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Equilibrium Price Dispersion Across and Within Stores

Author

Listed:
  • Guido Menzio
  • Nicholas Trachter
Abstract
We develop a search-theoretic model of the product market that generates price dispersion across and within stores. Buyers differ with respect to their ability to shop around, both at different stores and at different times. The fact that some buyers can shop from only one seller while others can shop from multiple sellers causes price dispersion across stores. The fact that the buyers who can shop from multiple sellers are more likely to be able to shop at inconvenient times (e.g., on Monday morning) causes price dispersion within stores. Specifically, it causes sellers to post different prices for the same good at different times in order to discriminate between different types of buyers.

Suggested Citation

  • Guido Menzio & Nicholas Trachter, 2015. "Equilibrium Price Dispersion Across and Within Stores," NBER Working Papers 21493, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21493
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Nemet, Gregory F. & O’Shaughnessy, Eric & Wiser, Ryan & Darghouth, Naïm & Barbose, Galen & Gillingham, Ken & Rai, Varun, 2017. "Characteristics of low-priced solar PV systems in the U.S," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 501-513.
    2. Greg Kaplan & Guido Menzio & Leena Rudanko & Nicholas Trachter, 2019. "Relative Price Dispersion: Evidence and Theory," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 68-124, August.
    3. Dudley Cooke, 2019. "Consumer Search, Incomplete Exchange Rate Pass‐Through, and Optimal Interest Rate Policy," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(2-3), pages 455-484, March.
    4. Olivier Coibion & Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Dmitri Koustas, 2021. "Consumption Inequality and the Frequency of Purchases," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 449-482, October.
    5. Menzio, Guido, 2024. "Search theory of imperfect competition with decreasing returns to scale," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    6. Lucas Herrenbrueck, 2018. "Instability of endogenous price dispersion equilibria: A simulation," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 51(4), pages 1363-1385, November.
    7. Chahrour, Ryan & Stevens, Luminita, 2020. "Price dispersion and the border effect," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 135-146.
    8. Ma, Qingyin & Stachurski, John, 2019. "Optimal timing of decisions: A general theory based on continuation values," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 62-81.
    9. Baughman, Garth & Rabinovich, Stanislav, 2019. "Self-confirming price dispersion in monetary economies," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 284-311.
    10. Coen, Jamie & Kashyap, Anil & Rostom, May, 2021. "Price discrimination and mortgage choice," Bank of England working papers 926, Bank of England.
    11. Hämäläinen, Saara, 2022. "Multiproduct search obfuscation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    12. Shi, Shouyong, 2023. "Sequentially mixed search and equilibrium price dispersion," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    13. Roldan-Blanco, Pau & Gilbukh, Sonia, 2021. "Firm dynamics and pricing under customer capital accumulation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 99-119.
    14. Petrikaite, Vaiva & Hämäläinen, Saara, 2018. "Mobility with private information and privacy suppression," CEPR Discussion Papers 12860, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Gallin, Joshua & Verbrugge, Randal J., 2019. "A theory of sticky rents: Search and bargaining with incomplete information," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 478-519.
    16. Jose A. Carrasco & Rodrigo Yañez, 2022. "Sequential search and firm prominence," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 74(1), pages 209-233, July.
    17. Böheim, René & Hackl, Franz & Hölzl-Leitner, Michael, 2021. "The impact of price adjustment costs on price dispersion in e-commerce," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    18. Hämäläinen, Saara, 2018. "Competitive search obfuscation," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 38-63.
    19. Rao, Neel, 2022. "Search equilibrium with unobservable investment," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 300-330.
    20. Lindgren, Charlie & Li, Yujiao & Rudholm, Niklas, 2020. "Why do firms compete on price comparison websites? The impact on productivity, profits, and wages," HFI Working Papers 14, Institute of Retail Economics (Handelns Forskningsinstitut).
    21. Pau Roldan & Sophia Gilbukh, 2017. "Firm Dynamics and Pricing under Customer Capital Accumulation," 2017 Meeting Papers 1235, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    22. Nicholas Trachter, 2016. "Price Dispersion When Stores Sell Multiple Goods," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue 2Q, pages 127-146.
    23. Makoto Hanazono & Noritaka Kudoh, 2024. "Prominence And Market Power: Asymmetric Oligopoly With Sequential Consumer Search," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 65(3), pages 1249-1281, August.
    24. José Tudón, 2021. "Can price dispersion be supported solely by information frictions?," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 9(1), pages 75-90, April.

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    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection

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