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Competition and price asymmetries in the Greek oil sector: an empirical analysis on gasoline market

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  • Michael Polemis

Abstract

This article attempts to investigate the issue of asymmetries in the transmission of shocks to input prices and exchange rate onto the wholesale and retail price of gasoline respectively. For this purpose, we utilise the error-correction methodology in the Greek gasoline market. The sample consists of monthly data covering the period of January 1988 to June 2006. We also try to analyse by using impulse response functions the effect of competition on the dynamic adjustment of gasoline price to which has been paid scant attention in the past. The results favour the common perception that retail gasoline prices respond asymmetrically to cost increases and decreases both in the long and the short-run. At the wholesale segment, there is a symmetric response of the spot prices of gasoline towards the adjustment to the short-run responses of the exchange rate. Lastly, after the deregulation, wholesale prices of gasoline tend to gradually restore equilibrium triggered by a price shock compared to the regulated period. Copyright The Author(s) 2012

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  • Michael Polemis, 2012. "Competition and price asymmetries in the Greek oil sector: an empirical analysis on gasoline market," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 789-817, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:43:y:2012:i:2:p:789-817
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-011-0507-7
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Asymmetries; Gasoline market; Impulse response functions; Competition; Deregulation; D40; L11; C51; C22;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation
    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes

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