THE STORAGE OF POTATOES AND THE MAINE POTATOES FUTURES MARKET

Marketing,

THE EFFECT OF HABITS AND STOCKS ON CONSUMER EXPENDITURE

Consumer/Household Economics,

THE COST OF INACCURATE CONSUMER INFORMATION: THE CASE OF THE EPA MILEAGE FIGURES

In this study a utility maximizing model is developed which accommodates changing states of information. Rational consumer choices in one state of information can lead to realizing different levels of utility than anticipated. Differences between these levels of utility suggest a measure for the value of information. This framework is applied to estimating the potential cost of possible inaccuracies in the EPA fuel-economy ratings. Survey data collected from new car buyers then are used to infer the magnitude of the actual costs that may be caused by the present EPA information.Consumer/Household Economics,

THE COST OF INACCURATE AUTOMOBILE MILEAGE INFORMATION

The model in this paper integrates the possibility of misinformation into consumer utility theory. If the utility realized from a good differs from the utility anticipated at time of purchase, shifts in demand would occur, and thus changes in consumer surplus. These changes provide a measure of the cost of misinformation or value of improved information. The empirical analysis yields estimates of the private and social cost of inaccuracies in automobile buyers; pre-purchase mileage estimates. If automobile purchases are based on imperfect gasoline mileage information, a discrepancy results between expected and actual fuel-efficiency. The data source is a survey of 1980 model car buyers conducted by the authors.Consumer/Household Economics,

A MONTHLY ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER DEMAND IN THE UNITED STATES

This study estimates monthly consumer demand equations for fifteen major commodities based on data for 1947-1972. The equations are estimated within the framework of the Nerlove partial adjustment model. By extrapolating from retail sales data, it was possible to generate the consumer expenditure data needed to combine with published monthly series on income and prices to estimate a series of consumer demand equations