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Media, Political Pressure, and the Firm: The Case of Petroleum Pricing in the Late 1970s

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  • Stephen Erfle
  • Henry McMillan

Abstract

This paper empirically examines whether major domestic oil companies held down product prices relative to their less visible counterparts during the 1979 oil crisis. We compare company prices on unregulated fuel oil with a measure of political pressure—the level of television coverage of the energy crisis. We find that media coverage influenced home heating oil price ratios, but did not influence residual fuel oil price ratios for the same companies. We argue that this differential pricing pattern is rational in a politically sensitive period.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Erfle & Henry McMillan, 1990. "Media, Political Pressure, and the Firm: The Case of Petroleum Pricing in the Late 1970s," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(1), pages 115-134.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:qjecon:v:105:y:1990:i:1:p:115-134.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ismail Saglam, 2022. "Self-regulation under asymmetric cost information," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 49(2), pages 335-368, June.
    2. Mark Duggan & Craig Garthwaite & Aparajita Goyal, 2016. "The Market Impacts of Pharmaceutical Product Patents in Developing Countries: Evidence from India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(1), pages 99-135, January.
    3. Ismail Saglam, 2023. "Incentives of a monopolist for innovation under regulatory threat," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 41-66, March.
    4. Christopher R. Knittel, 2013. "The Energy-Policy Efficiency Gap: Was There Ever Support for Gasoline Taxes?," NBER Working Papers 18685, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Shantanu Dutta & Supriya Katti & B. V. Phani & Pengcheng Zhu, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility spending as a building block for sustainable corporate ethical identity: Lessons from Indian business groups," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 696-717, April.
    6. Maoliang Bu & Marcus Wagner, 2016. "Racing to the bottom and racing to the top: The crucial role of firm characteristics in foreign direct investment choices," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(9), pages 1032-1057, December.
    7. Anita, Mendiratta & Shveta, Singh & Yadav Surendra, S. & Arvind, Mahajan, 2023. "When do ESG controversies reduce firm value in India?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    8. Peer C. Fiss & Mark T. Kennedy & Gerald F. Davis, 2012. "How Golden Parachutes Unfolded: Diffusion and Variation of a Controversial Practice," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(4), pages 1077-1099, August.
    9. Makoto Tanaka, 2011. "The Effects of Uncertain Divestiture as Regulatory Threat," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 385-397, December.
    10. Bonev, Petyo & Glachant, Matthieu & Söderberg, Magnus, 2020. "Testing the regulatory threat hypothesis: Evidence from Sweden," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    11. Stango, Victor, 2003. "Strategic Responses to Regulatory Threat in the Credit Card Market," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(2), pages 427-452, October.
    12. David P. Baron, 2003. "Private Politics," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(1), pages 31-66, March.
    13. Robert Dur & Amihai Glazer, 2004. "Optimal Incentive Contracts when Workers envy their Boss," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 04-046/1, Tinbergen Institute, revised 13 Jun 2006.
    14. Youjin Baik & Young-Ryeol Park, 2019. "Managing legitimacy through corporate community involvement: The effects of subsidiary ownership and host country experience in China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 971-993, December.
    15. Frank Li & Taylor Morris & Brian Young, 2019. "The Effect of Corporate Visibility on Corporate Social Responsibility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-16, July.
    16. Laura Xiaolei Liu & Ann E. Sherman & Yong Zhang, 2014. "The Long-Run Role of the Media: Evidence from Initial Public Offerings," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(8), pages 1945-1964, August.
    17. Ismail Saglam, 2022. "Bridging bargaining theory with the regulation of a natural monopoly," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 26(3), pages 307-344, September.
    18. Stephen Brammer & Stephen Pavelin, 2008. "Factors influencing the quality of corporate environmental disclosure," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(2), pages 120-136, February.
    19. Christopher R. Knittel, 2014. "The Political Economy of Gasoline Taxes: Lessons from the Oil Embargo," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(1), pages 97-131.
    20. Chatterjee, Chirantan & Kubo, Kensuke & Pingali, Viswanath, 2015. "The consumer welfare implications of governmental policies and firm strategy in markets for medicines," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 255-273.
    21. Bonev, Petyo & Glachant, Matthieu & Söderberg, Magnus, 2018. "A Mechanism for Institutionalised Threat of Regulation: Evidence from the Swedish District Heating Market," Economics Working Paper Series 1805, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    22. Liu, Laura Xiaolei & Lu, Ruichang & Sherman, Ann E. & Zhang, Yong, 2023. "IPO underpricing and limited attention: Theory and evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    23. David P. Baron, 2005. "Competing for the Public Through the News Media," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(2), pages 339-376, June.
    24. Baron, David P., 2003. "Competing for the Public through the News Media," Research Papers 1808, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    25. Magnus Söderberg & Makoto Tanaka, 2012. "Spatial price homogeneity as a mechanism to reduce the threat of regulatory intervention in locally monopolistic sectors," Working Papers hal-00659458, HAL.

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