We develop a model of vertical pricing in which an original manufacturer sets wholesale prices in two markets integrated at the distributor level by parallel imports (PI). In this context we show that if competition policy requires uniform wholesale prices across locations it would push retail prices toward convergence as transportation costs fall. However, these retail prices could be higher t...

A retailer following a competition-based dynamic pricing strategy tracks competitors' price changes and then must answer the following questions: (1) Should the retailer respond? (2) If so, respond to whom? (3) How much of a response? (4) And on which products? The answers require unbiased measures of price elasticity as well as accurate knowledge of competitor significance and the extent to wh...

It is widely known that loss aversion leads individuals to dislike risk, and as has been argued by many researchers, in many instances this creates an incentive for firms to shield consumers and employees against economic risks. Complementing previous research, we show that consumer loss aversion can also have the opposite effect: it can lead a firm to optimally introduce risk into an otherwise...

Rising Food Prices and Household Welfare: Evidence from Brazil in 2008 Food price inflation in Brazil in the twelve months to June 2008 was 18 percent, while overall inflation was 5.3 percent. This paper uses spatially disaggregated monthly data on consumer prices and two different household surveys to estimate the welfare consequences of these food price increases, and their distribution acros...

In opaque pricing certain characteristics of the product or service are hidden from the consumer until after purchase, transforming a differentiated good into somewhat of a commodity. Opaque pricing has become popular in service pricing as it allows firms to sell their differentiated products at higher prices to regular brand loyal customers while simultaneously selling to non loyal customers a...

This paper utilizes a micro data set on consumer durables to study the effect of consumption tax reforms on the time path of consumption. The dataset reports the monthly sales of individual products and their consumer prices in 22 European countries, which enacted numerous consumption tax reforms in recent years. We implement a reduced form specification for sales that allows us to test theoret...

This paper explains a technique and presents empirical results for measuring the change in elderly consumer’s welfare due to price changes in items in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). A new approach for measuring welfare changes due to price changes in owner-occupied housing in a static and dynamic setting is the cornerstone of this research. The model treats housing as an asset with the fundame...

Online shopping is common in many categories of retail goods. The recent trend towards online retailing has created an unprecedented empirical opportunity to examine consumer search behavior using click stream data. In this paper we examine consumer search intensity across a wide range of grocery products that differ in the depth of product assortment. We develop a model of attribute search in ...

Consumer theory is concerned with how a rational consumer would make consumption decisions. What makes this problem worthy of separate study, apart from the general problem of choice theory, is its particular structure that allows us to derive economically meaningful results. The structure arises because the consumer’s choice sets sets are assumed to be defined by certain prices and the consume...

This paper analyzes telecom consumer relationship by exploring customer switching behavior and classifying communication categories to support companies in planning applicable communication to thwart the consumer switching and improving consumer loyalty. Quantitative research is carried out by surveying 383 telecom consumers who have experienced the switching process. Findings uncover that tele...