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Face Masks, Yeast, and Toilet Paper: Panic Purchases and Stockpiling

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  • Hakenes, Hendrik

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some goods suddenly became scarce due to panic purchases and stockpiling. The decision to hoard is influenced by higher-order beliefs. If an agent believes that other agents think that a good will become scarce, she concludes that these other agents will hoard, and thus tries to preempt them by hoarding herself. To capture such behaviour, we construct a model with a global game. Agents receive noisy information about some variable that influences supply or demand. They then form higher-order beliefs, and possibly panic and hoard the product. We analyze determinants of such panics. Endogenizing prices and quantities, we show that producers with market power set prices strategically to induce panics and thus boost demand. Absent market power, strong competition leads to low prices and thus little overproduction, also causing panics. We also consider firms who need the scarce good as an intermediate product in their production chain, and show that a regulator would require such firms to stockpile the product, thus increasing resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Hakenes, Hendrik, 2021. "Face Masks, Yeast, and Toilet Paper: Panic Purchases and Stockpiling," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242360, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc21:242360
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Stockpiling; hoarding; panic purchases; scarce goods; price stickiness; COVID-19; resilience;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets

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