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Targeted Price Controls on Supermarket Products

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  • Diego Aparicio
  • Alberto Cavallo

Abstract

We study the impact of targeted price controls for supermarket products in Argentina from 2007 to 2015. Using web-scraping, we collected daily prices for controlled and non-controlled goods and measured the differential effects on inflation, product availability, and price dispersion. We first show that, although price controls are imposed on goods with significant CPI weight, they have a temporary effect on aggregate inflation and no downward effect on other goods. Second, contrary to common beliefs, we find that controlled goods are consistently available for sale. Third, firms compensate for price controls by introducing new product varieties at higher prices. This behavior, which increases price dispersion within narrow categories, is consistent with a standard vertical differentiation model in the presence of price controls.

Suggested Citation

  • Diego Aparicio & Alberto Cavallo, 2018. "Targeted Price Controls on Supermarket Products," NBER Working Papers 24275, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24275
    Note: IO ME
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    13. Alberto Cavallo & Roberto Rigobon, 2016. "The Billion Prices Project: Using Online Prices for Measurement and Research," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(2), pages 151-178, Spring.
    14. Aparicio, Diego & Bertolotto, Manuel I., 2020. "Forecasting inflation with online prices," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 232-247.
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    Cited by:

    1. David Staines, 2023. "Stochastic Equilibrium the Lucas Critique and Keynesian Economics," Papers 2312.16214, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2024.
    2. Hernández, Carlos Eduardo & Cantillo-Cleves, Santiago, 2024. "A toolkit for setting and evaluating price floors," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    3. Aparicio, Diego & Bertolotto, Manuel I., 2020. "Forecasting inflation with online prices," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 232-247.
    4. Diego Daruich & Julian Kozlowski, 2023. "Macroeconomic Implications of Uniform Pricing," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 64-108, July.
    5. Ivan Mužić & Ivan Žilić, 2023. "Can selective price controls fight off inflation? Lessons from milk products in Croatia," Working Papers 71, The Croatian National Bank, Croatia.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation

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