DTIC AD1006891: The Role of Inflation and pdf

DTIC AD1006891: The Role of Inflation and

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The application of price indexes presents a substantial challenge in estimating the costs of new defense systems. The problem is twofold. First, the analyst must use a price index when normalizing historical cost data to a common point in time (where the normalized costs are referred to as base year (BY) dollars in defense acquisitions or, more generally, real dollars) so that these data can be used to help estimate the costs of future systems. Second, as budget requirements for future acquisitions are in then-year (TY) dollars (or more generally, nominal dollars), BY dollar estimates must be inflated to TY dollars using a price index. Using an inappropriate price index can introduce errors in both of these steps. In this paper we apply two sets of price indexes to a cost estimating problemthe F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) procurement program. The purpose is to help cost analysts and others involved in the acquisition process understand the impacts of different price indexes and to provide guidance in their choice.

We approach this problem by way of hedonic price indexes derived from cost estimating relationships (CERs). Hedonic price indexes isolate changes in price due to factors other than changes in quality over time. We develop a Baseline CER model with this approach using data on historical tactical aircraft programs available at the F 35s late-2001 Milestone B decision. Comparisons are made between the Baseline model estimates, estimates produced by the F-35 program office, and estimates using cost models employing more conventional approaches to inflation adjustment. We find that the Baseline hedonic model provides estimates close to actual F-35 costs. As the hedonic index is directly estimated only for the historic period, we develop a procedure to project inflation rates based on historical hedonic index values

• Creator/s: Defense Technical Information Center
• Date: 3/1/2016
• Year: 2016
• Book Topics/Themes: DTIC Archive, Harmon, Bruce R, Institute for Defense Analyses Alexandria, price index, cost estimates, fighter aircraft, inflation economics, case studies

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