Note: [1] This study has been prepared under a contract with Eurostat. A survey to ascertain the extent to which the Statistical Offices of the Member States of the European Community use chain indices formed part of this study. A summary of the results can be obtained from the authors. On the basis of a preliminary theoretical study and the results of the survey, the authors exchanged views on both the theoretical aspects and the practical implications with representatives of the Statistical Offices of the Federal Republic of Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Both the answers to the questionnaire and the discussions proved useful in performing this study.
Note: [2] The views expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics.
Note: [3] Pieter G. Al was born in 1943. He graduated in economics at the University of Amsterdam in 1971. Currently he is chief of the national accounts input–output division at the Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics.
Note: [4] Bert M. Balk was born in 1947. He graduated in mathematics from Leyden University in 1971. Having fulfilled his military service, he entered the service of the Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics. Currently he is chief of the research division of the department for price statistics. He is the author of several papers on the theory of price indices.
Note: [5] Sake de Boer was born in 1942. He graduated in mathematical economics from Groningen University in 1972 and entered the service of the Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics in 1973. Currently he is chief of the subdivision for balancing input–output tables of the department for national accounts.
Note: [6] Gert P. den Bakker was born in 1947. Having finished a technical study he fulfilled his military service. He graduated in economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam in 1980. Currently he is working at the national accounts research division of the Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics.
Abstract: The problem of deflating national accounts and input–output tables can be approached from the theoretical as well as from the practical side. Although the theoretical argument favors the use of chained Vartia-I indices, the current practice of compiling national accounts is restricted to Using chained Paasche and Laspeyres indices. Various possible objections to the use of chained indices can be raised and rejected.
