $400.00
Project mgmt. – Senior project engineer 2 $80.00 $160.00
Total fee $2,590.00
Every survey period the respondent estimates the number of hours and rates for each charge
category required to provide the fixed service described in the specification. The estimated price
is not a price based on working time since the number of hours is not fixed; rather the service
being provided is fixed.
2.2.7. Pricing methods based on working time
General features of pricing methods based on time worked
Pricing based on working time differs from other pricing methods in that the price of
the service finally provided is not identified but that the price of the time spent in the
provision of the service is used instead. Services are assumed to correspond directly or
predominantly to different types of chargeable hours worked for a client. The validity of
the method depends on how realistic this assumption is; that is the extent to which the
quantity and quality of chargeable hours worked remains constant over consecutive
periods.
Measurements of prices based on hourly (or charge out) rates represent pricing
mechanisms rather than the actual prices of real services. The price of a real service is
made up of all payments to the service provider and it is this total price rather than the
hourly rate that should, in ideal circumstances, be observed. The degree of
appropriateness of time based pricing methods for direct use in SPPI compilation depends
largely on the services concerned.
Characteristics of the methods based on prices of working time become apparent
when a time based index is used in the deflation of National Accounts. If a price index is
assumed to equal the development of hourly rates, the measure of volume corresponds to
the time devoted to the service provision (number of worked hours) rather than the
volume of services provided. No change in productivity is reflected in these measures
except those stemming from changes in the staff structure – productivity development is
slightly positive if the share of higher-paid staff goes up and is negative in the reverse
case. Productivity change is not picked up within each staff grade.
The assumption of unchanged productivity in each staff grade is particularly strong in
a situation where the staffing structure is subject to change. Changes in the staffing
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structure often mean that the content (and value) of work changes within grades. For
example, with the help of new technology some tasks previously carried out exclusively
by professionals may now be delivered by support staff. As a result the volume and
quality of the work of support staff and perhaps professional staff change – undermining
the assumptions underlying the method. An adjustment procedure is needed because of a
quality change to the unit priced, the chargeable hour. It depends on each actual situation
and data availability as to how adjustments are made in practice. However, this does not
solve the productivity problem which would require that “real” service output should be
identified.
The acquisition of, or improvements to, office machinery, software and other
equipment are expected to improve real service output and productivity. The time worked
to produce services may shorten and the quality of services might change. Thus, SPPIs
based solely on time worked for clients, tend to be positively biased, particularly in those
service industries greater amounts of equipment are used in production.
Nevertheless, hourly rates represent observable pricing mechanisms and are a natural
starting point for the compilation of certain SPPIs.
13
For some services it may be difficult
to identify more suitable options than hourly rates. In such cases the resulting SPPI may
be accurate in the short term but in the longer term it might be subject to an increasing
risk of bias, depending on the type of service. There are very few market services where
productivity improvements are not expected over the longer term.
The pricing methods based on worked time are in principle straightforward. Several
time based methods can be distinguished and these are briefly discussed in the following
sub-sections. They can be broadly classified into two main categories:
1. Methods where the resulting price is fully based on working time required to
provide a service;
2. Methods that use a significant element of time based measure as part of the
estimation are referred to as predominantly based on prices of working time.
Special attention needs to be paid to the sensitivity of the methods to changes in the
scope of billable working hours.
14
For example, if support staff is ceased to be charged
separately and charge-out rates of professionals increase to account for this, then the
resulting price index would increase and in theory the estimate of volume change for the
industry would decrease after deflation even though the actual service output is
unchanged. Put differently, savings gained by a more efficient use of staff are not
reflected in prices but the index becomes upwards biased. A similar example occurs
where charge-out rates for professionals increase due to the application of new
technology, which allows them to complete tasks quicker thus reducing their billable
hours whilst providing the same service to clients.
Thus, when using time based methods, the compiler should be vigilant to potential
changes in the coverage of billable hours and, provided that the method is considered
applicable in the situation, should adjust for them as appropriate (by excluding changes in
charge-out rates which do not result from pure price change).
Compilers could, for example, inquire if a change in hourly rates between the current
and previous period has been influenced by factors such as changing technology,
administrative reorganisation or changes to billing structures. Resulting adjustments
might eliminate some volatility in the index. However in order to make a comprehensive
adjustment, the relevant service products have to be explicitly or implicitly identified, in
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which case the method would fall into the category of model pricing rather than
belonging to time based pricing.
Where business enterprises increasingly outsource their activities the use of hourly
rates may not be appropriate. The service purchaser may receive the same service as
before but pay a higher hourly rate applied to a reduced number of billable hours. In such
cases a deflator based on hourly rates will result in a reduced estimate of the volume of
services produced. There is no obvious adjustment procedure for this situation.
2.2.7.1. Resulting price fully based on time worked in the provision of service
The target measure is the price of chargeable working time. In this pricing method the
monetary amount charged to a buyer of a service, for a standard amount (e.g. one hour) of
work by an employee of the producer contributing to the provision of that service is
utilised. However, the method has four variants depending on the availability of price
data.
2.2.7.2. Hourly charge-out rate
The hourly charge-out rate method represents the simplest case where transaction
prices are available by labour categories. However, depending on the type or price data in
the survey two variants exist in practice.
First, the resulting price could be estimated as a weighted average of hourly rates. In
this case, respondents provide average hourly rates charged, subdivided by type of labour.
This data could be taken directly from on-going projects or – more subjectively – they
could reflect the respondent’s estimate of the general market situation. The overall price
change is a weighted average of changes of charged hourly rates in different labour
categories:
P
t
=
? ?
t
ì
r
t
ì
ì
? ?
t
ì
ì
; P
t+1
=
? ?
t
ì
r
t+1
ì
ì
? ?
t
ì
ì
Where: P
t
is the price in period t;
r
t
ì
, is average hourly charge-out rates in staff class i in period t;
?
t
ì
, is the number of hours worked in staff category i in period t.
Box 2.10. shows an example of hourly charge-out rate in engineering activities.
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Box 2.10. Pricing based on working time / Hourly charge-out rate: Engineering
activities
Respondents report of the average hourly rates of different types of personnel (total rate /
total hours worked during the reference period).
Service Unit Price Price
change
Weight
t-1 t
Machine and process designing 0.25
Senior Consultant, Person A €/hour 54.5 55.21 1.013
Senior Consultant, Person B €/hour 54.5 53.52 0.982
Consultant, Person A €/hour 45.4 45.24 0.996
Consultant, Person B €/hour 43.2 42.1 0.975
Junior Designer, Person A €/hour 43.8 42.5 0.970
Geometric mean 0.987
Electrical wiring designing 0.75
Designer, Person C €/item 59 59.2 1.003
Junior Designer, Person A 54.2 55.2 1.018
Junior Designer, Person B €/item 53 56 1.057
Geometric mean 1.026
Weighted change from t-1 to t 1.016
The same method is applied for business and management consultancy activities.
Respondents usually report hourly-rates (Rate / hours worked) directly from their accounting
systems.
A second kind of charge-out rate method uses average hourly rates for staff classes
directly in the compilation of an SPPI. The price is derived by dividing revenues for
service by number of hours worked.
P
t
ì
=
R
t
ì
?
t
ì
; P
t+1
ì
=
R
t+1
ì
?
t+1
ì
Where: P
t
ì
, is the price in period t;
R
t
ì
, is the total of revenues in staff category i in period t;
?
t
ì
, is the number of hours worked for clients in staff category i in period t
These kinds of unit rates are called average “realised hourly rates” in the Netherlands
and “fee income per grade of worker” in the U.K. (see box 2.11). Note that as with all
unit value indices, the homogeneity of the classes is an issue.
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Box 2.11. Pricing based on working time / realised hourly rates: Engineering
activities
The income in € and the number of hours worked are provided in each period via the survey.
From these, the realised hourly rate is calculated as their ratio (for instance, in the top line 147,
991 / 2, 980 = 49.6 € per hour).
After calculating these realised hourly rates for both the base period and the comparison
period, an item index is calculated for each item. In the example below, the hourly rate of the
experienced drawer in the two periods are €49.6 and €55.4 per hour respectively. The item index
for experienced drawer is 55.4 / 49.6 = 1.10
Based period Comparison period
Index
Base
period =
100
Income (€)
(a)
Hours
worked
(b)
Realized
hourly rate
(income/hours
worked) (a) /
(b)
Income (€)
(a)
Hours
worked
(b)
Realized
hourly rate
(income/hours
worked) (a) /
(b)
Experienced
drawer
147,991 2,980 49.6 100,200 1,809 55.4 111.7
Consultant-
engineer
18,000 226 79.6 22,456 313 71.7 90.1
Designer 163,090 1,624 100.4 120,668 1,050 114.9 114.4
Senior project
manager
47,010 471 99.8 50,505 533 94.8 95
2.2.7.2.1. Hourly list rates
When transaction prices of working hours are not available, list prices (also known as
standard hourly rates) could be used to derive the price of a service. Business enterprises
often compile a list of external commercial hourly rates for different staff grades. These
rates can be used in the compilation of an index. The classification of labour might vary
between enterprises. On the other hand, some enterprises, particularly small ones, may
have individual rates per person that are typically drawn up once per year. Note however
that the rates might often serve as a reference rather than as the charging rates actually
transacted. If so, adjustments based on the difference between realised and implied
revenues are of particular importance.
Prices could be derived as follows when using hourly list rates. Note that as in the
case of hourly charge-out rates, the method can also be applied separately for individual
staff category (unit rates).
P
t
=
R
t
R
t
?
×
R
t
?
? ?
t
ì
ì
; P
t+1
=
R
t+1
R
t+1
?
×
? ?
t
ì
r
t
ì
?
ì
? ?
t
ì
ì
With:
R
t
= ? h
t
I
I
i
t
I
, the total of realised revenues in period t
R
t
?
= ? h
t
I
I
i
t
I
?
, the estimated total revenues in period t
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Where:
P
t
is the price in period t;
h
t
I
, is the number of hours worked in staff category i in period t;
i
t+1
I
?
, is the average hourly list rate in staff category i in period t+1.
It is of particular importance that the total of realised revenues (R
t
) used in the
adjustment is consistent with estimated total revenues (R
t
*
). This means that data on
realised revenues are accrual based rather than cash based.
Meting this requirement is often not possible and consequently the ratio of realised
and implied revenues might have to be independently evaluated. In such cases the
adjustment ratio to be used is an estimate of the average discount rate. As in the case of
normal discounts, there is no need for adjustment if the same discounts are applied in
consecutive periods.
Indices compiled, using this method, are closely comparable with those of the hourly
rate method. In order for them to agree exactly, the adjustment for discounts should be
made and the relative difference between real and list prices should be the same in all
categories of labour.
2.2.7.2.2. Wages rates
If charge-out rates are not directly available then data on hourly wage rates might be
used. Respondents are asked to provide data on wages for, and hours worked for clients
by, a number of staff categories. Wage rates must be adjusted to correspond to revenues.
This means that wages have to be multiplied by an estimate of the ratio of revenues to
wages.
15
P
t
= _
R
w
]
t
×
? ?
t
ì
w
t
ì
ì
? ?
t
ì
ì
; P
t
= _
R
w
]
t+1
×
? ?
t
ì
w
t+1
ì
ì
? ?
t
ì
ì
Where:
P
t
, is the price in period t;
[
R
w
¸
t
, is the revenue/wage ratio in period t;
w
t
I
, is the average hourly wage in staff category i in period t;
h
t
I
, is the number of hours worked in staff category i in period t;
R
t
, is the total of revenues in period t;
The wage rate method is very sensitive to the estimation of the revenue/wage ratio
and therefore a strict correspondence between revenues and wages is essential. Revenues
should be accrual based to provide comparable prices for consecutive periods. With a
high quality ratio, results generated by the wage rate method are closely comparable with
results obtained when using the previously described time based methods. The relative
accuracy of the methods depends on whether wage- or charge-out rates better reflect the
differences in the performance of staff in various categories of labour.
As in the case of hourly charge-out rates and hourly list rates, the method can also be
applied separately for individual staff categories (unit rates).
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Box 2.12. shows an example of the use of wages rates.
Box 2.12. Pricing based on working time: Wage rates
The wage and the revenue/wage ratio are provided in each period via the survey. If the
wages change only twice a year, bi-annual surveying suffices. The revenue/wage ratio (R/W) on
the other hand changes faster.
The price is the average wage multiplied by the R/W ratio (third line).
Quarter 1 (base) 2 3 4 5
Wage 40 € 40 € 41 € 41 € 45 €
Revenue/wage ratio
(R/W)
2.00 1.90 1.85 1.95 1.90
Price (wage × R/W) 80.0 € 76.0 € 75.9 € 80.0 € 85.5 €
Price index (quarter
1 = 100)
100.0 95.0 94.8 99.9 106.9
2.2.7.2.3. Working days
Occasionally data on working time are not available on an hourly basis but perhaps in
terms of working days. In these cases the compilation procedures are in principle the
same as for hourly rates. However, the unit used in the estimation is less precise and this
may influence the accuracy of results.
2.2.7.3. Resulting price predominantly based on working time spent in the provision of
service
The category of “methods predominantly based on prices of working time spent in the
provision of service” describes practices where a price is not directly time based but
instead time based measures are used as building blocks in the estimation of price. In
other words, the resulting price is not fully measured in terms of a clearly specified
service.
Different situations may arise where pricing methods fall into the category of “time
based methods” although price evolution of identical and clearly specified service output
was initially the target measure:
• Prices are made-up of several sub-components – as defined under the component
pricing method (section 2.2.5.) – including compensation for a fixed number of
hours of work to produce a given service. The use of time based prices for sub-
components that are subject to significant technological development, particularly
when their weight in the calculation of the price is high, imply a high risk of bias;
• Price are virtual and thus resemble model pricing (section 2.2.6.) but the working
hours underlying the price are always assumed to be the same as in the previous
period rather than based on genuine evaluation;
• Prices are estimated using fees that are associated with service projects or
contracts (like in percentage fee method, section 2.2.4.) for which price
development is measured using a time based-method.
As previously noted, an important aim of the classification of pricing methods is to
monitor the characteristics of resulting price indices. Therefore, it is essential to separate
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time based methods from those methods under which the price development of identical
service transactions is targeted.
2.2.8. Margin pricing method
The margin pricing method is used to measure price development in services that are
not separately invoiced and where the service is related to the transformation in space or
time of an item. The item may be a product, such as a good purchased and sold by a
retailer or a loan provided by a financial intermediary. The price of the service can be
estimated as the difference between the price paid by the service provider for the good or
service they transformed and the price paid by the final consumer (at the same point in
time).
16
Data type in the survey
There are two distinct types of margin prices: those charged by retailers and
wholesalers, in relation to the goods and services they sell, and those charged by financial
intermediaries, in relation to the loans and deposits they provide.
In the case of wholesalers and retailers the data sources are acquisition and selling
prices for selected items/products or services purchased for resale. The difference
between selling and acquisition prices – both real transaction prices – results in a margin
price that reflects the actual transaction price of services provided by wholesalers and
retailers.
In practice the information will cover a heterogeneous mix of products. Ideally the
calculation of margin prices should be based on a product list that is as detailed as
possible. Separate price indices should be compiled for individual products and these
should be combined by weighting in accordance with the value of sales of the individual
products. In this approach, the margin price method splits the price change into two parts,
a change in the margin rate (similar to a percentage fee, see section 2.2.4.) and a change
in the price of the product sold. Thus, the price of the margin service for a given product
can be estimated by updating the price in the previous period via the following formula:
P
s
t,ì
= P
s
t-1,I
×
1 +m
t,ì
1 +m
t-1,I
×
P
t,ì
P
t-1,I
Where: P
s
t,ì
, is the price of the final service output in period t related to the
transformation of product i;
P
t,ì
, is the value of a homogeneous product (i) sold in period t;
m
t,ì
is the margin rate (the difference between the total value of homogeneous
products (i) sold by the retailer/wholesaler and the value it would have to pay at time t
as a ratio of the latter).
And so the price index for a group of products sold can be calculated as follows:
=
I
p
s
t,I
p
s
t-1,ì
×
P
t,ì
? P
]
t-1,j
FISIM
A special case of implicitly priced margin services relates to the measurement of
financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM). In layman's terms FISIM
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in the 2008 SNA can be described as the implicit prices charged by a financial
intermediary (typically a bank), which take the form of interest rate margins incorporated
in the rates charged for loans or paid on deposits. In exchange for paying a higher rate of
interest on loans or accepting a lower rate of interest on deposits, customers receive the
following types of services: record keeping, safekeeping, payment processing,
intermediation between savers and borrowers, risk management and advice, and liquidity
provision.
The 2008 SNA describes FISIM as the following (par. 6.163):
One traditional way in which financial services are provided is by means of financial
intermediation. This is understood to refer to the process whereby a financial institution
such as a bank accepts deposits from units wishing to receive interest on funds for
which the unit has no immediate use and lends them to other units whose funds are
insufficient to meet their needs. The bank thus provides a mechanism to allow the first
unit to lend to the second. Each of the two parties pays a fee to the bank for the service
provided, the unit lending funds by accepting a rate of interest lower than that paid by
the borrower, the difference being the combined fees implicitly charged by the bank to
the depositor and to the borrower. From this basic idea the concept emerges of a
“reference” rate of interest. The difference between the rate paid to banks by borrowers
and the reference rate plus the difference between the reference rate and the rate
actually paid to depositors represent charges for financial intermediation services
indirectly measured (FISIM).
At the time of writing the Intersecretariat Working Group on National Accounts
(ISWGNA) Task Force on FISIM was investigating the definition of FISIM in the SNA.
However, this investigation is not expected to have implications for the treatment of
FISIM in the context of SPPI compilation, as the research conducted by the Task Force
chiefly relates to the definition of the reference rate used in the SNA and the scope and
coverage of instruments to which FISIM should be applied. Irrespective of how these
issues are resolved, the recommendation on the appropriate price index (as defined
below) is unaffected. The Task Force has considered whether quantity approaches to
FISIM volume measurement (and so implied deflators for price measurement were
possible) but these have been largely ruled out on practical grounds.
The underlying assumption behind FISIM is that there is a specific service provided
to borrowers and lenders for which a price can be calculated, based on the interest paid or
received on loans or deposits and an underlying reference rate. Currently SNA prescribes
the use of a single reference rate for all loans and deposits irrespective of the maturity
structure of the loans and deposits. The Task Force on FISIM is investigating what the
most appropriate single reference rate should be and also whether specific reference rates
are applicable for loans and deposits with different maturities. One other consideration of
the Task Force relates to credit default risk and whether this should be removed from the
calculation of FISIM (by excluding a component from the interest actually paid by
borrowers). What follows therefore is a generic description of FISIM price measurement
that assumes credit default risk is already removed from the interest flows. If the Task
Force chooses not to remove credit default risk from the value of FISIM, it should be
assumed that the interest flows correspondingly include these payments.
At time t, the balance sheets of financial intermediaries show assets of ?I
m
, where
I
m
reflects the value of loans made by the bank with maturity m, with interest of I
I,m
reflecting the interest received on those loans. The bank also has liabilities of ?Ð
m
to
depositors and pays I
d,m
to depositors.
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Total FISIM in current prices
= (I
I,m
?I
m
× r
m
) +(I
d,m
?Ð
m
× r
m
)
Total FISIM in prices of the previous year
= (I
I,m
?I
m
× r
m
t-1
) +(I
d,m
?Ð
m
× r
m
t-1
)¡P
t
Where:
r
m
t-1
, is the reference rate in the previous year;
P
t
is a general price index (for example the CPI) for year t in relation to year t-1.
The FISIM price index is therefore derived as the quotient of FISIM in current prices
and FISIM in constant prices. It is important to note in the above, that even if only one
reference rate is used such that r
m
is set as r for all m, a breakdown into maturity
structures will still be necessary for the calculation of constant price FISIM.
Bibliography
Buisson B., Kenessey A. & McKenzie R. (2005), Pricing methods, 20
th
Voorburg Group
meeting, Helsinki, Finland available at:
http://www.voorburggroup.org/Documents/2005%20helsinki/papers/2005-32.pdf
European Commission, IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank (eds.) (2009), System of
National Accounts 2008, United Nations, New York.
ILO, IMF, OECD, UNECE, Eurostat, World Bank (eds.) (2004 b), Producer Price Index
Manual, Theory and practice, International Monetary Funds, Washington, DC.
Langer T. & Murphy J. (2009), Glossary of Voorburg Group Terminology for Mini-
Presentations, Sector Papers, and Revisited Sector Papers, Voorburg Group available
at:
http://www.voorburggroup.org/Documents/2009%20Oslo/Papers/2009%20-
%2004.pdf
Murphy B. & Swick R. (2006), Comments on the SPPI definition of pricing methods,
BLS, 21
st
Voorburg Group meeting, Wiesbaden, Germany available at:
http://www.voorburggroup.org/Documents/2006%20wiesbaden/papers/06.pdf
Voorburg Group (2007), Thesaurus of Producer Price Indices for Services (SPPIs),
available at:
http://www.voorburggroup.org/Documents/2007%20Seoul/papers/03.pdf
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Notes
1. Pricing methods are here understood as procedures applied in a “normal” situation or
routine collection, not in a situation where old services are replaced by new ones and
direct adjustments are used to make the service comparable. By convention, even
systematically applied, adjustments are out of scope. They do not refer either to initial
collection procedures.
2. The index formulae and aggregation methods needed to bring together these basic
elements are not discussed in this chapter and reference is made to chapter 3 and the
PPI Manual.
3. The term is often used interchangeably with “sales” and “turnover”. It corresponds to
the value of output sold or the value of invoiced sales of goods or services supplied to
third parties during the reference period.
4. As mentioned in chapter 1, SPPIs should measure actual transaction prices reflecting
revenue received by the producer for services sold to customers. Care must be taken
to ensure that the prices reflect those at the time the transaction occurs, and that “ […]
they must reflect the net prices inclusive of all discounts applied to the transactions
whether they be volume discounts, settlement discounts, or competitive price-cutting
discounts, which are likely to fluctuate with market conditions. Any rebates also need
to be considered. The collection of nominal list prices, or book prices, is not reflective
of actual transactions, is unlikely to yield reliable price indices, and may result in
quite misleading results because fluctuation in market prices are not captured“, PPI
Manual, par. 1.328.
5. See chapter 1: section 1.1.3. and footnote n°8.
6. “The basic price is the amount receivable by the producer from the purchaser for a
unit of a good or service produced as output minus any tax payable, and plus any
subsidy receivable, by the producer as a consequence of its production or sale. It
excludes any transport charges invoiced separately by the producer”, 2008 SNA, par.
6.51.a.
7. It does not matter what the unit of ‘a service’ is; either ‘all cleaning under one
contract’ can be regarded as one service, or a unit of service delivery can be chosen as
e.g. one trip, one days’ cleaning or a week of guarding. Another option, and easiest
for practical purposes, is to adhere to what the surveyed price reflects: a price per trip,
or per day, or the total price of the monthly or quarterly payment. In the last case, the
unit of service can be ‘quarterly charge for twice-a-week road transport’.
8. National accountants often directly use quantity indicators, where volume of output is
a weighted average of quantity indices based on base year weights. The
corresponding price index is the change of output divided by the resulting volume
index. The method is used because detailed turnover data might not be currently
available to estimate unit value prices. To give satisfactory results, a basic
requirement in the method is that quantity indicators cover all output exhaustively.
9. It might also be appropriate to use the Fisher formula in the estimation of price
indices for industries undergoing rapid technological changes. This would require that
quantity and turnover data are collected continuously to update weights for each
period. Weights of firms in the sample become quickly outdated when prices change
significantly like in mobile phone and internet services.
68 - 2. MAIN PRICING METHODS FOR SERVICE PRODUCER PRICE INDICES
EUROSTAT-OECD METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE FOR DEVELOPING PRODUCER PRICE INDICES FOR SERVICES © OECD/European Union, (2014)
10. An example of this is ad valorem pricing which is often used in legal services. In this
pricing mechanism fees are either based on a proportion of the value of the claim or
they relate to price classes which represent the various values of claims. The fee
might also change progressively. See section on legal activities.
11. It is recommended to use model pricing in this kind of situation.
12. See also PPI Manual par. 6.83.
13. Note that methods based on working time are sometimes also used when the pricing
mechanism is not time based for example in the case of ad valorem pricing. See
section on legal activities.
14. Defined as the numbers of hours used to produce a good or a service billed to the
client.
15. This method is sometimes referred to as wages with mark-up or input with mark-up as
the mark-up includes administrative and other costs. The term mark-up is not used
here to stress that it covers conceptually revenues minus wages. Thus it includes all
costs (other than wages) and net operating surplus.
16. See 2008 SNA, par. 6.146.
From:
Eurostat-OECD Methodological Guide for
Developing Producer Price Indices for Services
Second Edition
Access the complete publication at:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264220676-en
Please cite this chapter as:
OECD/Eurostat (2014), “Main pricing methods for Service Producer Price Indices”, in Eurostat-OECD
Methodological Guide for Developing Producer Price Indices for Services: Second Edition, OECD
Publishing, Paris.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264220676-5-en
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