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A quantitative analysis of the used-car market

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  • Gavazza, Alessandro
  • Lizzeri, Alessandro
  • Roketskiy, Nikita

Abstract

We quantitatively investigate the allocative and welfare effects of secondary markets for cars. An important source of gains from trade in these markets is the heterogeneity in the willingness to pay for higher-quality (newer) goods, but transaction costs are an impediment to instantaneous trade. Calibration of the model successfully matches several aggregate features of the U.S. and French used-car markets. Counterfactual analyses show that transaction costs have a large effect on volume of trade, allocations, and the primary market. Aggregate effects on consumer surplus and welfare are relatively small, but the effect on lower-valuation households can be large.

Suggested Citation

  • Gavazza, Alessandro & Lizzeri, Alessandro & Roketskiy, Nikita, 2014. "A quantitative analysis of the used-car market," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 55720, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:55720
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    Cited by:

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    3. Richard Blundell & Ran Gu & Soren Leth-Petersen & Hamish Low & Costas Meghir, 2019. "Durables and Lemons: Private Information and the Market for Cars," Economics Papers 2019-W10, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    4. Nano Barahona & Francisco A Gallego & Juan-Pablo Montero, 2020. "Vintage-Specific Driving Restrictions," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 87(4), pages 1646-1682.
    5. Cyril Monnet & Borghan N. Narajabad, 2017. "Why Rent When You Can Buy?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2017-094, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    6. Boris Chafwehé, 2017. "Durable Goods Markets in Heterogenous Agents Economies," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2017021, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    7. Abdul-Salam, Yakubu & Phimister, Euan, 2019. "Modelling the impact of market imperfections on farm household investment in stand-alone solar PV systems," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 66-76.
    8. Rapson, David & Schiraldi, Pasquale, 2013. "Internet and the efficiency of decentralized markets: Evidence from automobiles," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 232-235.
    9. Bénédicte Meurisse & Maxime Le Roy, 2014. "Towards a clean vehicle fleet: from households’ valuation of fuel efficiency to policy implications," Working Papers 1406, Chaire Economie du climat.
    10. Lacourbe, Paul, 2016. "Durable goods leasing in the presence of exporting used products to an international secondary market," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 250(2), pages 448-456.
    11. Feng, Lipan & Zheng, Xiong & Govindan, Kannan & Xue, Kelei, 2019. "Does the presence of secondary market platform really hurt the firm?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 55-68.
    12. Francisco Gallego & Juan-Pablo Montero & Hernán Barahona, 2016. "Adopting a Cleaner Technology: The Effect of Driving Restrictions on Fleet Turnover," Documentos de Trabajo 469, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
    13. Adriano A. Rampini, 2019. "Financing Durable Assets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(2), pages 664-701, February.
    14. Kenneth Gillingham & Fedor Iskhakov & Anders Munk-Nielsen & John P. Rust & Bertel Schjerning, 2019. "Equilibrium Trade in Automobile Markets," NBER Working Papers 25840, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Kanis Saengchote & Voraprapa Nakavachara, 2018. "Are consumers forward looking? Evidence from used iPhones," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(13), pages 905-909, July.
    16. Benedikt Notheisen & Jacob Benjamin Cholewa & Arun Prasad Shanmugam, 2017. "Trading Real-World Assets on Blockchain," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 59(6), pages 425-440, December.
    17. Ohjin Kwon & Anthony J. Dukes & S. Siddarth & Jorge M. Silva-Risso, 2015. "The Informational Role of Product Trade-Ins for Pricing Durable Goods," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(4), pages 736-762, December.
    18. Matthew Jones & Bruce Kobayashi & Jason O’Connor, 2018. "Economics at the FTC: Non-price Merger Effects and Deceptive Automobile Ads," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 53(4), pages 593-614, December.
    19. Yoshimoto, Hisayuki & Nakabayashi, Jun, 2019. "Search and resale frictions in a two-sided online platform: A case of multi-use assets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 85-105.
    20. Kenneth Gillingham & Fedor Iskhakov & Anders Munk-Nielsen & John P. Rust & Bertel Schjerning, 2019. "Equilibrium Trade in Automobile Markets," NBER Working Papers 25840, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce

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