Some empirical evidence from the use of scanner data to estimate prices of food products included in the absolute poverty basket

Abstract

This work was developed within the activities of the Inter-Institutional Scientific Commission (IISC) established by ISTAT in order to review the methodology for estimating absolute poverty. The paper describes the main aspects of the new methodology used to estimate the prices of food products included in the absolute poverty basket, implemented thanks to the availability of scanner data, the new data source used by Istat for survey on consumer prices. The large availability of data allowed a selection of references (identified by barcodes/GTINs[1]) in order to calculate the annual minimum average prices of products necessary to satisfy the food needs of poor households. The paper shows some empirical evidences obtained from the analysis of scanner database. The causes of the high differences that emerged at a territorial level are also investigated.

[1] The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) is a unique product identifier that is recognized internationally. If available, the GTIN code is indicated next to the barcode on product packaging.