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on Industrial Organization |
| By: | Chad Syverson |
| Abstract: | Interest in market power has recently surged among economists in many fields, well beyond its traditional home in industrial organization. This has focused empirical attention on markups, the ratios of price to marginal cost in product markets, and markdowns, the ratios of inputs’ marginal products to their paid wage in factor markets. In this review, I offer a conceptual overview of both metrics and survey recent research examining them. I pay particular attention to the distinct interests that microeconomists and macroeconomists have had regarding these metrics, as well as topics that have bridged and are bridging these often distinct literatures. |
| JEL: | D4 E3 L0 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32871 |
| By: | Christos Genakos; Blair Yuan Lyu; Mario Pagliero |
| Abstract: | We study the retail price pass-through of four major tax changes in petroleum products using daily pricing data from gas stations on small Greek islands. We find that (i) the pass-through of the tax hikes is five times higher than for the tax decrease, (ii) the pass-through of the tax hikes increases with competition, while that of the tax decrease does not, (iii) there is significant asymmetry in the speed of price adjustments, and, (iv) the asymmetric price adjustment cannot be explained by tacit collusion, instead the evidence suggests that search is the most plausible explanation. We dedicate this paper to the loving memory of Mario Pagliero, a brilliant economist and a dear friend, who passed away too soon. |
| Keywords: | pass-through, rockets and feathers, tax incidence, gasoline market, market structure, competition |
| Date: | 2024–08–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2028 |
| By: | Bailey, Megan (University of Calgary); Brown, David P. (University of Alberta, Department of Economics); Myers, Erica (University of Calgary); Shaffer, Blake (University of Calgary); Wolak, Frank A. (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | The growth of electric vehicles (EVs) raises new challenges for electricity systems. We implement a field experiment to assess the effect of time-of-use (TOU) pricing and managed charging on EV charging behavior. We find that while TOU pricing is effective at shifting EV charging into off-peak hours, it unintentionally induces new and larger “shadow peaks” of simultaneous charging. These shadow peaks lead to greater exceedance of local capacity constraints and advance the need for distribution network upgrades. In contrast, centrally managed charging solves the coordination problem, reducing transformer capacity requirements, and is well-tolerated by consumers in our setting. |
| Keywords: | Electric Vehicles; Regulation; Rate Design; Field Experiment |
| JEL: | L94 Q41 R40 |
| Date: | 2024–09–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2024_004 |
| By: | Susan J. Méndez (Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, The University of Melbourne); Jongsay Yong (Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, The University of Melbourne); Hugh Gravelle (Centre for Health Economics, University of York, England); Anthony Scott (Centre for Health Economics, Monash University) |
| Abstract: | We examine the pricing behaviour of medical specialists in a setting where fees are unregulated and patients receive a fixed subsidy from the government. We use eight years of specialist-level panel data from the Medicine in Australia Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) survey. We find that local competition is not associated with a specialist’s willingness to accept the fixed subsidy as full payment nor with the level of fee charged above the subsidy. Instead, we show that fees are associated with specialists’ personality traits. Specialists who score more highly on agreeableness are more likely to accept the government subsidy as full payment, while those who score more highly on conscientiousness and neuroticism are less likely to do so. Furthermore, higher neuroticism scores are associated with higher fees. |
| Keywords: | medical specialists, prices, fees, behaviour, competition |
| JEL: | I11 I13 L1 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2024n11 |
| By: | Brown, David P. (University of Alberta, Department of Economics); Olmstead, Derek E. H. (University of Calgary); Shaffer, Blake (University of Calgary) |
| Abstract: | The electricity sector is going through a period of rapid transition with increasing decarbonization through the growth of renewable energy. In this paper, we consider the case of Alberta which has observed considerable growth in wind and solar generation capacity. We summarize the attributes of Alberta’s energy-only market design and how it interacts with increasing renewable output. We highlight emerging challenges that need to be addressed through careful market redesign and provide a summary of key market design changes that can help more cost-effectively and reliably integrate the growing renewable resources. We discuss ongoing policy developments related to Alberta’s market design. The experiences in Alberta can serve to inform market design in other jurisdictions as regulators work to enact policies to facilitate a higher renewable energy future. |
| Keywords: | Electricity Markets; Regulatory Policy; Renewables; Reliability |
| JEL: | L51 L94 Q28 Q48 |
| Date: | 2024–08–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2024_003 |