Dinámica de Precios en Chile: Evidencia con datos de Supermercados

Abstract

In this paper we use a new weekly database of scanner-level prices for the Chilean economy to characterize the price-setting behavior in the supermarket industry. This period corresponds to an episode of relatively high inflation marked by a boom and a subsequent bust (from July 2007 to July 2009). Results show that prices have an average duration slightly greater than two weeks and that price changes are more frequent in Chilean supermarket than in those of other countries. Besides, changes are smaller in absolute value and price change distributions are roughly symmetric. We also find a positive and robust correlation between the absolute size of price changes and price duration. In addition, an inflation variance decomposition exercise shows that price variability is mainly explained by price change variability. Altogether, this evidence points toward a time-dependent pricing behavior in Chilean supermarkets.