度量中国经济：购买力平价的适当应用

Measuring China's Economy:The Proper Use of PPP Methods

本文介绍了世界银行2005年购买力平价数据,并使用这些数据将中国经济的规模、结构和发展程度与世界其他主要国家做了比较。文章讨论了购买力平价与市场汇率不同的应用之处,并指出了在衡量中国相对经济实力和影响力的研究中普遍存在的一些对于购买力平价的误用。文章比较了世界各主要国家的实际生产力水平、生活水平、投资支出和价格水平,还构建了一个指标"机械与设备相对价格"来反映一国工业化的程度。最后,使用分部门的购买力平价数据,文章比较了中国和印度2005年在各个部门上的支出总量与部门产品价格,讨论了购买力平价在分析两国相对发展程度与比较优势中的价值与局限。

This article uses Purchasing Power Parities （PPP） price data from the World Bank 2005 International Comparison Program to compare China with other major countries in terms of real economic size, economic structure, as well as development level. The article presents the proper usage of PPP prices and Market Exchange Rates, and points out several common misuses of PPPs in measuring and comparing China＇ s relative international wealth and power. Using the PPP data, the article examines differences in real aggregate productivity, living standards, investment expenditures, and price level of major countries in the world. Furthermore, we have constructed a variable, the Relative Manufactured Goods Price, to characterize the industrialization level of one country. Employing sector-level PPP data, the article compares the total expenditure within various sectors by China and India in 2005, offering insights on both the utility and the limits of PPP analysis in comparing relative development level and comparative advantage in the two economies.