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Lowering consumer search costs can lead to higher prices

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  • Nishida, Mitsukuni
  • Remer, Marc

Abstract

We demonstrate that regulations that lower consumer search costs and make them less heterogeneous across consumers can lead to higher prices charged by firms. We estimate the distribution of consumer search costs for 366 isolated retail gasoline markets, and find that reducing the mean and standard deviation by 20% and 48%, respectively, leads to price increases in 32% of markets and an average price increase of 5.2 cents per gallon across all markets. Thus, price transparency regulation that results in higher prices may not stem from collusion, but from an equilibrium with less consumer search.

Suggested Citation

  • Nishida, Mitsukuni & Remer, Marc, 2018. "Lowering consumer search costs can lead to higher prices," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1-4.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:162:y:2018:i:c:p:1-4
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2017.10.011
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sander Heinsalu, 2023. "Greater search cost reduces prices," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 75(3), pages 923-947, April.
    2. Xu, Jiayi & Zhang, Xiao-Bing & Liu, Yang, 2024. "Asymmetric search behavior for gasoline prices: Evidence from the Chinese gasoline market," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PB), pages 699-712.
    3. José Manuel Ordóñez-de-Haro & Jordi Perdiguero & Juan-Luis Jiménez, 2020. "Fuel prices at petrol stations in touristic cities," Tourism Economics, , vol. 26(1), pages 45-69, February.
    4. Lindgren, Charlie & Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov & Rudholm, Niklas, 2021. "Pricing In Retail Markets With Low Search Costs: Evidence From A Price Comparison Website," HFI Working Papers 18, Institute of Retail Economics (Handelns Forskningsinstitut).
    5. Taehwan Kim, 2022. "Changing Market Structure and Evolving Ways to Compete: Evidence from Retail Gasoline," The Energy Journal, , vol. 43(6), pages 147-168, November.
    6. Tabaghdehi, Seyedeh Asieh H. & Hunter, John, 2020. "Long-run price behaviour in the gasoline market - The role of exogeneity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 620-627.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Search costs; Consumer search; Retail gasoline;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D4 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design
    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance

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