IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlawec/v38y1995i2p281-309.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fashion, Styling, and the Within-Season Decline in Automobile Prices

Author

Listed:
  • Pashigian, B Peter
  • Bowen, Brian
  • Gould, Eric

Abstract

Between 1954 and 1989 the seasonal variation in retail new car prices declined, while the annual percentage decline in used car prices lessened. To explain these long-term changes, this article suggests that a rise in the cost of a major model change has reduced the frequency of major model changes, changed the characteristics of new models, and resulted in smaller within-season price declines. New cars of adjacent model years have become closer substitutes as the importance of the annual model change has lessened. The American automobile has slowly become less of a fashion product because it has become increasingly costly to supply frequent styling changes. In contrast, the within-season price decline in women's apparel has increased over time as fashion has become more important. Reasons for the different price patterns are investigated. Copyright 1995 by the University of Chicago.

Suggested Citation

  • Pashigian, B Peter & Bowen, Brian & Gould, Eric, 1995. "Fashion, Styling, and the Within-Season Decline in Automobile Prices," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(2), pages 281-309, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:v:38:y:1995:i:2:p:281-309
    DOI: 10.1086/467333
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/467333
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/467333?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:ucp:bknber:9780226304557 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Allen F. Jung, 1961. "Indexes of Retail Prices of New Cars-Consumer Price Index," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34, pages 490-490.
    3. 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 936-953, December.
    4. Robert J. Gordon, 1990. "The Measurement of Durable Goods Prices," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gord90-1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. J-M Chen & L-T Chen, 2004. "Pricing and lot-sizing for a deteriorating item in a periodic review inventory system with shortages," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 55(8), pages 892-901, August.
    2. John Kemp, 1999. "Spontaneous Change, Unpredictability and Consumption Externalities: a Dynamic Approach to Consumer Choice," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 2(3), pages 1-1.
    3. K Kogan & U Spiegel, 2006. "Dynamic zigzag pricing of resalable goods with no depreciation and intergroup externalities," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 57(11), pages 1353-1365, November.
    4. Adam Copeland & Wendy Dunn & George Hall, 2005. "Prices, Production and Inventories over the Automotive Model Year," NBER Working Papers 11257, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Peter Kooreman & Marco Haan, 2006. "Price Anomalies in the Used Car Market," De Economist, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 41-62, March.
    6. Adam Copeland, 2008. "The Dynamics of Automobile Expenditures," 2008 Meeting Papers 852, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    7. Courty, Pascal & Li, Hao, 1999. "Timing of Seasonal Sales," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(4), pages 545-572, October.
    8. Avner Offer, 2005. "The Markup for Lemons: Quality and Uncertainty in American and British Used-Car Markets c.1953-1973," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _060, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    9. Daniel Melser & Iqbal A. Syed, 2017. "The product life cycle and sample representativity bias in price indexes," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(6), pages 573-586, February.
    10. Chen, Pingping & Zhao, Ruiqing & Yan, Yingchen & Zhou, Chi, 2021. "Promoting end-of-season product through online channel in an uncertain market," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 295(3), pages 935-948.
    11. J. He & K. S. Chin & J. B. Yang & D. L. Zhu, 2006. "Return Policy Model of Supply Chain Management for Single-Period Products," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 293-308, May.
    12. Fiona Scott Morton & Florian Zettelmeyer & Jorge Silva Risso, 2000. "Internet Car Retailing," NBER Working Papers 7961, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Aizcorbe, Ana & Bridgman, Benjamin & Nalewaik, Jeremy, 2010. "Heterogeneous car buyers: A stylized fact," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 50-53, October.
    14. Adam Copeland, 2014. "Intertemporal substitution and new car purchases," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 45(3), pages 624-644, September.
    15. Lin Wu & Nachiappan Subramanian & Muhammad D. Abdulrahman & Chang Liu & Kee-hung Lai & Kulwant S. Pawar, 2015. "The Impact of Integrated Practices of Lean, Green, and Social Management Systems on Firm Sustainability Performance—Evidence from Chinese Fashion Auto-Parts Suppliers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-21, March.
    16. Carol Corrado & Wendy E. Dunn & Maria Ward Otoo, 2006. "Incentives and prices for motor vehicles: what has been happening in recent years?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2006-09, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    17. Lau, Hon-Shiang & Lau, Amy Hing-Ling, 1999. "Manufacturer's pricing strategy and return policy for a single-period commodity," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 291-304, July.
    18. Avner Offer, 2005. "The Markup for Lemons: Quality and Uncertainty in American and British Used-Car Markets, c. 1953-1973," Oxford University Economic and Social History Series _060, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valerie Jarvis & S. J. Prais, 1997. "The Quality of Manufactured Products in Britain and Germany," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3), pages 421-438.
    2. Juan Carlos Conesa & Timothy J. Kehoe & Kim J. Ruhl, 2007. "Modeling great depressions: the depression in Finland in the 1990s," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 31(Nov), pages 16-44.
    3. David Colman, 2010. "Agriculture's terms of trade: issues and implications," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(s1), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Charles R. Hulten, 1992. "Growth Accounting When Technical Change is Embodied in Capital," NBER Working Papers 3971, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Greenwood, Jeremy & Guner, Nezih & Santos, Cezar & Kocharakov, Georgi, 2015. "Technology and the Changing Family: A Unified Model of Marriage, Divorce, Educational Attainment and Married Female Labor-Force," CEPR Discussion Papers 10434, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Karnit Flug & Zvi Hercowitz, 2000. "Equipment Investment and the Relative Demand for Skilled Labor: International Evidence," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 3(3), pages 461-485, July.
    7. Li, Defu & Bental, Benjamin, 2023. "What determines the Direction of Technological Progress(2023.11.16)?," MPRA Paper 119211, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 16 Nov 2023.
    8. Linnea Polgreen & Pedro Silos, 2008. "Capital-Skill Complementarity and Inequality: A Sensitivity Analysis," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 11(2), pages 302-313, April.
    9. Namin, Aidin & Soysal, Gonca P. & Ratchford, Brian T., 2022. "Alleviating demand uncertainty for seasonal goods: An analysis of attribute-based markdown policy for fashion retailers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 671-681.
    10. Maliar, Lilia & Maliar, Serguei & Tsener, Inna, 2022. "Capital-skill complementarity and inequality: Twenty years after," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    11. Elstner, Steffen & Grimme, Christian & Kecht, Valentin & Lehmann, Robert, 2022. "The diffusion of technological progress in ICT," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    12. Zheng Liu & Daniel F. Waggoner & Tao Zha, 2009. "Sources of the Great Moderation: shocks, frictions, or monetary policy?," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2009-03, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    13. Fabrice Collard & Omar Licandro, 2020. "The neoclassical model and the welfare costs of selection," Discussion Papers 2020/03, University of Nottingham, Centre for Finance, Credit and Macroeconomics (CFCM).
    14. Jakub Growiec & Michał Gradzewicz & Jan Hagemejer & Zofia Jankiewicz & Piotr Popowski & Katarzyna Puchalska & Paweł Strzelecki & Joanna Tyrowicz, 2015. "Rola usług rynkowych w procesach rozwojowych gospodarki Polski," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 2, pages 163-193.
    15. David M. Byrne & John G. Fernald & Marshall B. Reinsdorf, 2016. "Does the United States Have a Productivity Slowdown or a Measurement Problem?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 47(1 (Spring), pages 109-182.
    16. Eaton, Jonathan & Kortum, Samuel, 2001. "Trade in capital goods," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 1195-1235.
    17. Namwoon Kim & Jin K. Han & Rajendra K. Srivastava, 2002. "A Dynamic IT Adoption Model for the SOHO Market: PC Generational Decisions with Technological Expectations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(2), pages 222-240, February.
    18. Richard G. Newell & Adam B. Jaffe & Robert N. Stavins, 1999. "The Induced Innovation Hypothesis and Energy-Saving Technological Change," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 941-975.
    19. Greenwood, Jeremy & Krusell, Per, 2007. "Growth accounting with investment-specific technological progress: A discussion of two approaches," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 1300-1310, May.
    20. Antràs Pol, 2004. "Is the U.S. Aggregate Production Function Cobb-Douglas? New Estimates of the Elasticity of Substitution," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-36, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:v:38:y:1995:i:2:p:281-309. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JLE .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.