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Yesterday's bad times are today's good old times: retail price changes in the 1890s were smaller, less frequent, and more permanent

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Alan Kackmeister

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Abstract

This paper compares nominal price rigidity in retail stores during two 28-month periods: 1889-1891 and 1997-1999. The 1889-1891 microdata price quotes show: 1. a lower frequency of price changes; 2. a smaller average magnitude of price changes; 3. fewer "small" price changes; and, 4. fewer temporary price reductions. These differences are consistent with the 1889-1891 period having a higher cost of changing prices resulting in less adjustment to transitory price shocks. Changes in the retailing environment that may have led to a higher cost of changing prices in 1889-1891 are discussed.

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Paper provided by Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.) in its series Finance and Economics Discussion Series with number 2005-18.

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Date of creation: 2005
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2005-18

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Keywords: Retail trade ; Prices;

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  1. Mark Bils & Peter J. Klenow, 2004. "Some Evidence on the Importance of Sticky Prices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(5), pages 947-985, October.
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  2. Koelln, K. & Rush, M., 1990. "Rigid Prices And Flexible Products," Papers 90-1, Florida - College of Business Administration.
  3. Taylor, John B., 1999. "Staggered price and wage setting in macroeconomics," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 15, pages 1009-1050 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Warner, Elizabeth J & Barsky, Robert B, 1995. "The Timing and Magnitude of Retail Store Markdowns: Evidence from Weekends and Holidays," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 110(2), pages 321-52, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Mark Zbaracki & Mark Ritson & Daniel Levy & Shantanu Dutta & Mark Bergen, 2004. "Managerial and Customer Costs of Price Adjustment: Direct Evidence from Industrial Markets," Macroeconomics 0402020, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Thompson, Gary D. & Wilson, Paul N., 1999. "Market Demands For Bagged, Refrigerated Salads," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 24(02), December. [Downloadable!]
  7. Ball, Laurence & Mankiw, N. Gregory, 1994. "A sticky-price manifesto," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 127-151, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Kashyap, Anil K, 1995. "Sticky Prices: New Evidence from Retail Catalogs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 110(1), pages 245-74, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Levy, Daniel, et al, 1997. "The Magnitude of Menu Costs: Direct Evidence from Large U.S. Supermarket Chains," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(3), pages 791-825, August.
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  10. Goodwin, Barry K. & Grennes, Thomas J. & Craig, Lee A., 2002. "Mechanical Refrigeration and the Integration of Perishable Commodity Markets," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 154-182, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Stigler, George J & Kindahl, James K, 1973. "Industrial Prices, as Administered by Dr. Means," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(4), pages 717-21, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Lal, Rajiv & Matutes, Carmen, 1994. "Retail Pricing and Advertising Strategies," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 67(3), pages 345-70, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Pashigian, B Peter, 1988. "Demand Uncertainty and Sales: A Study of Fashion and Markdown Pricin g," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(5), pages 936-53, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Buckle, Robert A. & Carlson, John A., 2000. "Menu costs, firm size and price rigidity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 59-63, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Patrick Lünnemann & Thomas Y. Mathä, 2005. "Consumer price behaviour in Luxembourg - evidence from micro CPI data," Working Paper Series 541, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Young, Andrew & Levy, Daniel, 2006. "Explicit Evidence on an Implicit Contract," MPRA Paper 926, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Virgiliu Midrigan, 2007. "Menu Costs, Multi-Product Firms, and Aggregate Fluctuations," CFS Working Paper Series 2007/13, Center for Financial Studies. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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