The Effects of Gasoline Price Regulations: Experimental Evidence

The Effects of Gasoline Price Regulations: Experimental Evidence PDF Author: Justus Haucap
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783863040468
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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The Effects of Gasoline Price Regulations: Experimental Evidence

The Effects of Gasoline Price Regulations: Experimental Evidence PDF Author: Justus Haucap
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783863040468
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


The Effects of Gasoline Price Regulations

The Effects of Gasoline Price Regulations PDF Author: Justus Haucap
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 25

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Book Description
Petrol prices tend to be subject to regular changes, often changing more than once a day in many countries, and the number of changes appears to increase. For example, a recent sector inquiry by Germany's competition authority has found that the number of price changes has almost tripled between 2007 and 2010. At the same time, economic theory suggests that gasoline retail markets are prone to collusive behavior. Oligopoly market structures prevail, market interactions occur frequently, prices are highly transparent, and demand is rather inelastic. As a result, a public debate has emerged whether or not to adopt regulatory pricing rules for gas stations similar to those implemented in Austria, parts of Australia, Luxembourg or parts of Canada. In order to increase consumer welfare these rules either restrict the number of price changes per day or they limit the mark-up for gasoline retail prices. As theoretical predictions about the impact of these measures are mixed and empirical studies rare, we analyze the effects, using an experimental gasoline market in the lab. Our results reveal that two of the suggested rules rather decrease consumer welfare: The Austrian rule which only allows one price increase per day (while price cuts are always possible) and the Luxembourg rule which introduces a maximum markup for retailers. While no rule tends to induce lower retail prices, the Western Australian rule which allows at most one daily price change (no matter whether up or down) does at least not harm consumers.

The Consumer Response to Gasoline Price Changes

The Consumer Response to Gasoline Price Changes PDF Author: Kenneth Thomas Gillingham
Publisher: Stanford University
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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When gasoline prices rise, people notice: the news is filled with reports of pinched household budgets and politicians feeling pressure to do something to ameliorate the burden. Yet, raising the gasoline tax to internalize externalities is widely considered by economists to be among the most economic efficiency-improving policies we could implement in the transportation sector. This dissertation brings new evidence to bear on quantifying the responsiveness to changing gasoline prices, both on the intensive margin (i.e., how much to drive) and the extensive margin (i.e., what vehicles to buy). I assemble a unique and extremely rich vehicle-level dataset that includes all new vehicle registrations in California 2001 to 2009, and all of the mandatory smog check program odometer readings for 2002 to 2009. The full dataset exceeds 49 million observations. Using this dataset, I quantify the responsiveness to gasoline price changes on both margins, as well as the heterogeneity in the responsiveness. I develop a novel structural model of vehicle choice and subsequent utilization, where consumer decisions are modeled in a dynamic setting that explicitly accounts for selection on unobserved driving preference at both the time of purchase and the time of driving. This utility-consistent model allows for the analysis of the welfare implications to consumers and government of a variety of different policies, including gasoline taxes and feebates. I find that consumers are responsive to changing gasoline prices in both vehicle choice and driving decisions, with more responsiveness than in many recent studies in the literature. I estimate a medium-run (i.e., roughly two-year) elasticity of fuel economy with respect to the price of gasoline for new vehicles around 0.1 for California, a response that varies by whether the vehicle manufacturer faces a tightly binding fuel economy standard. I estimate a medium-run elasticity of driving with respect to the price of gasoline around -0.15 for new personal vehicles in the first six years. Older vehicles are driven much less, but tend to be more responsive, with an elasticity of roughly -0.3. I find that the vehicle-level responsiveness in driving to gasoline price changes varies by vehicle class, income, geographic, and demographic groups. I also find that not including controls for economic conditions and not accounting for selection into different types of new vehicles based on unobserved driving preference tend to bias the elasticity of driving away from zero -- implying a greater responsiveness than the true responsiveness. This is an important methodological point, for much of the literature estimating similar elasticities ignores these two issues. These results have significant policy implications for policies to reduce gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. The relatively inelastic estimated responsiveness on both margins suggests that a gasoline tax policy may not lead to dramatic reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, but is a relatively non-distortionary policy instrument to raise revenue. When the externalities of driving are considered, an increased gasoline tax may not only be relatively non-distortionary, but even economic efficiency-improving. However, I find that the welfare changes from an increased gasoline tax vary significantly across counties in California, an important consideration for the political feasibility of the policy. Finally, I find suggestive evidence that the ``rebound effect'' of a policy that works only on the extensive margin, such as a feebate or CAFE standards, may be closer to zero than the elasticity of driving with respect to the price of gasoline. This suggestive finding is particularly important for the analysis of the welfare effects of any policy that focuses entirely on the extensive margin.

Gasoline Price Dispersion and Consumer Search

Gasoline Price Dispersion and Consumer Search PDF Author: Michael D. Noel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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The vast majority of empirical studies examining the link between consumer search and price dispersion focus on how changes in consumer search impact price dispersion. This article does the reverse--it examines how a shock to price dispersion impacts consumer search. A direct measure of search is used and an exogenous shock to price dispersion is found in a refinery fire that caused decades-old retail gasoline price cycles, and the nonlinear high-frequency price dispersion pattern generated by them, to stop. Identifying effects from this shock, the results show a substantial response of consumer search to changes in price dispersion.

Less Pain at the Pump?

Less Pain at the Pump? PDF Author: Ralf Dewenter
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783863040505
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 21

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The Economics of Gasoline Regulation

The Economics of Gasoline Regulation PDF Author: Michael Henry Gadsden
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 122

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Book Description
This research examines economic impacts of two gasoline regulations designed to combat tropospheric ozone pollution. I construct several fixed effects econometric models to assess impacts of reformulated gasoline and low volatility gasoline on retail gasoline prices and consumer costs. I estimate that reformulated gasoline has had a positive and statistically significant impact on real fuel prices of approximately 3.4 to 6.0 cents per gallon. I estimate that federal low volatility gasoline has had an insignificant price impact of 0.0 to 0.8 cents per gallon, but find that state-level controls more stringent than federal standards may have increased prices by over 8.0 cents per gallon. I also find that both reformulated gasoline and low volatility gasoline price effects likely vary substantially between cities. I present a framework for examining changes in welfare and estimate that over 15 years the reformulated gasoline program has cost consumers between $15.1 billion and $39.0 billion.

Gasoline Price Differences

Gasoline Price Differences PDF Author: Hayley Chouinard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Essays on Gasoline Price Spikes, Environmental Regulation of Gasoline Content, and Incentives for Refinery Operation

Essays on Gasoline Price Spikes, Environmental Regulation of Gasoline Content, and Incentives for Refinery Operation PDF Author: Erich Johann Muehlegger
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Gasoline
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
Since 1999, regional retail and wholesale gasoline markets in the United States have experienced significant price volatility, both intertemporally and across geographic markets. In particular, gasoline prices in California, Illinois and Wisconsin have spiked occasionally well above gasoline prices in nearby states. The three chapters of my thesis study the relationship between gasoline price spikes, environmental regulation of gasoline content, unanticipated refinery outages and other recent structural changes in the domestic oil market. In the first chapter, I detail current regulations related to gasoline content. Implemented regionally to address local mobile-source emissions, gasoline content regulations increase costs to refiners, transporters and distributors of gasoline, as well as reduce the fungibility of gasoline across different regions. Chapter one provides a summary of the regulations and a qualitative description the costs the regulations impose on refiners, transporters and distributors of gasoline. In chapter two, I estimate two distinct effects of gasoline content regulations in California, Illinois and Wisconsin: (i) the effect of increased production costs due to supplementary regulation, and (ii) the effect of incompatibility between these blends and gasoline meeting federal reformulated gasoline standards. Using a structural model based on the production optimization problem of refiners, I simulate wholesale prices for jet fuel, diesel and four blends of gasoline in each geographic market. I then specify a counterfactual in which gasoline in the three states met federal requirements.

The Economics of World War I

The Economics of World War I PDF Author: Stephen Broadberry
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139448358
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 363

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Book Description
This unique volume offers a definitive new history of European economies at war from 1914 to 1918. It studies how European economies mobilised for war, how existing economic institutions stood up under the strain, how economic development influenced outcomes and how wartime experience influenced post-war economic growth. Leading international experts provide the first systematic comparison of economies at war between 1914 and 1918 based on the best available data for Britain, Germany, France, Russia, the USA, Italy, Turkey, Austria-Hungary and the Netherlands. The editors' overview draws some stark lessons about the role of economic development, the importance of markets and the damage done by nationalism and protectionism. A companion volume to the acclaimed The Economics of World War II, this is a major contribution to our understanding of total war.

News Shocks in Open Economies

News Shocks in Open Economies PDF Author: Mr.Rabah Arezki
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513590766
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Book Description
This paper explores the effect of news shocks on the current account and other macroeconomic variables using worldwide giant oil discoveries as a directly observable measure of news shocks about future output ? the delay between a discovery and production is on average 4 to 6 years. We first present a two-sector small open economy model in order to predict the responses of macroeconomic aggregates to news of an oil discovery. We then estimate the effects of giant oil discoveries on a large panel of countries. Our empirical estimates are consistent with the predictions of the model. After an oil discovery, the current account and saving rate decline for the first 5 years and then rise sharply during the ensuing years. Investment rises robustly soon after the news arrives, while GDP does not increase until after 5 years. Employment rates fall slightly for a sustained period of time.