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The Law of One Price - A Case Study

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Author Info
Jonathan Haskel
Holger Wolf

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Abstract

We use retail transaction prices for a multinational retailer to examine the extent and permanence of violations of the law of one price (LOOP). For identical products, we find typical deviations of twenty to fifty percent, though there is muted evidence for convergence over time. Such differences might be due to differences in local costs. If so, relative prices of similar products (round versus square mirrors) should be equal across countries. In fact, relative prices vary significantly across very similar goods within a product group; indeed, the ordering of common currency prices often differs for similar products. The finding suggests that differences in local distribution costs, local taxes, and probably tariffs do not explain the price pattern, leaving strategic pricing or other factors resulting in varying markups as alternative explanations for the observed divergences.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 8112.

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Date of creation: Feb 2001
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8112

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F2 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business
F3 - International Economics - - International Finance

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  5. Parsley, David C & Wei, Shang-Jin, 1996. "Convergence to the Law of One Price without Trade Barriers or Currency Fluctuations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 111(4), pages 1211-36, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Engel, Charles & Rogers, John H, 1996. "How Wide Is the Border?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1112-25, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Dixit, Avinash K, 1989. "Hysteresis, Import Penetration, and Exchange Rate Pass-Through," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 104(2), pages 205-28, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Kenneth A. Froot & Kenneth Rogoff, 1996. "Perspectives on PPP and Long-Run Real Exchange Rates," NBER Working Papers 4952, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Gron, Anne & Swenson, Deborah L, 1996. "Incomplete Exchange-Rate Pass-Through and Imperfect Competition: The Effect of Local Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 71-76, May.
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  22. Mario Crucini & Chris Telmer & Marios Zachariadis, . "What can we learn from deviations from the law of one price?," GSIA Working Papers 229, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business. [Downloadable!]
  23. Aw, Bee-Yan, 1993. "Price discrimination and markups in export markets," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 315-336, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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