Global Purchasing Power Parities and Real Expenditures - Afristat

Glossary 207Multilateral comparison. A price or volume comparisonof more than two countries simultaneously that producesconsistent relations among all pairs of countries (that is, onethat satisfies the transitivity requirement).Net exports are the difference in value between the totalexports and total imports of an economy during a specificperiod of time.Net purchases from abroad. Purchases by resident householdsoutside the economic territory of the country, lesspurchases by nonresident households in the economic territoryof the country.NPISHs (nonprofit institutions serving households). Nonprofitinstitutions that are not predominantly financed andcontrolled by government, whose main resources are voluntarycontributions by households, and that provide goodsor services to households free or at prices that are not economicallysignificant.Numeraire currency. The term used for the currency unitselected to be the common currency in which PPPs andfinal expenditures on GDP (nominal and volumes) areexpressed. The numeraire is usually an actual currency(such as the U.S. dollar), but it can be an artificial currencyunit developed for the purposes of PPP comparisons.Other products. Products of agriculture, forestry, fisheries,and aquaculture, as well as software products.Per capita volumes. Standardized measures of volume,which indicate the relative levels of the product groups oraggregates being compared, after adjusting for differencesin the size of populations between countries. At the levelof GDP, they are often used to compare the economic wellbeingof populations. They may be presented either in relationto a particular currency or as an index number.PLI (price level index) for a basic heading is the ratio of thebasic-heading PPP to the exchange rate. It is expressed asan index on a base of 100. A PLI that is greater than 100means that, when the national average prices are convertedat exchange rates, the resulting prices within the basicheading tend to be higher, on average, than prices in thebase country (or countries) of the region (and vice versa).At the level of GDP, they provide a measure of the differencesin the general price levels of countries. PLIs are alsoreferred to as “comparative price levels (CPLs).”Product specification. A description or list of the characteristicsthat can be used to identify a product selectedfor pricing. Its purpose is to ensure that countries pricecomparable items. A product specification can be eitherbrand- and model-specific (that is, a specification in whicha particular brand and model or a cluster of comparablebrands [and possibly models] is stipulated) or generic (thatis, a specification where only the relevant price-determiningand technical characteristics are given and no brand orcluster of brands is designated.Productivity adjustment. An adjustment made to the pricespaid by nonmarket producers for labor, capital, and intermediateinputs so that they correspond to a common levelof multifactor productivity; in practice, an adjustmentmade to the prices (compensation of employees) paid bynonmarket producers for labor so that they represent thesame level of labor productivity.Products. Goods and services that are the result of production.They are exchanged and used for various purposes:as inputs in the production of other goods and services, asfinal consumption, or for investment. Also referred to as“goods and services,” “commodities,” or “items.”Purchaser’s price. Amount paid by the purchaser, excludingany deductible VAT or similar deductible tax, to takedelivery of a unit of a good or service at the time and placerequired by the purchaser; the purchaser’s price of a goodincludes any transport charges paid separately by the purchaserto take delivery at the required time and place.PPP (purchasing power parity) between two countries,A and B, is a price ratio that measures the number of unitsof country A’s currency that are needed in country A topurchase the same quantity of an individual good or serviceas one unit of country B’s currency will purchase incountry B.