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Demand Volatility, Adjustment Costs, and Productivity: An Examination of Capacity Utilization in Hotels and Airlines

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  • R. Andrew Butters

Abstract

Measures of productivity reveal large differences across producers even within narrowly defined industries. Traditional measures of productivity, however, will associate differences in demand volatility to differences in productivity when adjusting factors of production is costly. I document this effect by comparing the influence of demand volatility on capacity utilization in a high (hotels) and low (airlines) adjustment cost industry. Differences in annual demand volatility explain a large share of the variation in occupancy rates of hotels at the metro area-segment-year level. In contrast, differences in annual demand volatility have no effect on load factors of airlines at the destination-airline-year level.

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  • R. Andrew Butters, 2020. "Demand Volatility, Adjustment Costs, and Productivity: An Examination of Capacity Utilization in Hotels and Airlines," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 1-44, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmic:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1-44
    DOI: 10.1257/mic.20170056
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    2. Silke J. Forbes & Renáta Kosová, 2023. "Does Competition Benefit Complements? Evidence from Airlines and Hotels," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(8), pages 4733-4752, August.
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    4. Veronica Leoni & David Boto-García, 2023. "The Effect of Natural Disasters on Hotel Demand, Supply and Labour Markets: Evidence from the La Palma Volcano Eruption," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(4), pages 755-780, December.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation

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