Examining goods market integration in the Eurozone: evidence obtained from an analysis of price-setting by UK automobile exporters

This paper investigates whether the pervasive dispersion of automobile prices within the Eurozone (1999-2006) is caused by the existence of market segmentation and divergences in the market structures. The results concerning the Pricing to Market behavior of the United Kingdom exporters indicate that it is heterogeneous across the Eurozone countries, which suggests that the goods markets are not totally integrated.

Do classes of gas stations contribute differently to fuel prices? Evidence to foster effective competition in Spain

Despite the relatively large number of gas stations reached in Spain after decades of sectorial reforms, pre-tax fuel prices in the country remain systematically among the highest in the EU. The literature provides evidence suggesting that a low intensity of competition in the retail distribution could contribute to these casual observations. With the purpose of shedding light on ways to design e↵ective competition measures, we conduct an empirical analysis of more than ten million observations containing information about prices, brands, and locations at the station level. This allows us to know whether the exit (entry) of some classes of stations have the ability to reduce the prices of nearby competitors. Our results suggest that the presence in a local market of a station belonging to the network of the dominant market companies will tend to generate prices above the average. This is not only because these stations set higher prices but also because their presence will give rise to overpricing by local competitors. The opposite occurs with the self-advertised as “low-cost” stations. Policy measures promoting the gradual exit of stations associated with the dominant companies seem quite reasonable in view of the commitment to the transition toward transport decarbonization

Public spending cuts in Spain have been more severe in those areas under the control of regional governments

Spain has pursued an austerity programme as part of its response to the financial crisis. Jacint Jordana compares spending cuts in areas under the control of regional governments, including the bulk of health and education spending, with areas controlled at the national level, such as pensions and welfare. He argues that due to a 2009 law on decentralised public finances, and the difficulty regional governments have in accessing credit, spending cuts have been far more severe in areas controlled by regional governments

PRICING TO MARKET BEHAVIOR IN OLIGOPOLISTIC COMPETITION: A MICROECONOMETRIC APPROACH

This paper takes into account the presence of oligopolistic rivalry between exporters to evaluate their pricing to market behavior. We specify the pricing policy as a simultaneous equation model, which captures the effects of possible interactions in multiple destination markets. The use of information related to multiple transactions helps to alleviate the cost measurement problem found in the typical analyses on prices and exchange rates. Furthermore, the exogenous variations of the exporters' exchange rate vis-à-vis the currency of each destination market will enable us to identify the reaction functions. The empirical approach is applied to the European ceramic tiles industry, where Italian and Spanish exporters compete. Prices are strategic complements and the markup adjustments, caused directly by exchange rate variations, are amplified by the feedback effects on rival's prices. En este trabajo consideramos la presencia de rivalidad oligopolística entre exportadorescon objeto de evaluar la presencia de "pricing to market". Especificamos la política deprecios mediante un modelo de ecuaciones simultáneas que recoge los efectos de lasposibles interacciones existentes en múltiples mercados de destino de las exportaciones.El problema de estimación de costes, típico en el análisis de precios y tipos de cambio,se resuelve mediante el uso de información relativa a múltiples transacciones. Por otraparte, las variaciones exógenas del tipo de cambio de la moneda de los exportadoresfrente a la de cada mercado de destino permitirá identificar las funciones de reacción.La aproximación empírica obtenida se aplica a la industria europea de pavimentos yrevestimientos cerámicos en la que los exportadores españoles y italianos compiten. Losresultados indican que los precios actúan como complementarios estratégicos y que losajustes de márgenes de beneficio, causados directamente por las variaciones en los tiposde cambio, son amplificados por la retroalimentación existente sobre los precios de losrivales.tipos de cambio; funciones de reacción; "Pricing to market" Exchange rates; Reaction functions; Pricing to market

TESTING COLLUSIVE PRICES IN A MULTIMARKET CONTEXT: THE EUROPEAN CASE OF VITAMIN C

In this paper, we suggest a method to test price-fixing agreements. Prices fixed to multiple shipments are decomposed into a set of destination market effects and time effects in order to allow us to perform an analysis of residuals. We examine the pricing behavior of vitamin C in the European destination markets of German exports. We explore two different periods: January 1991 to August 1995 and September 1995 to September 2001. Empirical results on the first period, which are consistent with our knowledge obtained from firms¿ confessions about illegal agreements, contrast notably with those obtained on the more recent period. En este trabajo proponemos un método para contrastar la presencia de prácticas no competitivas en precios. Cada uno de los precios fijados para diferentes mercados es descompuesto en un efecto fijo por destino y un efecto temporal con objeto de analizar los residuos. Los precios de la vitamina C en los mercados de destino de las exportaciones alemanas son examinados en dos periodos: de enero de 1991 a agosto de 1995 y de septiembre de 1995 a septiembre de 2001. Los resultados para el primer periodo, los cuales son consistentes con nuestro conocimiento obtenido de las confesiones de las empresas participantes en los acuerdos ilegales, contrastan notablemente con los obtenidos para un período más reciente.Colusión; Mercados internacionales; Vitamina C Collusion; International markets; Vitamin C