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Round prices and price rigidity: Evidence from outlawing odd prices

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  • Ater, Itai
  • Gerlitz, Omri

Abstract

This paper exploits a legal change in Israel that banned the use of non-zero-digit price endings (e.g., 6.99) to study the relationship between digit price endings and price rigidity. We compare the propensity of product prices to change before and after the ban, while distinguishing between products whose prices ended with a zero and products whose prices did not end with a zero digit before the ban. We find that before the ban, zero-digit price endings were more likely to change, typically upward, compared with products with non-zero digit price endings. After the legal change these differences disappeared. Overall, these findings support the Price Point Theory (Blinder, 1991).

Suggested Citation

  • Ater, Itai & Gerlitz, Omri, 2017. "Round prices and price rigidity: Evidence from outlawing odd prices," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 188-203.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:144:y:2017:i:c:p:188-203
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2017.10.003
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    Cited by:

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    2. Chen, Tao, 2018. "Round-number biases and informed trading in global markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 105-117.
    3. Snir, Avichai & Chen, Haipeng (Allan) & Levy, Daniel, 2021. "Stuck at Zero: Price Rigidity in a Runaway Inflation," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue forthcomi.
    4. Diego Aparicio & Roberto Rigobon, 2020. "Quantum Prices," NBER Working Papers 26646, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Snir, Avichai & Levy, Daniel, 2021. "If You Think 9-Ending Prices Are Low, Think Again," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 6(1 (Forthc).
    6. Snir, Avichai & Chen, Haipeng (Allan) & Levy, Daniel, 2022. "Zero-Ending Prices, Cognitive Convenience, and Price Rigidity," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Forthcomi, pages 1-39.
    7. Fernando Chague & Rodrigo De Losso, Bruno Giovannetti, 2018. "Individual Investors Look at Price Tags," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2018_17, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    8. Marcial López-Pastor & Jesús García-Madariaga & Joaquín Sánchez & Jose Figueiredo, 2020. "Demand Impact for Prices Ending with “9” and “0” in Online and Offline Consumer Goods Retail Trade Channels," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 10(6), pages 58-78.
    9. Aparicio, Diego & Rigobon, Roberto, 2023. "Quantum prices," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    10. Ity Shurtz, 2022. "Heuristic thinking in the workplace: Evidence from primary care," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(8), pages 1713-1729, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Price rigidity; Price points; 9-Ending prices;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E51 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Money Supply; Credit; Money Multipliers

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