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Edgeworth Price Cycles in Gasoline: Evidence from the United States

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  • Paul Zimmerman
  • John Yun
  • Christopher Taylor

Abstract

Studies of gasoline prices in multiple countries have found sequences of a sharp price increase followed by gradual decreases. This pattern is linked to Maskin and Tirole (Econometrica 56:571–599, 1988 ) duopoly pricing game and labeled Edgeworth price cycles. We examine data on average daily MSA-level retail gasoline prices for 350 MSAs in the US from 1996–2010. We confirm the finding of others and show that a relatively small number of US MSAs in contiguous upper Midwestern states evidence price cycling. However, our lengthy data set allows us to see that these MSAs began cycling in 2000. Thus, we can examine prices in cycling and non-cycling MSAs before and after cycling and find that prices are lower in MSAs that began cycling. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York (outside the USA) 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Zimmerman & John Yun & Christopher Taylor, 2013. "Edgeworth Price Cycles in Gasoline: Evidence from the United States," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 42(3), pages 297-320, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revind:v:42:y:2013:i:3:p:297-320
    DOI: 10.1007/s11151-012-9372-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Fullerton, Thomas M. & Jiménez, Alan A. & Walke, Adam G., 2015. "An econometric analysis of retail gasoline prices in a border metropolitan economy," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 450-461.
    2. Wein, Thomas, 2021. "Why abandoning the paradise? Stations incentives to reduce gasoline prices at first," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242362, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Alex Perez & Sebastian Velez-Velasquez, 2024. "Price Dispersion and Wholesale Costs Shocks in the Colombian Retail Gasoline Markets," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-19, December.
    4. Aljoscha Janssen, 2022. "Price dynamics of Swedish pharmaceuticals," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 313-351, December.
    5. Levin, Laurence & Lewis, Matthew S. & Wolak, Frank A., 2022. "Reference dependence in the demand for gasoline," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 561-578.
    6. Matthew Chesnes, 2016. "Asymmetric Pass-Through in U.S. Gasoline Prices," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    7. Cui, Jian & Yang, Hanfang & Wang, Yifan & Yang, Caili, 2023. "Dynamics of the gas retail market under China's price cap regulation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    8. YiLi Chien & Paul Morris, 2016. "Filling the Tank on Fridays May Be a Bad Idea for St. Louisans," Economic Synopses, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue 8, pages 1-2.
    9. Noel, Michael D., 2015. "Do Edgeworth price cycles lead to higher or lower prices?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 81-93.
    10. Michael D. Noel, 2019. "Calendar synchronization of gasoline price increases," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 355-370, April.
    11. Justus Haucap & Ulrich Heimeshoff & Manuel Siekmann, 2017. "Fuel Prices and Station Heterogeneity on Retail Gasoline Markets," The Energy Journal, , vol. 38(6), pages 81-104, November.
    12. Isakower, Sean & Wang, Zhongmin, 2014. "A comparison of regular price cycles in gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 445-454.
    13. Haucap, Justus & Heimeshoff, Ulrich & Siekmann, Manuel, 2015. "Price dispersion and station heterogeneity on German retail gasoline markets," DICE Discussion Papers 171, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    14. Committee, Nobel Prize, 2014. "Market power and regulation (scientific background)," Nobel Prize in Economics documents 2014-2, Nobel Prize Committee.
    15. Arezoo Ghazanfari & Armin Razmjoo, 2022. "The Effect of Market Isolation on Competitive Behavior in Retail Petrol Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-33, July.
    16. Hurtado, Carlos & González, Julia, 2024. "Price differences within retail gasoline markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    17. Thomas Wein, 2021. "Why Abandon the Paradise? Stations’ Incentives to Reduce Gasoline Prices at First," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 465-504, December.
    18. Sylvain Benoît & Yannick Lucotte & Sébastien Ringuedé, 2019. "Competition and price stickiness: Evidence from the French retail gasoline market," Working Papers hal-02292332, HAL.
    19. Timothy Holt & Mitsuru Igami & Simon Scheidegger, 2024. "Detecting Edgeworth Cycles," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 67(1), pages 67-102.
    20. Apergis, Nicholas & Payne, James E., 2017. "Volatility Modeling of U.S. Metropolitan Retail Gasoline Prices: An Empirical Note," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 48(2), September.
    21. Thomas Wein, 2020. "Why abandoning the paradise? Stations incentives to reduce gasoline prices at first," Working Paper Series in Economics 394, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    22. Noel, Michael D. & Chu, Lanlan, 2015. "Forecasting gasoline prices in the presence of Edgeworth Price Cycles," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 204-214.
    23. Najmeh Kamyabi & Benaissa Chidmi, 2023. "Asymmetric Price Transmission between Crude Oil and the US Gasoline Market," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-11, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gasoline; Dynamic oligopoly; Edgeworth price cycles; Petroleum industry; D4; L44; L81;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D4 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design
    • L44 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Antitrust Policy and Public Enterprise, Nonprofit Institutions, and Professional Organizations
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce

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