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Are unleaded gasoline and diesel price adjustments symmetric? A comparison of the four largest EU retail fuel markets

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  • Karagiannis, Stelios
  • Panagopoulos, Yannis
  • Vlamis, Prodromos

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of price adjustments in the gasoline markets of Germany, France, Italy and Spain. We examine whether crude oil prices are transmitted to the retail gasoline prices in the short and long run and we test the symmetry of price adjustments hypothesis. An Error Correction Model, which accounts for possible asymmetric adjustment behavior, is applied for the estimation of the international crude oil price pass-through and testing of the symmetric/asymmetric nature of the retail fuel price adjustments in these economies. Our results show that rigidities in the transmission process exist but the retail fuel speed of upward/downward price adjustment to equilibrium is considered as symmetric in all four economies analyzed. Thus, our findings on the whole do not provide firm evidence to support the “rockets and feathers” hypothesis that crude oil price increases are passed along to the retail customer more fully than the crude oil price decreases.

Suggested Citation

  • Karagiannis, Stelios & Panagopoulos, Yannis & Vlamis, Prodromos, 2015. "Are unleaded gasoline and diesel price adjustments symmetric? A comparison of the four largest EU retail fuel markets," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 281-291.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:48:y:2015:i:c:p:281-291
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2014.11.003
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    2. Sylwester Bejger, 2019. "Wholesale fuel price adjustment in Poland: examination of competi-tive performance," Ekonomia i Prawo, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 18(4), pages 385-412, December.
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    4. Alberto Bagnai & Christian Alexander Mongeau Ospina, 2016. "Price asymmetries in the European gasoline market," a/ Working Papers Series 1602, Italian Association for the Study of Economic Asymmetries, Rome (Italy).
    5. Bragoudakis, Zacharias & Degiannakis, Stavros & Filis, George, 2020. "Oil and pump prices: Testing their asymmetric relationship in a robust way," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Zhe Li & Renjin Sun & Manman Qin & Dongou Hu, 2020. "Gasoline to Diesel Consumption Ratio: A New Socioeconomic Indicator of Carbon Dioxide Emissions in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-14, July.
    7. Pal, Debdatta & Mitra, Subrata Kumar, 2015. "Asymmetric impact of crude price on oil product pricing in the United States: An application of multiple threshold nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 436-443.
    8. He, Yongda & Lin, Boqiang, 2023. "Is market power the cause of asymmetric pricing in China's refined oil market?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    9. Malkidis, Stavros & Fountas, Stilianos, 2020. "Liquid fuel price adjustment in Greece: A two-stage, threshold cointegration approach," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    10. Lydia Dimitrakopoulou & Christos Genakos & Themistoklis Kampouris & Stella Papadokonstantaki, 2023. "VAT pass-through and competition: evidence from the Greek Islands," CEP Discussion Papers dp1923, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    11. D. O. Olayungbo & T. A. Ojeyinka, 2022. "Crude oil prices pass-through to retail petroleum product prices in Nigeria: evidence from hidden cointegration approach," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 951-972, May.
    12. Dimitrakopoulou, Lydia & Genakos, Christos & Kampouris, Themistoklis & Papadokonstantaki, Stella, 2023. "VAT pass-through and competition: evidence from the Greek Islands," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121321, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Zacharias Bragoudakis & Stavros Degiannakis & George Filis, 2019. "Oil and pump prices: is there any asymmetry in the Greek oil downstream sector?," Working Papers 268, Bank of Greece.
    14. Kang, Wensheng & de Gracia, Fernando Perez & Ratti, Ronald A., 2019. "The asymmetric response of gasoline prices to oil price shocks and policy uncertainty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 66-79.
    15. Adom, Philip Kofi & Amakye, Kwaku & Barnor, Charles & Quartey, George & Bekoe, William, 2016. "Shift in demand elasticities, road energy forecast and the persistence profile of shocks," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 189-206.
    16. Chang, Kai & Zhang, Chao, 2018. "Asymmetric dependence structure between emissions allowances and wholesale diesel/gasoline prices in emerging China's emissions trading scheme pilots," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 124-136.
    17. Jacint Balaguer & Jordi Ripollés, 2016. "Exploring the life of price responses in fuel markets. Mean group data or mean group estimator?," Working Papers 2016/16, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    18. Palencia-González, Francisco J. & Navío-Marco, Julio & Juberías-Cáceres, Gema, 2020. "Analysis of brand influence in the rockets and feathers effect using disaggregated data," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    19. Lim, Yoonsung & Kim, Jeong-Yoo & Berg, Nathan, 2015. "Price asymmetry revisited from a marketing perspective," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 314-319.
    20. Lydia Dimitrakopoulou & Christos Genakos & Themistoklis Kampouris & Stella Papadokonstantaki, 2023. "VAT Pass-Through and Competition: Evidence from the Greek Islands," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2039, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    21. Scotti, Davide & Volta, Nicola, 2018. "Price asymmetries in European airfares," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 42-52.
    22. Pal, Debdatta & Mitra, Subrata K., 2016. "Asymmetric oil product pricing in India: Evidence from a multiple threshold nonlinear ARDL model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 314-328.
    23. José María Martín-Moreno & Rafaela Pérez & Jesús Ruiz, 2019. "Evidence about asymmetric price transmission in the main European fuel markets: from TAR-ECM to Markov-switching approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1383-1412, April.
    24. Sylwester Bejger, 2021. "Competition in a Wholesale Fuel Market—The Impact of the Structural Changes Caused by COVID-19," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-26, July.
    25. Lydia Dimitrakopoulou & Christos Genakos & Themistoklis Kampouris & Stella Papadokonstantaki, 2023. "VAT pass-through and competition: Evidence from the Greek Islands," POID Working Papers 078, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

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