USSR: Measures of Economic Growth and Development, 1950-80

Approved for Release: 2019/07/19 C05210421
and implicitly, all of the items included in the tovary
series except household chemicals. A comparison of
the three indexes is shown below (1950 = 100):
Index of C0nsump- CIA Index of Index of
tion of Durables Production of Tovary
and Miscellaneous Consumer
Goods Durables
and Furniture "
19,6°___,__ ‘}j4_9_,_,_ ,__ _ _f’@L_-, _____4§___...
197° W _ ‘9_Y2,_.___._ , ____ 1,25 §___ ,____ 1_~2_@.__ _ _..__
1975 1,660 l,773 2,018
*' Weighted by estimated retail sales of durables (78.4 percent) and of
furniture (2l.6 percent)
Although the index of consumption grew more slowly
than the production-based indexes, the rates ofgrowth
shown by the three indexes are not greatly different. A
number of factors may account for the differences: (l)
differences in coverage, (2) probable price inflation in
the tovary series, (3) the fact that the CIA production
index reflects the tovary series in part, (4) the
production-based series include exports and some non-
consumption usage, while the consumption index
reflects imports, (5) the production-based series allow
for inventory accumulations.
Weights. The 1970 weight represents the value of
relevant categories of goods identified in Soviet retail
sales data plus a share of the residual of unidentified
sales, less repair and other applicable services, commis-
sion sales, and purchases by state enterprises and
organizations. The details are described in Appendix D
of JEC, GNP, 1950-80. The category weight is judged
to be quite reliable.
Index. The index for durables and miscellaneous goods
is derived from three sets of regularly published data:
(l)value of retail sales by major product category in
current prices, found, for example, in Narkhoz 1975,
pp. 626-627; (2) indexes of prices in state and cooperat-
ive retail trade by major product group (found, for
example in Narkhoz 1975, pp. 645), and (3) for a few
categories, indexes of the growth of retail sales in
constant prices (found, for example, in Narkhoz I975,
p. 590). From these data it is possible to obtain a series
of ruble values of total retail sales of non-food goods in
constant I970 rubles and likewise a series of similar
values for tobacco and for 17 categories of soft goods
that are included in our indexes for food beverages, and
tobacco and for soft goods. The sum of these 18 values
for each year was then subtracted from the total value
of non-food goods in that year to obtain the residual
value in constant 1970 rubles. The residual consists
almost entirely of durables and miscellaneous related
goods. The procedure, in effect, derives the price
deflator for this group of goods that is implicit in the
values and indexes in current and constant values
published by the Soviet government. This outcome is
made possible by the fact that the official indexes of rc-
tail prices are linked indexes employing given year
weights (S. G. Stolyarov, O tsenakh i tsenoobrazovanii
vSSSR, Moscow, I969, p. I03). The values underlying
the index of durables and miscellaneous goods are
shown in Appendix D.
Services
The index of services is a weighted average ofan index
of household services and an index of communal
services. The weights are those for 1970 used in GNP
by end use.
Household Services
The index for household services is a weighted aggre-
gate of six sub-indexes for major types of services»
housing, utilities, transportation, communications, re-
pair and personal care, and recreation. The indexes as
a group cover all of the major household services; any
services omitted would be insignificant in terms of
consumer expenditures. The Soviet Union lacks most
of the financial and related services that are impor-
tant in Western countries. Although some, such as
legal services, do exist, there are no data concerning
them. The 1970 expenditure weights used to aggre-
gate the 6 sub-indexes are those used in GNP by end
use; they are described in detail in CIA, GNP I97!)
and in JEC, GNP, 1950-80, Appendix D. The data
underlying each of the sub-indexes are given in
Appendix E.
Housing. Scope and Coverage. The index measures
the flow of housing services in real terms by the
change in the total stock of living space available
expressed in square meters. The stock includes all
housing, public and private,.urban and rural. About
80 percent of rural housing and 25 percent of all
urban housing is privately owned. State housing con-
sists mainly of multi-family buildings, where small
apartments are rented at heavily subsidized rates. The
basic rates have not been changed since they were set
in the 1920s. In the US‘ national accounts, housing
services as a component of personal consumption are
measured by expenditures in current prices, deflated
by an index for rents that is a component of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index.
Value data are not available for the Soviet Union.
343
Approved for Release: 2019/07/19 C05210421