IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/2029.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Evolution of Price Dispersion in the European Car Market

Author

Listed:
  • Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou
  • Verboven, Frank

Abstract

Car prices in Europe are characterized by large and persistent differences across countries. The purpose of this paper is to document and explain this price dispersion. Using a panel data set extending from 1980 to 1993, two main facts concerning car prices in Europe are demonstrated: (1) the existence of significant differences in quality adjusted prices across countries, with Italy and the United Kingdom systematically representing the most expensive markets; (2) substantial year-to-year volatility that is, to a large extent, accounted for by exchange rate fluctuations and the incomplete response of local currency prices to these fluctuations. These facts are analysed within the framework of a multi-product oligopoly model with product differentiation. The model identifies three potential sources for the international price differences: price elasticities generating differences in mark-ups; costs; and import quota constraints. Based on the results we conjecture that EMU will substantially reduce the year-to-year volatility observed in the car price data, but without further measures to increase European integration, it will not completely eliminate existing cross-country price differences.

Suggested Citation

  • Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou & Verboven, Frank, 1998. "The Evolution of Price Dispersion in the European Car Market," CEPR Discussion Papers 2029, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:2029
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=2029
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Malueg, David A. & Schwartz, Marius, 1994. "Parallel imports, demand dispersion, and international price discrimination," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3-4), pages 167-195, November.
    2. Knetter, Michael M, 1989. "Price Discrimination by U.S. and German Exporters," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(1), pages 198-210, March.
    3. Robert C. Feenstra & James A. Levinsohn, 1995. "Estimating Markups and Market Conduct with Multidimensional Product Attributes," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(1), pages 19-52.
    4. Victor A. Ginsburgh, 2003. "Art markets," Chapters, in: Ruth Towse (ed.), A Handbook of Cultural Economics, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Michael M. Knetter, 1997. "Goods Prices and Exchange Rates: What Have We Learned?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 1243-1272, September.
    6. Gagnon, Joseph E. & Knetter, Michael M., 1995. "Markup adjustment and exchange rate fluctuations: evidence from panel data on automobile exports," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 289-310, April.
    7. Davidson, Russell & Dewatripont, Mathias & Ginsburgh, Victor & Labbe, Martine, 1989. "On the welfare effects of anti-discrimination regulations in the EC car market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 205-230, June.
    8. Marston, Richard C., 1990. "Pricing to market in Japanese manufacturing," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3-4), pages 217-236, November.
    9. Kirman, Alan & Schueller, Nathalie, 1990. "Price Leadership and Discrimination in the European Car Market," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 69-91, September.
    10. Nevo, Aviv, 2001. "Measuring Market Power in the Ready-to-Eat Cereal Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(2), pages 307-342, March.
    11. Victor Ginsburgh & Yves Mertens, 1985. "Product differentiation and discrimination in the European Community: the case of automobiles," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/1755, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    12. Krishna, Kala, 1989. "Trade restrictions as facilitating practices," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3-4), pages 251-270, May.
    13. Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou, 1995. "Product Differentiation and Oligopoly in International Markets: The Case of the U.S. Automobile Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(4), pages 891-951, July.
    14. Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou & Knetter, Michael M., 1999. "Measuring the intensity of competition in export markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 27-60, February.
    15. Sven W. Arndt & J. David Richardson, 1987. "Real-Financial Linkages Among Open Economies," NBER Working Papers 2230, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Smith, Alasdair & Venables, Anthony J., 1988. "Completing the internal market in the European Community : Some industry simulations," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1501-1525, September.
    17. Steven T. Berry, 1994. "Estimating Discrete-Choice Models of Product Differentiation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 25(2), pages 242-262, Summer.
    18. Mertens, Yves & Ginsburgh, Victor, 1985. "Product Differentiation and Price Discrimination in the European Community: The Case of Automobiles," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 151-166, December.
    19. Knetter, Michael M, 1993. "International Comparisons of Price-to-Market Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(3), pages 473-486, June.
    20. Berry, Steven & Levinsohn, James & Pakes, Ariel, 1995. "Automobile Prices in Market Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(4), pages 841-890, July.
    21. Smith, Alasdair & Venables, Anthony J, 1988. "Counting the Cost of Voluntary Export Restrictions in the European Car Market," CEPR Discussion Papers 249, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    22. Frank Verboven, 1996. "International Price Discrimination in the European Car Market," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 27(2), pages 240-268, Summer.
    23. Atkinson, A. B., 1997. "Measurement of Trends in Poverty and the Income Distribution," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 9712, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    24. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    25. Smith, Alasdair & Venables, Anthony J., 1991. "Economic integration and market access," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2-3), pages 388-395, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Goldberg, P.K. & Verboven, F.L., 1999. "The Evolution of Price Discrimination in the European Car Market," Other publications TiSEM 78ee9b01-2794-4a7b-9147-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Rebecca Hellerstein & Sofia Berto Villas-Boas, 2006. "Arm's-length transactions as a source of incomplete cross-border transmission: the case of autos," Staff Reports 251, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    3. Rebecca Hellerstein, 2005. "A Decomposition of the Sources of Incomplete Cross-Border Transmission," 2005 Meeting Papers 805, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    4. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Michael M. Knetter, 1997. "Goods Prices and Exchange Rates: What Have We Learned?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 1243-1272, September.
    5. Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou & Knetter, Michael M., 1999. "Measuring the intensity of competition in export markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 27-60, February.
    6. Dannewald, Till & Hildebrandt, Lutz, 2008. "A brand specific investigation of international cost shock threats on price and margin with a manufacturer-wholesaler-retailer model," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2008-070, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    7. Céline Bonnet & Pierre Dubois, 2010. "Inference on vertical contracts between manufacturers and retailers allowing for nonlinear pricing and resale price maintenance," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 41(1), pages 139-164, March.
    8. Jeffrey Frankel & David Parsley & Shang-Jin Wei, 2012. "Slow Pass-through Around the World: A New Import for Developing Countries?," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 213-251, April.
    9. Corsetti, Giancarlo & Dedola, Luca, 2005. "A macroeconomic model of international price discrimination," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 129-155, September.
    10. Sarah Guillou & Stefano Schiavo, 2010. "Export Prices and Increasing World Competition: Evidence from French, German, and Italian Pricing Behaviour," Chapters, in: Jean-Luc Gaffard & Evens Salies (ed.), Innovation, Economic Growth and the Firm, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Hellerstein, Rebecca, 2008. "Who bears the cost of a change in the exchange rate? Pass-through accounting for the case of beer," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 14-32, September.
    12. Devereux, Michael B. & Engel, Charles & Storgaard, Peter E., 2004. "Endogenous exchange rate pass-through when nominal prices are set in advance," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 263-291, July.
    13. Richards, Timothy J. & Hamilton, Stephen F. & Patterson, Paul M., 2010. "Spatial Competition and Private Labels," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 35(2), pages 1-26, August.
    14. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Rebecca Hellerstein, 2006. "A Framework for Identifying the Sources of Local-Currency Price Stability with an Empirical Application," 2006 Meeting Papers 625, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    15. Leheyda, Nina, 2008. "Market Power, Multimarket Contact and Pricing: Some Evidence from the US Automobile Market," ZEW Discussion Papers 08-118, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Gross, Dominique M. & Schmitt, Nicolas, 2000. "Exchange rate pass-through and dynamic oligopoly: an empirical investigation," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 89-112, October.
    17. Betts, Caroline & Devereux, Michael B., 2000. "Exchange rate dynamics in a model of pricing-to-market," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 215-244, February.
    18. Douglas Nelson, 1996. "The Political Economy of U.S. Automobile Protection," NBER Chapters, in: The Political Economy of American Trade Policy, pages 133-196, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Lavoie, Nathalie, 2001. "Price Discrimination In The Context Of Vertical Differentiation: A Modeling Approach For Wheat Exports," 2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL 20603, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    20. Jean-Luc Gaffard & Evens Salies (ed.), 2010. "Innovation, Economic Growth and the Firm," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13101.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

    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:cpr:ceprdp:2029. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    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.