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Price Rigidity in Customer Markets

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Author Info
Jean-Robert Tyran ()
Elke Renner ()

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Abstract

Customer markets are characterized by long-term relations between buyers and sellers. Long-term relations evolve if buyers trust sellers to provide high quality and if sellers are trustworthy. However, changes in the terms of this implicit contract may antagonize customers and disrupt the relation. We experimentally show that mutually beneficial long-term relations frequently prevail in markets for experience goods, and that price rigidity after a temporary cost shock is much more pronounced if price increases cannot be justified by cost increases. Hence, long-term relations on customer markets mitigate market failure of the “lemons” type, but are prone to price stickiness.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen in its series University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2003 with number 2003-16.

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Length: 41 pages
Date of creation: Sep 2003
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:usg:dp2003:2003-16

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Related research
Keywords: Customer market; price stickiness; customer loyalty;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Social Norms and Social Capital; Social Networks Economic Anthropology

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Kachelmeier, Steven J. & Limberg, Stephen T. & Schadewald, Michael S., 1991. "Fairness in markets: A laboratory investigation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 447-464, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. repec:bep:eapadv:v:2:y:2002:i:1:p:1020-1020 is not listed on IDEAS
  3. Apel, Mikael & Friberg, Richard & Hallsten, Kerstin, 2001. "Micro Foundations of Macroeconomic Price Adjustment: Survey Evidence from Swedish Firms," Working Paper Series 128, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Klein, Benjamin & Leffler, Keith B, 1981. "The Role of Market Forces in Assuring Contractual Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(4), pages 615-41, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Akerlof, George A, 1970. "The Market for 'Lemons': Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Dennis W. Carlton, 1987. "The Theory and the Facts of How Markets Clear: Is Industrial Organization Valuable for Understanding Macroeconomics?," NBER Working Papers 2178, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Harvey James, 2002. "On the Reliability of Trusting," Microeconomics 0202002, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  8. Julio J. Rotemberg, 2002. "Customer Anger at Price Increases, Time Variation in the Frequency of Price Changes and Monetary Policy," NBER Working Papers 9320, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Franciosi, Robert, et al, 1995. "Fairness: Effect on Temporary and Equilibrium Prices in Posted-Offer Markets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(431), pages 938-50, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Kahneman, Daniel & Knetsch, Jack L & Thaler, Richard, 1986. "Fairness as a Constraint on Profit Seeking: Entitlements in the Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(4), pages 728-41, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Engle-Warnick, Jim & Slonim, Robert L., 2004. "The evolution of strategies in a repeated trust game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 553-573, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Berg Joyce & Dickhaut John & McCabe Kevin, 1995. "Trust, Reciprocity, and Social History," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 122-142, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Brown, Martin & Falk, Armin & Fehr, Ernst, 2002. "Contractual Incompleteness and the Nature of Market Interactions," CEPR Discussion Papers 3272, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Urs Fischbacher, 2007. "z-Tree: Zurich toolbox for ready-made economic experiments," Experimental Economics, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 171-178, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Jean-Robert Tyran & Arno Riedl, 2003. "Tax Liability Side Equivalence in Gift-Exchange Labor Markets," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2003 2003-15, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Isaac Kleshchelski & Nicolas Vincent, 2007. "Market Share and Price Rigidity," Cahiers de recherche 08-01, HEC Montréal, Institut d'économie appliquée. [Downloadable!]
  3. M. Alper Cenesiz, 2007. "A New Cost Channel of Monetary Policy," Money Macro and Finance (MMF) Research Group Conference 2006 68, Money Macro and Finance Research Group. [Downloadable!]
  4. Young, Andrew & Levy, Daniel, 2006. "Explicit Evidence on an Implicit Contract," MPRA Paper 926, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Steffen Huck & Jean-Robert Tyran, 2004. "Reciprocity, Social Ties, and Competition in Markets for Experience Goods," Discussion Papers 04-12, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Andrew T. Young & Alexander K. Blue, 2007. "Retail prices during a change in monetary regimes: evidence from Sears, Roebuck catalogs, 1938-1951," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(7), pages 763-775. [Downloadable!]
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