Edgeworth cycles revisited

Some gasoline markets exhibit remarkable price cycles, where price spikes are followed by a series of small price declines: a pattern consistent with a model of Edgeworth cycles described by Maskin and Tirole. We extend the model and empirically test its predictions with a new dataset of daily stati...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Doyle, Joseph J., Muehlegger, Erich, Samphantharak, Krislert
Other Authors: Sloan School of Management
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Elsevier B.V. 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64740
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4373-9302
Description
Summary:Some gasoline markets exhibit remarkable price cycles, where price spikes are followed by a series of small price declines: a pattern consistent with a model of Edgeworth cycles described by Maskin and Tirole. We extend the model and empirically test its predictions with a new dataset of daily station-level prices in 115 US cities. Consistent with the theory, and often in contrast with previous empirical work, we find the least and most concentrated markets are much less likely to exhibit cycling behavior both within and across cities; areas with more independent convenience-store gas stations are also more likely to cycle.