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The effects of weather on retail sales

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  • Martha Starr-McCluer

Abstract

Monthly fluctuations in consumer spending are often attributed to the weather. This paper presents a model in which weather affects the productivity of time in nonmarket activities (such as shopping or recreation), and so, via time and budget constraints, may induce substitution in spending across goods and over time. Using monthly data on retail sales and weather data from the National Weather Service, I find that unusual weather has a modest but significant role in explaining monthly sales fluctuations. However, lagged effects often offset original effects, so that weather's influence tends to wash out at a quarterly frequency.

Suggested Citation

  • Martha Starr-McCluer, 2000. "The effects of weather on retail sales," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2000-08, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2000-08
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    Cited by:

    1. Riccardo Colacito & Bridget Hoffmann & Toan Phan, 2019. "Temperature and Growth: A Panel Analysis of the United States," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(2-3), pages 313-368, March.
    2. Brian Jacob & Lars Lefgren & Enrico Moretti, 2007. "The Dynamics of Criminal Behavior: Evidence from Weather Shocks," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(3).
    3. Nicholas Apergis & Alexandros Gabrielsen & Lee Smales, 2016. "(Unusual) weather and stock returns—I am not in the mood for mood: further evidence from international markets," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 30(1), pages 63-94, February.
    4. Anna Pauliina Sandqvist & Boriss Siliverstovs, 2021. "Is it good to be bad or bad to be good? Assessing the aggregate impact of abnormal weather on consumer spending," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(6), pages 3059-3085, December.
    5. Natoli, Filippo, 2022. "Temperature surprise shocks," MPRA Paper 112568, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Verstraete, Gylian & Aghezzaf, El-Houssaine & Desmet, Bram, 2019. "A data-driven framework for predicting weather impact on high-volume low-margin retail products," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 169-177.
    7. Apergis, Nicholas & Gupta, Rangan, 2017. "Can (unusual) weather conditions in New York predict South African stock returns?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 377-386.
    8. Bertrand, Jean-Louis & Brusset, Xavier & Fortin, Maxime, 2015. "Assessing and hedging the cost of unseasonal weather: Case of the apparel sector," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 244(1), pages 261-276.
    9. Jean-Louis Bertrand & Xavier Brusset, 2018. "Managing the financial consequences of weather variability," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(5), pages 301-315, September.
    10. Bertrand, Jean-Louis & Brusset, Xavier & Chabot, Miia, 2021. "Protecting franchise chains against weather risk: A design science approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 187-200.
    11. Badorf, Florian & Hoberg, Kai, 2020. "The impact of daily weather on retail sales: An empirical study in brick-and-mortar stores," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    12. Brigitte Roth Tran, 2019. "Sellin’ in the Rain: Adaptation to Weather and Climate in the Retail Sector," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2019-067, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    13. Joelle SAAD-LESSLER & George TSELIOUDIS, 2010. "Storms, Climate Change, And The Us Economy: A National Analysis," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 10(1).
    14. Michele Cascarano & Filippo Natoli, 2023. "Temperatures and search: evidence from the housing market," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1419, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    15. Barbera, Michael & Northey, Gavin & Septianto, Felix & Spanjaard, Daniela, 2018. "Those prices are HOT! How temperature-related visual cues anchor expectations of price and value," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 178-181.
    16. Joelle SAAD-LESSLER & George TSELIOUDES, 2009. "Storms, Climate Change, and the US Economy: A National Analysis," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 9(1).
    17. Michael Donadelli & Marcus Jüppner & Antonio Paradiso & Christian Schlag, 2019. "Temperature Volatility Risk," Working Papers 2019:05, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    18. Michael Donadelli & Marcus Jüppner & Antonio Paradiso & Christian Schlag, 2021. "Computing Macro-Effects and Welfare Costs of Temperature Volatility: A Structural Approach," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 58(2), pages 347-394, August.
    19. Evgeniya Tonkova, 2017. "Specific Applications of Weather-Based Marketing," Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 204-209, October.
    20. Riccardo Colacito & Bridget Hoffmann & Toan Phan, 2016. "Temperature and Growth: A Panel Analysis of the United States," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 94298, Inter-American Development Bank.
    21. Frank Youhua Chen & Candace Arai Yano, 2010. "Improving Supply Chain Performance and Managing Risk Under Weather-Related Demand Uncertainty," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(8), pages 1380-1397, August.
    22. Filippo Natoli, 2023. "The macroeconomic effects of temperature surprise shocks," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1407, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    23. Addoum, Jawad M. & Ng, David T. & Ortiz-Bobea, Ariel, 2023. "Temperature shocks and industry earnings news," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(1), pages 1-45.
    24. Nicholas Apergis & Rangan Gupta, 2016. "Can Weather Conditions in New York Predict South African Stock Returns?," Working Papers 201634, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.

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    Keywords

    Consumption (Economics); Retail trade; Econometric models;
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