What Is Purchasing

Power Parity? (PPP)

By Investopedia | November 2, 2016 12:01 PM EDT SHARE

Macroeconomic analysis relies on several different metrics to compare economic productivity

and standards of living between countries and across time. One popular metric is purchasing
power parity (PPP).
(PPP).

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is an economic theory that compares different countries'
currencies through a market "basket of goods" approach. According to this concept, two
currencies are in equilibrium or at par when a market basket of goods (taking into account the
exchange rate) is priced the same in both countries.

This is how the relative version of PPP is calculated:

Where:

"S" represents exchange rate of currency 1 to currency 2

"P1" represents the cost of good "x" in currency 1

"P2" represents the cost of good "x" in currency 2

To make a comparison of prices across countries that holds any type of meaning, a wide range
of goods and services must be considered. The amount of data that must be collected, and the
complexity of drawing comparisons makes this process difficult. To facilitate this, the
International Comparisons Program (ICP) was established in 1968 by the University of
Pennsylvania and the United Nations.
Nations. Purchasing power parities generated by the ICP are
based on a worldwide price survey that compares the prices of hundreds of various goods.
This data, in turn, helps international macroeconomists come up with estimates of global
productivity and growth.

Every three years, the World Bank constructs and releases a report that compares various
countries in terms of PPP and U.S. dollars.

Both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) use weights based on PPP metrics to make predictions and
recommend economic policy.

These actions often impact financial markets in the short run.

Some forex traders also use PPP to find potentially overvalued or undervalued currencies.
Investors who hold stock or bonds of foreign companies may survey PPP figures to predict the
impact of exchange-rate fluctuations on a country's economy.

PPP: The Alternative to Market Exchange Rates

Using PPPs is the alternative to using market exchange rates. The actual purchasing power of
any currency is the quantity of that currency needed to buy a specified unit of a good or a
basket of common goods and services. PPP is determined in each country based on its relative
cost of living and inflation rates. Purchasing power plus parity ultimately means equalizing the
purchasing power of two differing currencies by accounting for differences in inflation rates
and cost of living.

The Big Mac Index: An Example of PPP

As a light-hearted annual test of PPP, The Economist has tracked the price of McDonald's
Corp.s (MCD
(MCD)) Big Mac burger in many countries since 1986.The highly publicized Big Mac Index
is used to measure the purchasing power parity (PPP) between nations, using the price of a Big
Mac as the benchmark
benchmark.. The Big Mac index suggests that, in theory, changes in exchange rates
between currencies should affect the price that consumers pay for a Big Mac in a particular
nation, replacing the "basket" with the famous hamburger.

For example, if the price of a Big Mac is $4.00 in the U.S. as compared to 2.5 pounds sterling in
Britain, we would expect that the exchange rate would be 1.60 (4/2.5 = 1.60). If the exchange
rate of dollars to pounds is any greater, the Big Mac Index would state that the pound was
overvalued, any lower and it would be under-valued.

That said, the index has its flaws. First, the Big Mac's price is decided by McDonald's Corp. and
can significantly affect the Big Mac index. Also, the Big Mac differs across the world in size,
ingredients, and availability. That being said, the index is meant to be light-hearted and is a
great example of PPP that is used by many schools and universities to teach students about
PPP.

What is the Difference Between GDP and GDP Accounting for

PPP?
In contemporary macroeconomics, GDP refers to the total monetary value of the goods and
services produced within one country. Nominal GDP calculates the monetary value in current,
absolute terms. Real GDP takes the nominal GDP and adjusts it for inflation. Further, some
accounts of GDP are adjusted for relative purchasing power parity or PPP. This adjustment is
based on an attempt to convert nominal GDP into a number more easily comparable between
countries with different currencies.

GDP with PPP

One way to think of what GDP with PPP represents is to imagine the total collective purchasing
power of Japan if it were used to make the same purchases in U.S. markets. This only works
after all yen are exchanged for dollars, otherwise, the comparison does not make sense. The
net effect is to describe how many dollars it takes to buy $1 worth of goods in Japan as
opposed to in the U.S.

The following micro-example can illustrate that point. Suppose it costs $10 to buy a shirt in the
U.S. It costs 8.00 to buy the same shirt in Germany. To make an apples-to-apples comparison,
the 8.00 in Germany needs to be converted into U.S. dollars.
dollars. If the exchange rate was such
that the shirt in Germany costs $15.00, the PPP would be 15/10, or 1.5. For every $1.00 spent on
the shirt in the U.S., it takes $1.50 to obtain the same shirt in Germany.
Which Nations Have the Greatest Purchasing Power?
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the total dollar value of all goods and services produced by a
country in a given year. It is one of the primary indicators used to evaluate a country's
economy and can be calculated in market exchange terms and in purchasing power parity
(PPP) terms.

A country's GDP at PPP takes into consideration the relative costs of local goods and services
produced in a country valued at prices of the United States. It factors in exchange rates and
the inflation rates of each country. Further, GDP at PPP reflects the purchasing power of a
citizen in one country to a citizen of another. For example, a pair of shoes may cost less in one
country than another, so purchasing power parity is needed for fairness in the calculation.

The five nations with the highest GDP in market exchange terms are the U.S., China, India,
Japan, and Germany. This comparison changes when PPP is used. According to 2014 data from
the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China has overtaken the U.S. as the world's largest
economy based on purchasing power with just over 16.5% of the global GDP. The U.S. comes
in second with 16.5%. India, Japan, and Germany follow with 6.8%, 4.5%, and 3.4%
respectively.

The Downfalls of PPP: Short-Term Vs. Long-Term Parity

Empirical evidence has shown that for many goods and baskets of goods,goods, PPP is not observed
in the short-term
short-term,, and there is uncertainty over whether it applies in the long-term. In
Burgernomics, (2003) a prominent paper that explores the Big Mac Index and PPP, authors
Michael Pakko and Patricia Pollard cite several confounding factors as to why PPP theory does
not line up with reality.
The reasons for this differentiation include:

Transport Costs:
Costs: Goods that are not available locally will need to be imported, resulting
in transport costs. Imported goods will consequently sell at a relatively higher price than the
same goods available from local sources.
Taxes:: When government sales taxes,
Taxes taxes, such as value-added tax (VAT), are high in one
country relative to another, this means goods will sell at a relatively higher price in the high-
tax country.
Government Intervention:
Intervention: Import tariffs add to the price of imported goods. Where these
are used to restrict supply, demand rises, causing the price of the goods to rise as well. In
countries where the same good is unrestricted and abundant, its price will be lower.
Governments that restrict exports will see a good's price rise in importing countries facing a
shortage,, and fall in exporting countries where its supply is increasing.
shortage
Non-Traded Services: The Big Mac's price is composed of input costs that are not
traded. Therefore, those costs are unlikely to be at parity internationally. These costs can
include the cost of the storefront, and other expenses such as insurance, heating and the cost
of labor.
labor.
According to PPP, in countries where non-traded service costs are relatively high, goods
will be relatively expensive, causing such countries' currencies to be overvalued relative to
currencies in countries with low costs of non-traded services.
Market Competition: Goods might be deliberately priced higher in a country because
the company has a competitive advantage over other sellers, either because it has a monopoly
or is part of a cartel of companies that manipulate prices.
The company's sought-after brand might allow it to sell at a premium price as well.
Conversely, it might take years of offering goods at a reduced price to establish a brand and
add a premium, especially if there are cultural or political hurdles to overcome.
Inflation: The rate at which the price of goods (or baskets of goods) is changing in
countries, the inflation rate, can indicate the value of those countries' currencies. Such relative
PPP overcomes the need for goods to be the same when testing absolute PPP discussed
above.

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