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Retail Gasoline Price Ceilings and Regulatory Capture: Evidence from Canada

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  • Anindya Sen
  • Anthony Clemente
  • Linda Jonker

Abstract

We evaluate the efficacy of price ceiling legislation by employing weekly data on retail gasoline prices for eight cities in Eastern Canada between 1999 and 2007. The use of these data allows us to pool "treatment" cities in the Atlantic provinces with "control" cities in Ontario and Quebec. Ordinary least squares and instrumental variables estimates demonstrate that the enactment of such regulation is significantly correlated with higher prices. A potential explanation for these results is that price ceilings act as "focal points" enabling firms to set higher prices, thus suggesting the possibility of regulatory capture. Copyright 2011, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Anindya Sen & Anthony Clemente & Linda Jonker, 2011. "Retail Gasoline Price Ceilings and Regulatory Capture: Evidence from Canada," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 13(2), pages 532-564.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:amlawe:v:13:y:2011:i:2:p:532-564
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/aler/ahr008
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Patrick Rey & Jean Tirole, 2019. "Price Caps as Welfare-Enhancing Coopetition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(6), pages 3018-3069.
    2. 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).
    3. Yaseen GHULAM, 2018. "The Impact Of Reforms And Privatization On Firms’ Conduct In The Presence Of Interconnected Conglomerates And Weak And Inefficient Regulatory Institutions," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(4), pages 599-622, December.
    4. 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.
    5. Alex W. Chernoff, 2015. "Between a cap and a higher price: Modelling the price of dairy quotas under price ceiling legislation," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 48(4), pages 1403-1429, November.
    6. Riemer P. Faber & Maarten C. W. Janssen, 2019. "On the Effects of Suggested Prices in Gasoline Markets," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(2), pages 676-705, April.
    7. Andrew Eckert & Heather Eckert, 2014. "Regional Patterns in Gasoline Station Rationalization in Canada," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 99-122, March.
    8. Mark J. Holmes & Jesús Otero & Theodore Panagiotidis, 2022. "Convergence in retail gasoline prices: insights from Canadian cities," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 68(1), pages 207-228, February.
    9. Becker, Maike & Pfeifer, Gregor & Schweikert, Karsten, 2021. "Price Effects of the Austrian Fuel Price Fixing Act: A Synthetic Control Study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    10. Fasoula, Evanthia & Schweikert, Karsten, 2018. "Price regulations and price adjustment dynamics: Evidence from the Austrian retail fuel market," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 08-2018, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    11. Zhang, Xiao-Bing & Fei, Yinxin & Zheng, Ying & Zhang, Lei, 2020. "Price ceilings as focal points to reach price uniformity: Evidence from a Chinese gasoline market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Bello, Alejandro & Contín-Pilart, Ignacio, 2012. "Taxes, cost and demand shifters as determinants in the regional gasoline price formation process: Evidence from Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 439-448.
    13. Jun Li & Di (Andrew) Wu, 2022. "The Price Effect of Drug Price Ceilings: Intended and Unintended Consequences," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(8), pages 5758-5777, August.

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