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Asymmetric Price Adjustments Under Ever-Increasing Costs. Evidence from the Retail Gasoline Market in Colombia

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  • Marc Hofstetter
  • Jorge Tovar

Abstract

There is abundant empirical evidence showing that asymmetric price adjustments exist in a wide variety of markets. Prices tend to grow faster when costs rise relative to the rate at which prices drop when costs fall. The objective of this paper is to empirically test whether asymmetric price adjustments exist in a scenario where costs are increasing every period.The Colombian retail gasoline market offers an excellent case study due to a specific regulation, something discussed further in this paper. Our results suggest that when costs rise above the reference price -a government suggested retail price- retail prices tend to rise less relative to when costs grow below the reference price. Thus, asymmetry does exist.

Suggested Citation

  • Marc Hofstetter & Jorge Tovar, 2007. "Asymmetric Price Adjustments Under Ever-Increasing Costs. Evidence from the Retail Gasoline Market in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 5146, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:005146
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    File URL: https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstream/handle/1992/8079/dcede2008-21.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Nathan S. Balke & Stephen P. A. Brown & Mine K. Yücel, 1998. "Crude oil and gasoline prices: an asymmetric relationship?," Economic and Financial Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, issue Q 1, pages 2-11.
    6. Andrew Eckert, 2002. "Retail price cycles and response asymmetry," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 35(1), pages 52-77, February.
    7. Severin Borenstein & A. Colin Cameron & Richard Gilbert, 1997. "Do Gasoline Prices Respond Asymmetrically to Crude Oil Price Changes?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 305-339.
    8. Mariano Tappata, 2009. "Rockets and feathers: Understanding asymmetric pricing," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 40(4), pages 673-687, December.
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    10. Huanxing Yang & Lixin Ye, 2008. "Search with learning: understanding asymmetric price adjustments," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(2), pages 547-564, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sergio González & Edwin Hernández, 2016. "Indirect impacts of oil prices on economic growth in Colombia," Lecturas de Economía, Universidad de Antioquia, Departamento de Economía, issue 84, pages 103-141, Enero - J.
    2. Juan Ricardo Perilla Jiménez, 2010. "El impacto de los precios del petróleo sobre el crecimiento económico en Colombia," Revista de Economía del Rosario, Universidad del Rosario, May.
    3. Wittmann, Nadine, 2014. "Regulating gasoline retail markets: The case of Germany," Economics Discussion Papers 2014-17, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Asymmetric price adjustments; Gasoline retail markets; Search; Reference Prices.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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