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Estimating Consumer Lock-In Effects from Firm-Level Data

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  • Gábor Kézdi
  • Gergely Csorba

Abstract

This paper proposes a practical method for estimating consumer lock-in effects from firm-level data. The method compares the behavior of already contracted consumers to the behavior of new consumers, the latter serving as a counterfactual to the former. In panel regressions on firms’ incoming and quitting consumers, we look at the differential response to price changes and identify the lock-in effect from the difference between the two. We discuss the potential econometric issues and measurement problems and offer solutions to them. We illustrate our method by analyzing the market for personal loans in Hungary and find strong lock-in effects. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Gábor Kézdi & Gergely Csorba, 2013. "Estimating Consumer Lock-In Effects from Firm-Level Data," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 431-452, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jincot:v:13:y:2013:i:3:p:431-452
    DOI: 10.1007/s10842-012-0149-2
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    1. Gábor Kézdi & Gergely Csorba, 2013. "Estimating Consumer Lock-In Effects from Firm-Level Data," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 431-452, September.
    2. Dancsik, Bálint & Marosi, Anna & Szabó, Beáta, 2022. "Túl drága az olcsó hitel - a családi otthonteremtési kedvezmény támogatott hitelkamatainak vizsgálata [Cheap loans are too expensive: an examination of interest rates on subsidised housing loans]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 1493-1506.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    lock-in; switching costs; demand analysis; difference-in-differences; personal loans; C33; D12; L13;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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