In many storable-goods markets, firms are often aware that consumers may strategically adjust purchase timing in response to expected price dynamics. For example, in periods when prices are low, consumers stockpile for future consumption. This paper investigates the dynamic impact of consumer stockpiling on competing firms’ strategic pricing decisions in differentiated markets. The necessity of...

This paper analyzes the rationale for regulation of privacy in two new models of why firms collect consumer information. Prior work has focused on the use of consumer information for price discrimination. In this paper, I consider two different rationales. In the product improvement model, I assume that collecting consumer information allows firms to improve their product. In the supplemental g...

BACKGROUND Policymakers and researchers frequently compare the prices of medicines between countries. Such comparisons often serve as barometers of how pricing and reimbursement policies are performing. The aim of this study was to examine methodological challenges to comparing generic drug prices. METHODS We calculated all commonly used price indices based on 2013 IMS Health data on sales of...

In his inaugural presidential address to the Population Association of America in 1978, Richard Easterlin challenged the orthodox neoclassical economic model of fertility originally suggested by Becker and subsequently elaborated by Becker and Lewis. While maintaining an economic approach to fertility, Easterlin's model was based upon the notion of material aspirations which changed systematic...

It has been documented that retail gasoline prices respond more quickly to increases in wholesale price than to decreases. However, there is very little theoretical or empirical evidence identifying the market characteristics responsible for this behavior. This paper presents a new theoretical model of asymmetric adjustment that empirically matches observed retail gasoline price behavior better...

Reference price systems for prescription drugs constitute widely adopted cost containment tools. Under these regimes, patients co-pay a fraction of the difference between a drug's pharmacy retail price and a reference price that is set by the government. Reference prices are either externally (based on drug prices in other countries) or internally (based on domestic drug prices) determined. We ...

Pure-play online retailers have created pressure on traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers forcing many of them to move to a multi-channel business model to provide customers online storefronts in addition to local physical stores. Conventional wisdom suggests that online prices be lower than instore prices. This study investigates whether multi-channel retailers follow such clear-cut pricing ...