Estimation of Regional Price Levels in the Districts of the Czech Republic

The aim of this article is to suggest and to apply a method for estimation of the regional price levels in Czech districts. Its purpose is to enable an assessment of spatial differences in the regional price levels and thereby to provide an instrument for more precise and more realistic comparison of standard of living of households across the regions of the Czech Republic. Authors use data from the extensive price surveys carried out by the Czech Statistical Office and regionalize them by an original approach derived from the Eurostat-OECD International Comparison Program and certified by the Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic. The results reflect regional differences in market prices of goods, services, as well as housing and rentals. The findings underpin the need of a more accurate specification of economic and social disparities on a regional level originating in the recent shifts of regional policies from localities-and-areas-centered to local-people-centered.