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Everyday Regular Prices in a Multi-Product Retailer

Author

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  • Nicoletta Berardi
  • Federico Ravenna
  • Mario Samano

Abstract

Using a novel dataset from a large grocery retailer in a European country that never engages in temporary sale promotions, we establish that prices behave very similarly to regular prices set by retailers engaging in temporary promotional sales. We find evidence of state-dependent price setting in a multi-product firm when es timating the responsiveness of prices to exogenous demand shifts. The ’everyday regular prices’ dataset is characterized by a more than trivial share of small price changes, and low synchronization of price changes across items. Price rigidity, se lection and the extent of state-dependence are heterogeneous across items. Pricing of top sales items is more flexible and state-dependent compared to items that rep resent a small share of total revenues, a result consistent with price setting in a multi-product firm characterized by rational inattention. This result implies that inferences about firm-level price setting mechanisms from price microdata may be inaccurate if heterogeneity in price setting within the same firm is not taken into account.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicoletta Berardi & Federico Ravenna & Mario Samano, 2024. "Everyday Regular Prices in a Multi-Product Retailer," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 733 JEL Classification: E, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    • Handle: RePEc:cca:wpaper:733
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Viacheslav Sheremirov & Oleksandr Talavera, 2018. "Price Setting in Online Markets: Does IT Click?," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(6), pages 1764-1811.
    4. Fernando Alvarez & Martin Beraja & Martín Gonzalez-Rozada & Pablo Andrés Neumeyer, 2019. "From Hyperinflation to Stable Prices: Argentina’s Evidence on Menu Cost Models," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(1), pages 451-505.
    5. Nicoletta Berardi & Erwan Gautier & Hervé Le Bihan, 2015. "More Facts about Prices: France Before and During the Great Recession," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(8), pages 1465-1502, December.
    6. Emi Nakamura & Jón Steinsson, 2008. "Five Facts about Prices: A Reevaluation of Menu Cost Models," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(4), pages 1415-1464.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    price setting; multi-product firm; state-dependence; synchronization; rational inattention; promotional price; regular price;
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