Dynamic cyclical comovements of oil prices with industrial production, consumer prices, unemployment, and stock prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ewing, Bradley T.; Thompson, Mark A.

2007-01-01

This paper examines the empirical relationship between oil prices and several key macroeconomic variables. In particular, we investigate the cyclical comovements of crude oil prices with output, consumer prices, unemployment, and stock prices. The methodology involves the use of the Hodrick-Prescott [Hodrick, R.J., Prescott, E.C., 1980. Post-War US Business Cycles: An Empirical Investigation. Working Paper, Carnegie Mellon University] and Baxter-King [Baxter, M., King, R.G., 1999. Measuring business cycles: approximate band-pass filters for economic time series. Review of Economics and Statistics 81, 575-593] filters, as well as the recently developed full-sample asymmetric Christiano-Fitzgerald [Christiano, L.J., Fitzgerald, T.J., 2003. The band pass filter. International Economic Review 44, 435-465] band-pass filter. Contemporaneous and cross-correlation estimates are made using the stationary cyclical components of the time series to make inference about the degree to which oil prices move with the cycle. Besides documenting a number of important cyclical relationships using three different time series filtering methods, the results suggest that crude oil prices are procyclical and lag industrial production. Additionally, we find that oil prices lead consumer prices. (author)

Optimal Price Skimming by a Monopolist Facing Rational Consumers

OpenAIRE

David Besanko; Wayne L. Winston

1990-01-01

This paper considers the intertemporal pricing problem for a monopolist marketing a new product. The key feature differentiating this paper from the extant management science literature on intertemporal pricing is the assumption that consumers are intertemporal utility maximizers. A subgame perfect Nash equilibrium pricing policy is characterized and shown to involve intertemporal price discrimination. We compare this policy to the optimal policy for a monopolist facing myopic consumers and f...

Price promotions and products with low consumer ratings

OpenAIRE

Kuo, H. C.; Kuo, H. C.; Nakhata, C.; Nakhata, C.

2016-01-01

Previous research indicates the aversive effect of low consumer ratings on consumers’ purchasing decisions. This paper aims to apply decision justifiability theory to investigate how price promotions – price discount and price bundling – can reduce this effect. 517-527.

Advertising Expenditure and Consumer Prices

OpenAIRE

Ferdinand Rauch

2011-01-01

This paper studies the effect of a change in the marginal costs of advertising on advertising expenditures of firms and consumer prices across industries. It makes use of a unique policy change that caused a decrease of the taxation on advertising expenditures in parts of Austria and a simultaneous increase in other parts. Advertising expenditures move immediately in the opposite direction to the marginal costs of advertising. Simultaneously the price reaction to advertising is negative in so...

The pass through of oil prices into euro area consumer liquid fuel prices in an environment of high and volatile oil prices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meyler, Aidan [European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

2009-11-15

Crude and refined oil prices have been relatively high and volatile on a sustained basis since 1999. This paper considers the pass through of oil prices into consumer liquid (i.e. petrol, diesel and heating) fuel prices in such an environment. The pass through of oil prices into consumer liquid fuel prices has already been addressed extensively in the literature. Nonetheless much of this literature has either focused on the United States or on a time period when oil prices were relatively stable, or has used monthly data. The main contribution of this paper is a comprehensive combination of many features that have been considered before but rarely jointly. These features include: (1) the analysis of the euro area as an aggregate and a large number of countries (the initial 12 member states); (2) the consideration of different time periods; (3) the modelling of the data in raw levels rather than in log levels. This turns out to have important implications for our findings; (4) the use of high frequency (weekly) data, which, as results will suggest, are the lowest frequency one should consider; (5) the investigation of the different stages of the production chain from crude oil prices to retail distribution - refining costs and margins, distribution and retailing costs and margins; (6) the examination of prices including and excluding taxes - excise and value-added; (7) the modelling of prices for three fuel types - passenger car petrol and diesel separately and home heating fuel oil; (8) lastly we also address the issue of possible asymmetries, allowing for the pass through to vary according to (a) whether price are increasing or decreasing and (b) whether price levels are above or below their equilibrium level. The main findings are as follows: First, as distribution and retailing costs and margins have been broadly stable on average, the modelling of the relationship between consumer prices excluding taxes and upstream prices in raw levels rather than in

The pass through of oil prices into euro area consumer liquid fuel prices in an environment of high and volatile oil prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyler, Aidan

2009-01-01

Crude and refined oil prices have been relatively high and volatile on a sustained basis since 1999. This paper considers the pass through of oil prices into consumer liquid (i.e. petrol, diesel and heating) fuel prices in such an environment. The pass through of oil prices into consumer liquid fuel prices has already been addressed extensively in the literature. Nonetheless much of this literature has either focused on the United States or on a time period when oil prices were relatively stable, or has used monthly data. The main contribution of this paper is a comprehensive combination of many features that have been considered before but rarely jointly. These features include: (1) the analysis of the euro area as an aggregate and a large number of countries (the initial 12 member states); (2) the consideration of different time periods; (3) the modelling of the data in raw levels rather than in log levels. This turns out to have important implications for our findings; (4) the use of high frequency (weekly) data, which, as results will suggest, are the lowest frequency one should consider; (5) the investigation of the different stages of the production chain from crude oil prices to retail distribution - refining costs and margins, distribution and retailing costs and margins; (6) the examination of prices including and excluding taxes - excise and value-added; (7) the modelling of prices for three fuel types - passenger car petrol and diesel separately and home heating fuel oil; (8) lastly we also address the issue of possible asymmetries, allowing for the pass through to vary according to (a) whether price are increasing or decreasing and (b) whether price levels are above or below their equilibrium level. The main findings are as follows: First, as distribution and retailing costs and margins have been broadly stable on average, the modelling of the relationship between consumer prices excluding taxes and upstream prices in raw levels rather than in

The influence of price endings on consumer behaviour: an application of the psychology of perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmanuel Selase Asamoah

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Price ending is an important pricing strategy that has been used by retailers over the years. The trend seems to be effective considering how consumers react especially to products with odd price endings. This review is aimed at providing an understanding of the psychological influences of price ending on buyers, using the theory of perception. It analysis theories and existing literature on the topic and brings out augmentative pricing strategies that retailers can adopt in consumer markets. Also, an exploratory study was conducted to identify the prevalence of odd prices in the Czech retail sector. The exploratory study was based on 16 different home-drop advertising material, short magazines and leaflets by retails shops in the Zlin region. These leaflets, short magazines and home-drop advertising material were collected and analyzed over 3 month period to identify the dominance of odd and even pricing strategy (total number of advertisements = 922. Also, in order to have a comprehensive coverage of the odd-even pricing phenomenon, opinions of some buyers were sought on their perception of odd-pricing and how the odd-pricing influence their buying decisions. Opinions of a total of 173 shoppers were sampled. The study found clear evidence of the predominant use and preference by shoppers for odd prices compared to even prices in different product categories, especially fast moving consumer goods. The paper concludes by providing the marketing implications and suggestions on when odd and even price ending strategies should be used and for what category of products this strategy can be used. Also, the implications of price endings on marketing communication are highlighted.

Variances in consumers prices of selected food items among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... had insignificant differences in their consumer prices while beans consumer prices had significant differences between Okurikang market and the other two markets. The results imply perfect information flow in garri and rice markets and hence high possibility of a perfectly competitive market structure for these products.

Variances in consumers prices of selected food Items among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study focused on the determination of variances among consumer prices of rice (local white), beans (white) and garri (yellow) in Watts, Okurikang and 8 Miles markets in southern zone of Cross River State. Completely randomized design was used to test the research hypothesis. Comparing the consumer prices of rice, ...

Impact of Heterogeneous Consumers on Pricing Decisions under Dual-Channel Competition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ying Wei

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper studies impact of heterogeneous consumer behavior on optimal pricing decisions under dual channel supply chain competition, which consists of one manufacturer and one retailer. The manufacturer is market leader with two sales channels: one is direct channel facing consumers directly and the other is indirect channel facing the retailer. Consumers decide whether to buy and from which channel to buy products. Purchasing decisions are based on considerations of prices posted on different channels, preference or loyalty to specific channels, and degree of rationality in decision-making process. Due to the complexity of heterogeneous consumer decision behavior, traditional mathematical analysis to the pricing problem becomes quite challenging. An agent-based modeling and simulation approach is then proposed and implemented. Simulation results reveal that consumer behavior influences both prices and profits. When consumers are increasingly loyal to the retailing channel, the retailer can make a higher selling price and more benefits. On the other hand, when consumers are increasingly loyal to the direct channel, the number of purchases from the direct channel increases and the manufacturer is better off. It is also interesting to note that as rationality level increases, selling prices for both channels slightly decrease.

Do consumers really know if the price is right ? Direct measures of references price are their implications for retailing

OpenAIRE

VANHUELE, Marc; DREZE, Xavier

2000-01-01

Reference price research suggest that consumers memorize and recall price information when selecting brands for frequently purchased products. In this study, we show that previous price-knowledge surveys provided imperfect estimates of reference price. Further, we propose to use a combination of price recall, price recognition, and deal recognition to measure representations to memorize prices. In addition we identify consumer and product characteristics that explain the variations in price k...

Minimum Price Guarantees In a Consumer Search Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.C.W. Janssen (Maarten); A. Parakhonyak (Alexei)

2009-01-01

textabstractThis paper is the first to examine the effect of minimum price guarantees in a sequential search model. Minimum price guarantees are not advertised and only known to consumers when they come to the shop. We show that in such an environment, minimum price guarantees increase the value of

The Dynamic Pricing of Next Generation Consumer Durables

OpenAIRE

Barry L. Bayus

1992-01-01

Learning curve effects, aspects of consumer demand models (e.g., reservation price distributions, intertemporal utility maximizing behavior), and competitive activity are reasons which have been offered to explain why prices of new durables decline over time. This paper presents an alternative rationale based on the buying behavior for products with overlapping replacement cycles (i.e., next generation products). A model for consumer sales of a new durable is developed by incorporating the re...

Utility Green Pricing Programs: Design, Implementation, and Consumer Response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bird, L.; Swezey, B.; Aabakken, J.

2004-02-01

The term green pricing refers to programs offered by utilities in traditionally regulated electricity markets, which allow customers to support the development of renewable energy sources by paying a small premium on their electric bills. Since the introduction of the concept in the United States, the number of unique utility green pricing programs has expanded from just a few programs in 1993 to more than 90 in 2002. About 10% of U.S. utilities offered a green pricing option to about 26 million consumers by the end of 2002. This report provides: (1) aggregate industry data on consumer response to utility programs, which indicate the collective impact of green pricing on renewable energy development nationally; and (2) market data that can be used by utilities as a benchmark for gauging the relative success of their green pricing programs. Specifically, the paper presents current data and trends in consumer response to green pricing, as measured by renewable energy sales, participants, participation rates, and new renewable energy capacity supported. It presents data on various aspects of program design and implementation, such as product pricing, ownership of supplies, retention rates, marketing costs, the effectiveness of marketing techniques, and methods of enrolling and providing value to customers.

In-Store Experimental Approach to Pricing and Consumer Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Sigurdsson, Valdimar; Foxall, Gordon; Saevarsson, Hugi

2010-01-01

This study assessed how, and to what extent, it is possible to use behavioral experimentation and relative sales analysis to study the effects of price on consumers' brand choices in the store environment. An in-store experiment was performed in four stores to investigate the effects of different prices of a target brand on consumers' relative…

Fairness through Transparency: The Influence of Price Transparency on Consumer Perceptions of Price Fairness

OpenAIRE

Sandra Rothenberger

2015-01-01

This study proposes that price transparency is a significant factor affecting customer judgments of the fairness of sellers’ prices. Cognitive judgments of fairness require a certain amount of information processing; therefore, the level of transparency and the amount of price information affect fairness judgments. The more clear information consumers possess concerning seller prices, the more positive the judgment will be. Customer price fairness judgment is an effective measurement for the ...

Petroleum products price regulation in Nov Scotia : a six-month review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-03-01

Gasoline pricing regulation was introduced in July 2006 in order to achieve the following 3 main objectives: (1) stabilize prices by reducing the frequency of price changes and creating more uniform pricing across the province, (2) maintain industry infrastructure by slowing or halting the decline in the dealer network, particularly in rural areas, by improving viability through regulated margins, and (3) minimize the cost to consumers since higher prices are expected to result from the actions needed to maintain price stability and the higher margins needed to maintain industry infrastructure. This report examined the extent to which these objectives were achieved and contained the findings and recommendations of a review of the first six months of gasoline price regulation in Nova Scotia. The report discussed the rationale for regulation, study objectives, approach, and warning signs. It also discussed gasoline regulation in Nova Scotia including how regulation works and implementing regulation. The Nova Scotia gasoline market was presented with reference to industry structure; pre-regulation competition and pricing; and how regulation may affect structure and competition. Last, the report discussed whether regulation was meeting the objectives and perspectives on regulation. Several recommendations were presented, such as reducing the benchmark price adjustment period from two weeks to one week; removing the price cap on full-serve gasoline; adopting a fixed and transparent formula for forward averaging and applying it at each adjustment; and considering a framework for regulatory review. 12 refs., 15 figs

Research Note Consumer Addressability and Customized Pricing

OpenAIRE

Yuxin Chen; Ganesh Iyer

2002-01-01

The increasing availability of customer information is giving many firms the ability to reach and customize price and other marketing efforts to the tastes of the individual consumer. This ability is labeled as consumer addressability. Consumer addressability through sophisticated databases is particularly important for direct-marketing firms, catalog retailers such as L.L Bean and Land's End, credit card-issuing banks, and firms in the long-distance telephone market. We examine the strategic...

Price signals and end consumer flexibility in shortage situations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunnes, Arngrim; Grande, Ove S.

2002-08-01

This report is written as a part of the project ''Consumer flexibility and efficient use of ICT''. The project aim is 1) to provide a decision basis and suggest external conditions for a priority guided development of an infrastructure based on future ICT solutions and 2) develop, test and evaluate various measures which stimulate flexibility in consumption with consideration to power price, network rent and new market solutions. The central question in the report is how to stimulate the end consumer to be flexible in the consumption of electric power. The use of power price and system rent is desired tools for communicating the right price signals to the end consumers and thereby give the end users an incentive. The focus is primarily on the short term flexibility. The first chapter in the report gives an introduction to the price signals and the two way communication. There is a clear distinction between price signals from power suppliers and price signals from network companies. The two following chapters contain a more thorough discussion. As to the price signals from the power suppliers it is pointed out that most of the existing power contracts have a design so that they in the short term do not give the right price signals to the end users. It is proposed that two new contract types are tested: 1) Spot price and time settling. 2) Contract for reduced power price in a certain period provided the consumer is willing to reduce the load when 1) the spot price exceeds a level given by the end user, 2) the present load exceeds the subscribed level. In the chapter about the price signals from network companies there is first a brief introduction to the natural monopoly and the demands of the authorities to network tariffs. There is also a survey of the size of the system tariffs in the various counties. The central section of the chapter contains suggestions for designing network tariffs. Based on the deductions it is proposed that the project will test the

Reference Pricing with Endogenous or Exogenous Payment Limits: Impacts on Insurer and Consumer Spending.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Timothy T; Robinson, James C

2016-06-01

Reference pricing (RP) theories predict different outcomes when reference prices are fixed (exogenous) versus being a function of market prices (MPs) (endogenous). Exogenous RP results in MPs at both high-price and low-price firms converging towards the reference price from above and below, respectively. Endogenous RP results in MPs at both high-price and low-price firms decreasing, with low-price firms acting strategically to decrease the reference price in order to gain market share. We extend these models to a hospital context focusing on insurer and consumer payments. Under exogenous RP, insurer and consumer payments to low-price hospitals increase, and insurer payments to high-price hospitals decrease, but predictions regarding consumer payments are ambiguous for high-price hospitals. Under endogenous RP, insurer payments to high-price and low-price hospitals decrease, and consumer payments to low-price hospitals decrease, but predictions regarding consumer payments are ambiguous for high-price hospitals. We test these predictions with difference-in-differences specifications using 2008-2013 data on patients undergoing joint replacement. For 2 years following RP implementation, insurer payments to high-price and low-price hospitals moved downward, consistent with endogenous RP. However, when the reference price was not reset to account for changes in MPs, insurer payments to low-price hospitals reverted to pre-implementation levels, consistent with exogenous RP. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Impact of a targeted direct marketing price promotion intervention (Buywell) on food-purchasing behaviour by low income consumers: a randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Stead, M; MacKintosh, A M; Findlay, A; Sparks, L; Anderson, A S; Barton, K; Eadie, D

2017-08-01

Price promotions are a promising intervention for encouraging healthier food purchasing. We aimed to assess the impact of a targeted direct marketing price promotion combined with healthy eating advice and recipe suggestions on the purchase of selected healthier foods by low income consumers. We conducted a randomised controlled trial (n = 53 367) of a direct marketing price promotion (Buywell) combined with healthy eating advice and recipe suggestions for low income consumers identified as 'less healthy' shoppers. Impact was assessed using electronic point of sale data for UK low income shoppers before, during and after the promotion. The proportion of customers buying promoted products in the intervention month increased by between 1.4% and 2.8% for four of the five products. There was significantly higher uptake in the promotion month (P marketing price promotions combined with healthy eating advice and recipe suggestions targeted at low income consumers are feasible and can have a modest impact on short-term food-purchasing behaviour, although further approaches are needed to help sustain these changes. © 2017 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

An Empirical Analysis of Latitude of Price Acceptance in Consumer Package Goods.

OpenAIRE

Kalyanaram, Gurumurthy; Little, John D C

1994-01-01

Scanner panel data analyses for sweetened and unsweetened drink categories (with four brands in each) support the presence of a region of price insensitivity around a reference price. The analyses also suggest that consumers with higher average reference price have a wider latitude of price acceptance. Consumers with a higher frequency of purchase (i.e., shorter average interpurchase time interval) are found to have a narrower latitude of price acceptance, because they are more aware of the r...

Dynamic pricing of network goods with boundedly rational consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Radner, Roy; Radunskaya, Ami; Sundararajan, Arun

2014-01-07

We present a model of dynamic monopoly pricing for a good that displays network effects. In contrast with the standard notion of a rational-expectations equilibrium, we model consumers as boundedly rational and unable either to pay immediate attention to each price change or to make accurate forecasts of the adoption of the network good. Our analysis shows that the seller's optimal price trajectory has the following structure: The price is low when the user base is below a target level, is high when the user base is above the target, and is set to keep the user base stationary once the target level has been attained. We show that this pricing policy is robust to a number of extensions, which include the product's user base evolving over time and consumers basing their choices on a mixture of a myopic and a "stubborn" expectation of adoption. Our results differ significantly from those that would be predicted by a model based on rational-expectations equilibrium and are more consistent with the pricing of network goods observed in practice.

variances in consumers prices of selected food items among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Admin

the consumer prices of rice, beans and garri in the three markets; rice and garri had insignificant differences in ... and inappropriate response by farmers to price ... supply or demand side or both). .... road network, storage facilities, subsidized.

Consumer influence on retail prices of rice in Imo state of Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Consumer influence on retail prices of rice in Imo state of Nigeria. ... Nigeria Agricultural Journal ... The study aimed at estimating consumers bargaining power and its effect on price flexibility of rice in the area. ... to retailers by educating consumers on technicality involved in marketing. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Analysis of Consumers' Preferences and Price Sensitivity to Native Chickens.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Min-A; Jung, Yoojin; Jo, Cheorun; Park, Ji-Young; Nam, Ki-Chang

2017-01-01

This study analyzed consumers' preferences and price sensitivity to native chickens. A survey was conducted from Jan 6 to 17, 2014, and data were collected from consumers (n=500) living in Korea. Statistical analyses evaluated the consumption patterns of native chickens, preference marketing for native chicken breeds which will be newly developed, and price sensitivity measurement (PSM). Of the subjects who preferred broilers, 24.3% do not purchase native chickens because of the dryness and tough texture, while those who preferred native chickens liked their chewy texture (38.2%). Of the total subjects, 38.2% preferred fried native chickens (38.2%) for processed food, 38.4% preferred direct sales for native chicken distribution, 51.0% preferred native chickens to be slaughtered in specialty stores, and 32.4% wanted easy access to native chickens. Additionally, the price stress range (PSR) was 50 won and the point of marginal cheapness (PMC) and point of marginal expensiveness (PME) were 6,980 won and 12,300 won, respectively. Evaluation of the segmentation market revealed that consumers who prefer broiler to native chicken breeds were more sensitive to the chicken price. To accelerate the consumption of newly developed native chicken meat, it is necessary to develop a texture that each consumer needs, to increase the accessibility of native chickens, and to have diverse menus and recipes as well as reasonable pricing for native chickens.

Strategic pricing, consumer search and the number of firms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, Maarten C W; Moraga-González, José Luis

2004-01-01

We examine an oligopoly model where some consumers engage in costly non-sequential search to discover prices. There are three distinct price-dispersed equilibria characterized by low, moderate and high search intensity. The effects of an increase in the number of firms on search behaviour, expected

Determinants of agro-food price changes in Slovenia

OpenAIRE

Gričar, Sergej; Bojnec, Štefan

2013-01-01

This paper investigates the impacts of the current economic developments, the Euro adoption, and input prices on the consumer food prices. The focus of the analysis is on the consumer food price developments during the Slovenian adjustments towards the European Union membership, the Euro adoption by the followed increased in consumer prices, and the current economic and financial conditions. The empirical analysis on the determinants of the consumer food prices is based on the monthly statist...

An Empirical Investigation of Consumer Price Perception and Reputation Dimensions’ Effects on Attitude Toward Private Label Brands

OpenAIRE

Chen, Haidong; Sadeque, Saalem

2007-01-01

The study empirically investigated the effects of consumer price perception dimension and reputation dimension on attitude toward private label brands among young Swedish consumers. Consumer price perception dimension includes value consciousness, price consciousness, and price-quality association factors. Reputation dimension includes retailer’s reputation, existence of word-of-mouth (WOM), positive WOM, and negative WOM. Previous studies have found that factors under the consumer price perc...

THE EVOLUTION OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (CPI AND INFLATION RATE IN ROMANIA IN JANUARY 2000 - DECEMBER 2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ANIELA BĂLĂCESCU

2011-06-01

Full Text Available In the analysis of economic stability an important part is owned by consumer prices. The present study is devoted to an analysis of the evolution of CPI and inflation rate in the Rumanian economy. The analysis uses annual and monthly series for the period January 2000 - December 2010.

Consumer price sensitivity in Dutch health insurance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M. van Dijk (Machiel); M. Pomp (Marc); R.C.H.M. Douven (Rudy); T. Laske-Aldershof (Trea); F.T. Schut (Erik); W. de Boer (Willem); A. Boo (Anne)

2008-01-01

textabstractAim: To estimate the price sensitivity of consumer choice of health insurance firm. Method: Using paneldata of the flows of insured betweenpairs of Dutch sickness funds during the period 1993-2002, we estimate the sensitivity of these flows to differences in insurance premium. Results:

Joint Decisions on Production and Pricing with Strategic Consumers for Green Crowdfunding Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuting Chen

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Green crowdfunding is developing as a novel and popular transaction method, which can largely improve the efficiency of raising initial funds and selling innovative green products or services. In this paper, we explore the creator’s joint decisions regarding green crowdfunding products of different quality levels that can sufficiently satisfy consumer preferences. Firstly, considering the characteristics of a green crowdfunding product, we present four pricing strategies when substitutes exist. Then we propose the optimal pricing strategies to maximize the total profit for the creator under different circumstances, facing strategic and myopic consumers. Finally, for the heterogeneity of consumer valuations, we compare the total profits of the four pricing strategies under different values of the substitution coefficient to obtain the optimal pricing and product strategies under the coexistence of strategic and myopic consumers. According to the result, we find that when the fraction of high-type consumers and the gap between high and low valuations is big, or when they are both small, traditional single pricing shows its benefit. However, when the green crowdfunding products are better than their substitute, a line of green products is more likely to be optimal.

Joint Decisions on Production and Pricing with Strategic Consumers for Green Crowdfunding Products

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yuting; Zhang, Rong

2017-01-01

Green crowdfunding is developing as a novel and popular transaction method, which can largely improve the efficiency of raising initial funds and selling innovative green products or services. In this paper, we explore the creator’s joint decisions regarding green crowdfunding products of different quality levels that can sufficiently satisfy consumer preferences. Firstly, considering the characteristics of a green crowdfunding product, we present four pricing strategies when substitutes exist. Then we propose the optimal pricing strategies to maximize the total profit for the creator under different circumstances, facing strategic and myopic consumers. Finally, for the heterogeneity of consumer valuations, we compare the total profits of the four pricing strategies under different values of the substitution coefficient to obtain the optimal pricing and product strategies under the coexistence of strategic and myopic consumers. According to the result, we find that when the fraction of high-type consumers and the gap between high and low valuations is big, or when they are both small, traditional single pricing shows its benefit. However, when the green crowdfunding products are better than their substitute, a line of green products is more likely to be optimal. PMID:28930198

Joint Decisions on Production and Pricing with Strategic Consumers for Green Crowdfunding Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yuting; Zhang, Rong; Liu, Bin

2017-09-20

Green crowdfunding is developing as a novel and popular transaction method, which can largely improve the efficiency of raising initial funds and selling innovative green products or services. In this paper, we explore the creator's joint decisions regarding green crowdfunding products of different quality levels that can sufficiently satisfy consumer preferences. Firstly, considering the characteristics of a green crowdfunding product, we present four pricing strategies when substitutes exist. Then we propose the optimal pricing strategies to maximize the total profit for the creator under different circumstances, facing strategic and myopic consumers. Finally, for the heterogeneity of consumer valuations, we compare the total profits of the four pricing strategies under different values of the substitution coefficient to obtain the optimal pricing and product strategies under the coexistence of strategic and myopic consumers. According to the result, we find that when the fraction of high-type consumers and the gap between high and low valuations is big, or when they are both small, traditional single pricing shows its benefit. However, when the green crowdfunding products are better than their substitute, a line of green products is more likely to be optimal.

Nonlinear Pricing in Energy and Environmental Markets

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Koichiro

This dissertation consists of three empirical studies on nonlinear pricing in energy and environmental markets. The first investigates how consumers respond to multi-tier nonlinear price schedules for residential electricity. Chapter 2 asks a similar research question for residential water pricing. Finally, I examine the effect of nonlinear financial rewards for energy conservation by applying a regression discontinuity design to a large-scale electricity rebate program that was implemented in California. Economic theory generally assumes that consumers respond to marginal prices when making economic decisions, but this assumption may not hold for complex price schedules. The chapter "Do Consumers Respond to Marginal or Average Price? Evidence from Nonlinear Electricity Pricing" provides empirical evidence that consumers respond to average price rather than marginal price when faced with nonlinear electricity price schedules. Nonlinear price schedules, such as progressive income tax rates and multi-tier electricity prices, complicate economic decisions by creating multiple marginal prices for the same good. Evidence from laboratory experiments suggests that consumers facing such price schedules may respond to average price as a heuristic. I empirically test this prediction using field data by exploiting price variation across a spatial discontinuity in electric utility service areas. The territory border of two electric utilities lies within several city boundaries in southern California. As a result, nearly identical households experience substantially different nonlinear electricity price schedules. Using monthly household-level panel data from 1999 to 2008, I find strong evidence that consumers respond to average price rather than marginal or expected marginal price. I show that even though this sub-optimizing behavior has a minimal impact on individual welfare, it can critically alter the policy implications of nonlinear pricing. The second chapter " How Do

Dynamic Pricing Based on Strategic Consumers and Substitutes in a Duopoly Setting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gongbing Bi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Based on the rational strategic consumers, we construct a dynamic game to build a two-period dynamic pricing model for two brands of substitutes which are sold by duopoly. The solution concept of the dynamic game is Nash equilibrium. In our model, consumers have been clearly segmented into several consumption classes, according to their expected value of the products. The two competing firms enter a pricing game and finally reach the state of Nash equilibrium. In addition, decision-making process with only myopic consumers existing in the market is analyzed. To make the paper more practical and realistic, the condition, in which the myopic and strategic consumers both exist in the market, is also considered and studied. In order to help the readers understand better and make it intuitively more clearly, a numerical example is given to describe the influence of the main parameters to the optimal prices. The result indicates that, to maintain the firms’ respective optimal profits, the prices of the products should be adjusted appropriately with the changes of product differentiation coefficient.

The relation of monthly spot to futures prices for natural gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herbert, J.H.

1993-01-01

The relationship between the spot price for natural gas for a delivery month and the futures contract price for the same delivery month is examined. The estimated regression equation provides a good summary of the relationship between spot and futures prices for the time period and can also be used to obtain accurate forecasts of spot prices. It appears that the natural gas futures market is inefficient. (author)

Toward crustacean without chemicals: a descriptive analysis of consumer response using price comparisons.

Science.gov (United States)

Okpala, Charles Odilichukwu R; Bono, Gioacchino; Pipitone, Vito; Vitale, Sergio; Cannizzaro, Leonardo

2016-01-01

To date, there seems to be limited-to-zero emphasis about how consumers perceive crustacean products subject to either chemical and or non-chemical preservative treatments. In addition, studies that investigated price comparisons of crustacean products subject to either chemical or chemical-free preservative methods seem unreported. This study focused on providing some foundational knowledge about how consumers perceive traditionally harvested crustaceans that are either chemical-treated and or free of chemicals, incorporating price comparisons using a descriptive approach. The study design employed a questionnaire approach via interview using a computer-assisted telephone system and sampled 1,540 participants across five key locations in Italy. To actualize consumer sensitivity, 'price' was the focus given its crucial role as a consumption barrier. Prior to this, variables such as demographic characteristics of participants, frequency of purchasing, quality attributes/factors that limit the consumption of crustaceans were equally considered. By price comparisons, consumers are likely to favor chemical-free (modified atmosphere packaging) crustacean products amid a price increase of up to 15%. But, a further price increase such as by 25% could markedly damage consumers' feelings, which might lead to a considerable number opting out in favor of either chemical-treated or other seafood products. Comparing locations, the studied variables showed no statistical differences ( p >0.05). On the contrary, the response weightings fluctuated across the studied categories. Both response weightings and coefficient of variation helped reveal more about how responses deviated per variable categories. This study has revealed some foundational knowledge about how consumers perceive traditionally harvested crustaceans that were either chemical-treated or subject to chemical-free preservative up to price sensitivity using Italy as a reference case, which is applicable to other parts

Bidding price analysis for competitive generators and large consumers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ping Wei; Luonan Chen; Hsiao Dong Chiang

2005-01-01

We present a new method to analyze the bidding price of each participant (power suppliers and large consumers) in a pay-as-bid market. The bidding price will be decomposed into a variety of components corresponding to five factors, such as the incremental values of the subject bidder's generation on the system operational costs, on the income or payment of other bidders, and on the binding tradable constraints, and the first-order approximation of the subjective participant's bidding price. From an economic viewpoint, each component provides useful information for participants to design the strategic planning. The advantages of the method include that the decomposition is well defined without assumptions and that each decomposition term has its own economical and/or engineering meaning. The proposed method is numerically verified through computer simulations on a three-bus example system and a modified IEEE 30-bus power system with both generator and large consumer bidding. (author)

"The Consumer Price Index As a Measure of Inflation"

OpenAIRE

Dimitri B. Papadimitriou; L. Randall Wray

1996-01-01

As inflation approaches zero, it becomes increasingly important to examine the price indices on which monetary policy is based. The most popularly used aggregate price statistic in the U.S. is the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a statistic that appears to be a focal point in monetary policy deliberations. A problem associated with using the CPI, a fixed weight index of the cost-of-living, is that there are likely to be biases in the index as a measure of inflation. In this paper we use a simple ...

The influence of price endings on consumer behavior: An application of the psychology of perception

OpenAIRE

Asamoah, Emmanuel Selase; Chovancová, Miloslava

2011-01-01

Price ending is an important pricing strategy that has been used by retailers over the years. The trend seems to be effective considering how consumers react especially to products with odd price endings. This review is aimed at providing an understanding of the psychological influences of price ending on buyers, using the theory of perception. It analysis theories and existing literature on the topic and brings out augmentative pricing strategies that retailers can adopt in consumer markets....

The influence of price endings on consumer behaviour: an application of the psychology of perception

OpenAIRE

Emmanuel Selase Asamoah; Miloslava Chovancová

2011-01-01

Price ending is an important pricing strategy that has been used by retailers over the years. The trend seems to be effective considering how consumers react especially to products with odd price endings. This review is aimed at providing an understanding of the psychological influences of price ending on buyers, using the theory of perception. It analysis theories and existing literature on the topic and brings out augmentative pricing strategies that retailers can adopt in consumer markets....

Electricity pricing: optimal operation and investment by industrial consumers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Outhred, H.R.; Kaye, R.J.; Sutanto, D.; Manimaran, R.; Bannister, C.H.; Lee, Y.B.

1988-08-01

Ongoing research in the areas of economically efficient electricity pricing and industrial consumer response is described. A new electricity pricing theory is described that incorporates future uncertainty and intertemporal linkages between decisions. It indicates that electricity prices should contain two terms - short-run marginal cost plus a term that reflects how each particular decision is likely to affect future global welfare. A practical implementation using spot prices and forward contracts plus financial instruments for risk sharing and decision coordination is explored, and a procedure for developing long-term pricing policy is considered. The operation of industrial plant has been investigated and models developed to optimize plant behaviour in response to spot prices and forward contracts for electricity. These models are described and results of simulation studies discussed. The economic efficiency and risk sharing advantages of this advanced tariff structure compared with a conventional time-of-use tariff are illustrated.

Effects of price manipulations on consumer behavior in sheltered workshop token economy.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, S R; Barrera, F J

1976-09-01

The consumer behavior of institutionalized retarded clients in a sheltered workshop token economy were evaluated by changing prices in the workshop store. In the first experiment we found that clients displayed elasticity of demand in that raising the prices of frequently purchased goods reduced the frequency and amount spent on more expendable items. Results from the second experiment showed that this change in spending pattern was not due to the relative modal unit price of item classes. The regulation of demand for consumer goods is a potentially useful way to maintain economic balance and effectiveness of a token economy.

Pricing Policy in the Presence of Pro-environmental Consumers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salies, Evens

2010-02-01

In response to the climate change issue, many electric utilities introduce price schemes for inducing their customers to reduce electricity consumption. When a significant fraction of consumers find costly to save electricity, one would expect utilities to 'pay' them to use less electricity. This paper suggests a model that helps to understand why a typical electric utility may rather prefer to price discriminate against its pro-environmental customers, by increasing the price of electricity for these latter. This result holds even when the utility is charged for its greenhouse gas emissions. But in this case the price increase is sufficiently small so as to induce energy saving also from customers who have a positive cost of doing so. (author)

Toward crustacean without chemicals: a descriptive analysis of consumer response using price comparisons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles Odilichukwu R. Okpala

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Background: To date, there seems to be limited-to-zero emphasis about how consumers perceive crustacean products subject to either chemical and or non-chemical preservative treatments. In addition, studies that investigated price comparisons of crustacean products subject to either chemical or chemical-free preservative methods seem unreported. Objective: This study focused on providing some foundational knowledge about how consumers perceive traditionally harvested crustaceans that are either chemical-treated and or free of chemicals, incorporating price comparisons using a descriptive approach. Design: The study design employed a questionnaire approach via interview using a computer-assisted telephone system and sampled 1,540 participants across five key locations in Italy. To actualize consumer sensitivity, ‘price’ was the focus given its crucial role as a consumption barrier. Prior to this, variables such as demographic characteristics of participants, frequency of purchasing, quality attributes/factors that limit the consumption of crustaceans were equally considered. Results: By price comparisons, consumers are likely to favor chemical-free (modified atmosphere packaging crustacean products amid a price increase of up to 15%. But, a further price increase such as by 25% could markedly damage consumers’ feelings, which might lead to a considerable number opting out in favor of either chemical-treated or other seafood products. Comparing locations, the studied variables showed no statistical differences (p>0.05. On the contrary, the response weightings fluctuated across the studied categories. Both response weightings and coefficient of variation helped reveal more about how responses deviated per variable categories. Conclusions: This study has revealed some foundational knowledge about how consumers perceive traditionally harvested crustaceans that were either chemical-treated or subject to chemical-free preservative up to price

Gasoline standard Motor monthly Prices, Projection and Impact, during 1999

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Unidad de Planeacion Minero Energetica, UPME

1999-01-01

The liberation of prices for the standard gasoline and ACPM, that was given starting from January of 1.999, it outlines uncertainties on the possible prices evolution, along the supply chain until the final user, in comparison with the system previous of control and adjustment. This article presents an approach to the possible evolution of the gasoline motor prices during 1.999, in their different components. It makes it from the entrance to the producer until when one sells the public to a maximum price that includes the super tax. Additionally, it makes a preliminary calculation of the impact of the prices prospective month to month on the cost of transport of ECOPETROL revenues and the Nation revenues. The prospective annual percentage variation is presented from the entrance to the producer and of the other components of the price of the standard gasoline motor in different scenarios of the rate variation. In the most probable scenario, a variation is expected from the entrance to the producing of 1,9% and an increment in the sale price to the public, without including the super tax, of 12,6%

75 FR 49411 - Consumer Price Index Adjustments of Oil Pollution Act of 1990 Limits of Liability-Vessels and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-13

... Consumer Price Index Adjustments of Oil Pollution Act of 1990 Limits of Liability--Vessels and Deepwater... ports to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price Index. The amendment triggered information... interim rule entitled ``Consumer Price Index Adjustments of Oil Pollution Act of 1990 Limits of Liability...

FUNGIBILITY AND CONSUMER CHOICE: EVIDENCE FROM COMMODITY PRICE SHOCKS*

OpenAIRE

Hastings, Justine S.; Shapiro, Jesse M.

2013-01-01

We formulate a test of the fungibility of money based on parallel shifts in the prices of different quality grades of a commodity. We embed the test in a discrete-choice model of product quality choice and estimate the model using panel microdata on gasoline purchases. We find that when gasoline prices rise, consumers substitute to lower octane gasoline, to an extent that cannot be explained by income effects. Across a wide range of specifications, we consistently reject the null hypothesis t...

Consumer behaviour towards price-reduced suboptimal foods in the supermarket and the relation to food waste in households.

Science.gov (United States)

Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; Jensen, Jacob Haagen; Jensen, Mette Hyldetoft; Kulikovskaja, Viktorija

2017-09-01

To combat food waste, supermarkets offer food items at a reduced price in-store when they are close to the expiration date or perceived as suboptimal. It is yet unknown, however, which considerations consumers engage in when deciding about the offer, and whether focusing particularly on the price during food purchase might be related to greater food waste at home. Knowledge about both the consumers' food purchase process for these price-reduced foods and the potential wastage of price-focused consumers can contribute to the assessment of whether or not offering suboptimal food at reduced prices in-store actually reduces food waste across the supply chain. We explore these questions in a mixed-method study including 16 qualitative accompanied shopping interviews and a quantitative online experimental survey with 848 consumers in Denmark. The interviews reveal that the consumers interviewed assess their ability to consume the price-reduced suboptimal food at home already while in the store. Consumers consider the relation between product-related factors of package unit, expiration date, and product quality, in interaction with household-related factors of freezing/storing, household size/demand, and possible meal/cooking. The survey shows that consumers who are more price-focused report lower food waste levels and lower tendency to choose the optimal food item first at home, than those who are not emphasizing the price-quality relation or do not search for price offers to the same extent. Higher age and high education also played a role, and the price-focus is lower in high-income groups and among single households. The findings allow deriving recommendations for retailers and policy makers to support both the marketability and the subsequent actual consumption of price-reduced suboptimal food, but they also raise questions for further research of this underexplored area. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Helping consumers manage their exposure to volatile natural gas prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campion, A.

2004-01-01

This presentation provided a customer's view of forward gas prices and outlined different buying behaviours in terms of characteristics of novice and seasoned buyers. It presented a portfolio overview of natural gas and described the risks facing customers in terms of fixed prices and fixed volumes. An energy smart price plan considers floating gas prices instead of a fixed market price. An automobile manufacturer was presented as an example of a gas consumer that would prefer to manage internal costs of production rather than manage gas volatility. The importance of understanding the drivers of individual businesses was emphasized. Natural Resources Canada and the Office of Energy Efficiency offer financial incentives for manufacturers for energy retrofit feasibility studies that result in energy retrofit projects in lighting, heating, boiler replacement, chiller upgrades, and heat recovery. tabs., figs

Using Electroencephalogram (EEG to Understand The Effect of Price Perception on Consumer Preference

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fitri Aprilianty

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The research examines the influence of price as product cues on consumer’s perception and evaluation by using the application of electroencephalogram (EEG. This method can give objective information about consumer reactions towards product cues that will drive consumer’s choice. The main research objective was to observe and evaluate consumer’s brain activity in different brain regions while they were being exposed by several price levels (low, medium, high of underwear as stimuli and focused mainly on liking/disliking the stimuli. The participants consist of 10 female and 10 male consumers within 18-24 years old, have normal vision, right handed, and considered as potential purchasers of underwear. The participant’s brain activity was collected using Emotiv EPOC neuroheadset (EEG with international 10/20 system and was obtained in Beta frequency bands (13–30 Hz. The result indicated that there was a clear and significant change (p<0.05 in the EEG brain spectral activities of right and left hemisphere in the frontal (F3 & F4, temporal (T7 & T8, and parietal (P7 & P8 regions when participants indicated their attentiveness towards each price level stimulus. The results show, the male and female participant’s tactile sensations in parietal lobe does not give more favorable attention towards particular price stimulus, but the difference price perceptions in parietal lobe can lead to rational preference and give most favored response towards high price stimulus. Analyzing of price perception may help to understand the differences in price-related emotions and preference, which can gain insights into an alternative pricing strategy that can lead to influence consumers buying decision.

Cooperative consumers in a deregulated electricity market - dynamic consumption strategies and price coordination

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haemaelaeinen, R.P.; Maentysaari, J. [Helsinki Univ. of Technology (Finland). Systems Analysis Lab.; Ruusunen, J. [Fortum Power and Heat Inc. (Finland); Pineau, P.O. [Helsinki Univ. of Technology (Finland). Systems Analysis Lab.; Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, Monteal , Quebec (Canada)

2000-09-01

As the trend in electricity markets is strongly towards deregulation, new players, new rules and new behaviors will continue to emerge. One of the new developments on the demand side is purchases made by a coalition of consumers. It seems indeed likely that in the future this will be more common, and that coalitions of consumers will emerge when they are worthwhile. The aim of this paper is to study how such an organization of consumers can be set up in a hierarchical framework. This new approach has not been described before in the deregulated electricity markets but is clearly an important research topic. We focus our interest on electric space heating, which is an energy need especially important in the Nordic countries such as Finland. We examine the consumption strategies of individual electricity buyers within a coalition. The decision problem all consumers face is to find the optimal use of their space heating system with respect to changes in electricity prices and to their tolerance to indoor temperature variation. A mathematical model for this problem is defined. Physical parameters of sample houses were gathered from an experimental field test conducted in Helsinki during the winter of 1996. The coalition buys in the market at marginal cost. However, as marginal cost pricing may not always fulfill metering and communication needs of the members of the coalition, we consider Time-Of-Use (TOU) pricing within the coalition. Different groups of consumer behavior are constructed to simulate this coalition. The optimal marginal price is used as a reference point to estimate the nearest TOU price within the coalition. (author)

Determining consumer purchase intentions: the importance of dry matter, size, and price of kiwifruit.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaeger, Sara R; Harker, Roger; Triggs, Chris M; Gunson, Anne; Campbell, Rachel L; Jackman, Richard; Requejo-Jackman, Cecilia

2011-04-01

Knowledge of the relative importance of food quality attributes in determining consumer purchase intention is critical for robust assessment of economic opportunities for industry growth. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how conjoint analysis methodology that incorporates tasting of fruit can be used to collect such information. Three hundred Japanese consumers took part in research designed to measure the importance of dry matter (DM), size, and price of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa "Hayward" and Actinidia chinensis "Hort16A") for purchase intention. Measurement of consumer liking for kiwifruit of different DM content was a key first step. Liking increased as DM increased and was accompanied by increased purchase likelihood/choice probability for kiwifruit. The size of kiwifruit presented to consumers varied from "small" to "extra large." Consumers liked "mid-sized" kiwifruit over "small" or "extra-large" kiwifruit. Despite these differences in liking, size was of little importance in determining purchase likelihood/choice probability for kiwifruit. Price was a very important factor in determining purchase likelihood/choice probability but was less important than DM content. As price increased, purchase likelihood/choice probability decreased. Beneath these general findings, heterogeneity existed. Some consumers placed more/less importance on the focal purchase drivers than suggested by the aggregate model. Overall, the results suggest that incentive schemes already implemented by industry should consider rewarding high-DM fruit more than fruit size.   This research has contributed to the New Zealand kiwifruit industry gaining a better understanding of the relative importance consumers place on DM, size, and price of kiwifruit and has resulted in changes to grower incentive schemes. The research approach presented forces consumer to tradeoff attributes of kiwifruit against each other and decide on how important two key quality attributes-DM and

A Bayesian negotiation model for quality and price in a multi-consumer context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rufo, M.J.; Martín, J.; Pérez, C.J.

2016-01-01

Bayesian decision theory plays a significant role in a large number of applications that have as main aim decision making. At the same time, negotiation is a process of making joint decisions that has one of its main foundations in decision theory. In this context, an important issue involved in industrial and commercial applications is product reliability/quality demonstration. The goal is, among others, product commercialization with the best possible price. This paper provides a Bayesian sequential negotiation model in the context of sale of a product based on two characteristics: product price and reliability/quality testing. The model assumes several parties, a manufacturer and different consumers, who could be considered adversaries. In addition, a general setting for which the manufacturer offers a product batch to the consumers is taken. Both the manufacturer and the consumers have to use their prior beliefs as well as their preferences. Sometimes, the model will require to update the previous beliefs. This can be made through the corresponding posterior distribution. Anyway, the main aim is that at least one consumer accepts the product batch based on either product price or product price and reliability/quality. The general model is solved from the manufacturer viewpoint. Thus a general approach that allows us to calculate an optimal price and sample size for testing is provided. Finally, two applications show how the proposed technique can be applied in practice. - Highlights: • A general sequential Bayesian model of decision has been developed. • Product price and reliability/quality testing have been considered. • An original approach is implemented in order to obtain appropriate optimal values. • Distributions widely used in reliability and quality contexts have been taken.

Aggregate industrial energy consumer response to wholesale prices in the restructured Texas electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zarnikau, Jay; Hallett, Ian

2008-01-01

The aggregate response of consumers to wholesale price signals is very limited in the restructured Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. An overall average own-price elasticity of demand of - 0.000008 for industrial energy consumers served at transmission voltage is estimated using a Symmetric Generalized McFadden cost function model. To date, ERCOT has sought to promote demand response to price signals without reliance on 'stand alone' demand response programs, but with a market structure that is designed to facilitate economic demand response. This very limited responsiveness to wholesale price signals may prove problematic in light of policy decisions to pursue an 'energy only' resource adequacy mechanism for ERCOT. (author)

Consumer preferences relative to the price and network capability of small urban vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burns, L.D.

1979-09-01

Preferences of consumers for small urban vehicle concepts differing only with respect to their hypothetical purchase prices and network capabilities (i.e., whether they are capable of operating on expressways, major arterials, or local streets) are analyzed using statistical techniques based on psychological scaling theories. Results from these analyses indicate that a vast majority of consumers are not readily willing to give up the accessibility provided by conventional automobiles. More specifically, over the range of hypothetical prices considered here, network capability dominates as a determinant of preferences for vehicle concepts. Also, the ability to operate vehicles on expressways is of utmost importance to consumers.

Spanish, French and British consumers' acceptability of Uruguayan beef, and consumers' beef choice associated with country of origin, finishing diet and meat price.

Science.gov (United States)

Realini, C E; Font i Furnols, M; Sañudo, C; Montossi, F; Oliver, M A; Guerrero, L

2013-09-01

The effect of country of origin (local, Switzerland, Argentina, Uruguay), finishing diet (grass, grass plus concentrate, concentrate), and price (low, medium, high) on consumer's beef choice and segmentation was evaluated in Spain, France and United Kingdom. Sensory acceptability of Uruguayan beef from different production systems was also evaluated and contrasted with consumers' beef choices. Origin was the most important characteristic for the choice of beef with preference for meat produced locally. The second most important factor was animal feed followed by price with preference for beef from grass-fed animals and lowest price. The least preferred product was beef from Uruguay, concentrate-fed animals and highest price. Sensory data showed higher acceptability scores for Uruguayan beef from grass-fed animals with or without concentrate supplementation than animals fed concentrate only. Consumer segments with distinct preferences were identified. Foreign country promotion seems to be fundamental for marketing beef in Europe, as well as the development of different marketing strategies to satisfy each consumer segment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Profiling the high frequency wine consumer by price segmentation in the US market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liz Thach

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Heavy users of consumer products are important to marketers as a profitable target segment. This is equally true in the wine industry, but with the added precaution of encouraging responsible consumption. This study examines the attributes and behaviors of 681 high frequency (heavy-user wine consumers in the US, based on a price segmentation of High, Moderate, and Low Spenders. For this study, price segmentation was defined as the price typically paid for a bottle of wine for home consumption. Significant differences were discovered based on gender, age, income, wine involvement, shopping channel, ecommerce/social media usage and other key areas. Implications for marketing managers as well as areas of future research are described.

Forecasting inflation based on the consumer price index, taking into account the impact of seasonal factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. K. Sapova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The consumer price index is a key indicator of the inflation level in Russia. It is important for the Central Bank and Government in decision-making process. There is a strong need for high-quality analysis and accurate forecast of this index. Modelling and forecasting of consumer price index as a key indicator of inflation are relevant issues in current macroeconomic conditions. The article is dedicated to development of quality short-term forecast of consumer inflation level, with the impact of seasonal factor. Two classes of models (vector autoregression and time series models are considered. It was shown that vector autoregression model of the dependency between consumer price index and nominal effective exchange rate is worse for the proposes of inflation forecast then non-linear model with structural components and conventional heteroscedasticity. The practical significance of this work is that the developed approach to the forecasting of the consumer price index adjusted of seasonal factor can be very helpful for the purpose of proper assessment and regulation of inflation.

The role of internal reference prices in consumers' willingness to pay judgments: Thaler's Beer Pricing Task revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Ranyard, R; Charlton, J P; Williamson, J

2001-02-01

Alternative reference prices, either displayed in the environment (external) or recalled from memory (internal) are known to influence consumer judgments and decisions. In one line of previous research, internal reference prices have been defined in terms of general price expectations. However, Thaler (Marketing Science 4 (1985) 199; Journal of Behavioral Decision Making 12 (1999) 183) defined them as fair prices expected from specific types of seller. Using a Beer Pricing Task, he found that seller context had a substantial effect on willingness to pay, and concluded that this was due to specific internal reference prices evoked by specific contexts. In a think aloud study using the same task (N = 48), we found only a marginal effect of seller context. In a second study using the Beer Pricing Task and seven analogous ones (N = 144), general internal reference prices were estimated by asking people what they normally paid for various commodities. Both general internal reference prices and seller context influenced willingness to pay, although the effect of the latter was again rather small. We conclude that general internal reference prices have a greater impact in these scenarios than specific ones, because of the lower cognitive load involved in their storage and retrieval.

Price reactions when consumers are concerned about pro-social reputation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kahsay, Goytom Abraha; Andersen, Laura Mørch; Hansen, Lars Gårn

In this paper, we propose a reputation-signalling model of demand for consumer goods containing pro-social characteristics such as a ‘fair trade’ or ‘organic’ certification. We show that reputation signalling can reverse price reactions resembling the crowding-out of pre-existing motives for pro-......-social behavior seen in situations of volunteering and charitable giving. Finally, using a unique combination of questionnaire and purchase panel data, we present evidence of such reputation-driven reversal of price reactions in the Danish market for organic milk....

[The price-based certainty of purchase influences consumer behavior for discount].

Science.gov (United States)

Arihara, Katsuhiko; Ariga, Atsunori; Furuya, Takeshi

2016-04-01

Tversky & Kahneman (1981) reported that most participants decided to drive when they could save money on a low-price good as compared to when they could save on a high-price good, even though the discount prices were same. Although this irrational decision making has been interpreted as a rate-dependent estimation of value (prospect theory), this study newly proposes that it can be explained by the certainty of purchase based on the price of goods. Experiment 1 replicated the previously reported difference in decision making, and additionally demonstrated that participants' certainty of purchase was lower for a high- than a low-price good. When it was emphasized that participants' intention to purchase high- and low-price goods were equally sure, decision making did not significantly differ (Experiment 2). Furthermore, decision making differed based only on the certainty of purchase even,when prices of goods were-same (Experiment 3). Consumers' decision making may be rather rational, depending straightforwardly on the certainty of purchase that is susceptible to price.

Demonstration Project. Consumer reactions to peak prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindskoug, Stefan

2006-06-01

The purpose and aim of the project is to look at the risk of capacity shortage in the Swedish electricity supply system during excessively cold periods of weather. A risk that has increased in recent years. A growing number of analysts emphasize the importance of high spot prices actually leading to a reduction in demand. Through increased consumer sensitivity as regards pricing, the power system can be run safely with smaller generation reserves. In addition, market price fluctuation is estimated to become more stable and predictable. The purpose of the Demonstration Project is to demonstrate methods or business concepts that lead to the demand for electricity on a national level being reduced at times of high spot prices. The need for the measures to be profitable for the parties involved is an important starting point. A general problem associated with research and development projects is that the participants feel selected and special attention is paid them, hence they will make an extra effort to improve the results. We were aware of this fact when setting up the trials, which is why we introduced the trials as an offer from the electricity supplier to take part in a commercial assessment using a new price list. For this reason we concealed the marked research aim with Elforsk as a backer. Evaluating the results of questionnaires and detailed interviews does not give cause to suppose the results are in any way affected by such conditions. The conclusion of this project is that controlling load at the customer end is an economic alternative to the investment of new production resources

Causality relation between the producer price index and the consumer price index. Ecuador Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Víctor Quinde Rosales

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The present document is an investigation with a type of inductive reasoning. It evaluated the relationship of causality between the producer price index (IPP, and the consumer price index (IPC in a period from January 1998 to December 2016. The unit root test Dickey-Fuller Augmented (DFA was used under an empirical- analytic paradigm, an autoregressive vector-VAR model was generated and the Granger causality test was performed. The results show a positive trend and seasonality in the data of the variables, a VAR model of two variables was obtained with a number of optimal remnants of fourteen VAR2 (14 to which the causality test was performed, demonstrating a bi - directionality of both indices.

Willingness to Overpay for Insurance and for Consumer Credit: Search and Risk Behavior Under Price Dispersion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey MALAKHOV

2014-11-01

Full Text Available When income growth under price dispersion reduces the time of search and raises prices of purchases, the increase in purchase price can be presented as the increase in the willingness to pay for insurance or the willingness to pay for consumer credit. The optimal consumer decision represents the trade-off between the propensity to search for beneficial insurance or consumer credit, and marginal savings on insurance policy or consumer credit. Under price dispersion the indirect utility function takes the form of cubic parabola, where the risk aversion behavior ends at the saddle point of the comprehensive insurance or the complete consumer credit. The comparative static analysis of the saddle point of the utility function discovers the ambiguity of the departure from risk-neutrality. This ambiguity can produce the ordinary risk seeking behavior as well as mathematical catastrophes of Veblen-effect’s imprudence and over prudence of family altruism. The comeback to risk aversion is also ambiguous and it results either in increasing or in decreasing relative risk aversion. The paper argues that the decreasing relative risk aversion comes to the optimum quantity of money.

75 FR 750 - Consumer Price Index Adjustments of Oil Pollution Act of 1990 Limits of Liability-Vessels and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-06

... historical record of annual changes in the CPI-U (the Consumer Price Index--All Urban Consumers, Not...-AB25 Consumer Price Index Adjustments of Oil Pollution Act of 1990 Limits of Liability--Vessels and... final rule, without change, an interim rule published on July 1, 2009. The interim rule increased the...

A Bayesian Multi-Level Factor Analytic Model of Consumer Price Sensitivities across Categories

Science.gov (United States)

Duvvuri, Sri Devi; Gruca, Thomas S.

2010-01-01

Identifying price sensitive consumers is an important problem in marketing. We develop a Bayesian multi-level factor analytic model of the covariation among household-level price sensitivities across product categories that are substitutes. Based on a multivariate probit model of category incidence, this framework also allows the researcher to…

Beyond customer perception of price discrimination: A consumer behavior analysis and its implications on aviation revenue management

OpenAIRE

Kusch, Katharina

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to assess consumer behavior in the airline industry from a perspective beyond the effects of price discrimination. First the consequences of dynamic pricing will be assessed before looking at the role of social media and offline social influences, consumer satisfaction and airline equilibrium networks and their effects on consumer loyalty. Final implications on aviation revenue management will be drawn.

Do the Scandinavian consumers pay a "fair" price for German white wines?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bentzen, Jan Børsen; Smith, Valdemar

The aim of this paper is to analyse the retail prices of German white wines sold in the Scandinavian countries. German white wines account for approximately 5-6 per cent of the total sale of wines - both red and white wines - in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. However, the market shares of German wines...... in Scandinavia have been declining for a number of years. Diminishing market shares may reflect changes in consumer tastes or simply 'wrong' prices, the latter related to both the level of wine prices (German wines being relatively expensive) and the structure of wine prices. In general, country-specific price...... differences for identical wines are expected to be a sign of differences in taxes, import prices, transportation costs as well as other costs - and also different competitive conditions at the retail level in the respective countries. Differences in wine prices across countries do not always reflect...

News impact for Turkish food prices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meltem Chadwick

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Asymmetric volatility is a widely encountered concept particularly in financial series. It refers to the case that “bad news” generates more volatility than “good news” of equal magnitude. In an inflationary environment “bad news” is disclosed as increasing inflation that is expected to generate higher volatility. The present article examines whether unexpected price changes affect the volatility of prices asymmetrically for 90 retail food items of the Turkish consumer price index. These 90 food items have a weight of approximately 20 percent in headline consumer price index (CPI. We employ exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic (EGARCH model to extract asymmetric volatility, using monthly data between January 2003 and January 2017. Our results reveal that volatility of food prices respond asymmetrically to unexpected price shocks for 62 percent of the retail food items.

Six months after the Gulf war - Fuel prices and taxes around the world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1991-01-01

During the first half of 1991, national average gasoline and diesel No. 2 fuel prices declined in many countries in terms of US dollars, due to the stronger US currency and weaker crude oil prices. However, in countries' own currencies, consumer prices were unchanged or higher than they were at the end of 1990. This issue of Energy Detente features findings from their ongoing Fuel Price/Tax Series and closely compares fuel price and tax levels around the world. This issue also presents the following: (1) the ED Refining Netback Data Series for the US Gulf and West Coasts, Rotterdam, and Singapore as of August 23, 1991; and (2) the ED Fuel Price/Tax Series for countries of the Eastern Hemisphere, August 1991 Edition. 6 figs., 11 tabs

The Low Cost Airline Consumer Price Sensitivity. An Investigation on The Mediating Role of Promotion and Trust in Brand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janfry Sihite

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The ASEAN Open Sky Policy is one of ASEAN policy to open the airspace between the ASEAN member countries. Aviation services based companies including the Low Cost airlines will experience tight com-petition among ASEAN airline companies. This research aim to explore the effect of price on customer loyalty through the mediating role of promotion and trust in brand. The original sample collected from 100 Indonesian low-cost airline Citilink consumer that just arrived in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the bootstrapped techniques conducted for 500 sub-samples and further analyzed with structural equation modelling partial least square. The research findings support the low cost airline consumer price sensitivity, furthermore price affect the trust in brand more severe compared with the promotion. Price effect fully mediated through the trust in brand and promotion toward the consumer loyalty. Further research should consider the sensitivity of price to elaborate the decision making process for the low cost air-line consumer.

The Low Cost Airline Consumer Price Sensitivity. An Investigation on The Mediating Role of Promotion and Trust in Brand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janfry Sihite

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The ASEAN Open Sky Policy is one of ASEAN policy to open the airspace between the ASEAN member countries. Aviation services based companies including the Low Cost airlines will experience tight com-petition among ASEAN airline companies. This research aim to explore the effect of price on customer loyalty through the mediating role of promotion and trust in brand. The original sample collected from 100 Indonesian low-cost airline Citilink consumer that just arrived in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the bootstrapped techniques conducted for 500 sub-samples and further analyzed with structural equation modelling partial least square. The research findings support the low cost airline consumer price sensitivity, furthermore price affect the trust in brand more severe compared with the promotion. Price effect fully mediated through the trust in brand and promotion toward the consumer loyalty. Further research should consider the sensitivity of price to elaborate the decision making process for the low cost airline consumer.

Trends in prices to commercial energy consumers in the competitive Texas electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zarnikau, Jay; Fox, Marilyn; Smolen, Paul

2007-01-01

To date, the price of electricity to commercial or business energy consumers has generally increased at greater rates in the areas of Texas where retail competition has been introduced than in areas that do not enjoy competition. Trends in commercial competitive prices have largely mirrored trends in residential prices. Market restructuring has tended to increase the sensitivity of retail electricity prices to changes in the price of natural gas, the marginal fuel used for generation in Texas. Consequently, the rapid increases in the commodity price of natural gas following restructuring led to increases in competitive electric rates which exceeded the increases in areas not exposed to restructuring, where the fuel component of electric rates tend to reflect a weighted average of the utilities' fuel costs. There is some evidence that pricing behavior by competitive retailers changed when the retailers affiliated with the incumbent utilities were permitted some pricing flexibility, resulting in a reduction in prices. (author)

Comparison of physicochemical characteristics and consumer perception of rice samples with different countries of origin and prices.

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Eun-Hee; Lim, Seung-Taik; Kim, Sang Sook

2012-06-01

Rice is the only food item which is not liberalized in Korea. To prepare for future liberalization of the rice market in Korea, the physicochemical characteristics and consumer perception of four domestic rice samples were compared with those of 11 foreign rice samples. Additionally, the influences of country of origin (CO) and price on purchase intent (PI) and willingness to pay (WTP) were investigated. Consumer acceptance of rice samples from Japan was generally higher than that of rice samples from other countries. In an informed test, PI was affected by price and CO, while WTP was affected mostly by price. The PI decreased with the price provided while the WTP increased. In a blind test, consumers evaluated PI and WTP according to sensory liking. The PI was higher in the informed test than in the blind test in all domestic samples. Generally, consumer acceptance was highly correlated with fat acidity (r = - 0.76), protein content (r = - 0.72), and b value (r = - 0.64) of the rice samples. Further efforts to increase the quality of rice are recommended for survival in the global market after liberalization of rice, even though consumers showed loyalty for PI of domestic samples. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Alternative pricing regimes in Ontario : exploring the impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowlands, I.H.

2006-01-01

Legislative goals were recently established in Ontario to promote reliability and quality of electricity service and to ensure that distribution rates for customers remain reasonable. This presentation explored the effect of changing electricity pricing structures on residential customers in Ontario. This study investigated a period between May to December 2005, in the town of Milton, Ontario. Monthly demand was measured for each month, and monthly weighted averages were presented. Residents with electric heating were removed from the sample. Four pricing structure scenarios were examined: (1) flat rates; (2) time-of-use pricing regimes; (3) real time pricing regimes; and (4) critical peak pricing. Average monthly consumption rates for July and August for all 4 scenarios were presented. Results for time-of-use were compared to flat rates, which showed a slight increase in monthly costs. Real time average monthly electricity costs were significantly higher. Time-of-use costs increased by 57 per cent during the periods examined. Real time pricing regimes resulted in a 196 per cent rise in costs. It was concluded that more research must be done to explore the policy implications of pricing regimes and their effect on consumer behaviour. refs., tabs., figs

FUNGIBILITY AND CONSUMER CHOICE: EVIDENCE FROM COMMODITY PRICE SHOCKS*

Science.gov (United States)

Hastings, Justine S.; Shapiro, Jesse M.

2015-01-01

We formulate a test of the fungibility of money based on parallel shifts in the prices of different quality grades of a commodity. We embed the test in a discrete-choice model of product quality choice and estimate the model using panel microdata on gasoline purchases. We find that when gasoline prices rise consumers substitute to lower octane gasoline, to an extent that cannot be explained by income effects. Across a wide range of specifications, we consistently reject the null hypothesis that households treat “gas money” as fungible with other income. We compare the empirical fit of three psychological models of decision-making. A simple model of category budgeting fits the data well, with models of loss aversion and salience both capturing important features of the time series. PMID:26937053

FUNGIBILITY AND CONSUMER CHOICE: EVIDENCE FROM COMMODITY PRICE SHOCKS.

Science.gov (United States)

Hastings, Justine S; Shapiro, Jesse M

2013-11-01

We formulate a test of the fungibility of money based on parallel shifts in the prices of different quality grades of a commodity. We embed the test in a discrete-choice model of product quality choice and estimate the model using panel microdata on gasoline purchases. We find that when gasoline prices rise consumers substitute to lower octane gasoline, to an extent that cannot be explained by income effects. Across a wide range of specifications, we consistently reject the null hypothesis that households treat "gas money" as fungible with other income. We compare the empirical fit of three psychological models of decision-making. A simple model of category budgeting fits the data well, with models of loss aversion and salience both capturing important features of the time series.

An integrated Markov decision process and nested logit consumer response model of air ticket pricing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lu, J.; Feng, T.; Timmermans, H.P.J.; Yang, Z.

2017-01-01

The paper attempts to propose an optimal air ticket pricing model during the booking horizon by taking into account passengers' purchasing behavior of air tickets. A Markov decision process incorporating a nested logit consumer response model is established to modeling the dynamic pricing process.

Idiosyncrasies in Australian petrol price behaviour: evidence of seasonalities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, Jason D.; Lilian Ong; Izan, H.Y.

2000-01-01

It has been argued that there are certain idiosyncrasies in Australian petrol price behaviour. To the extent that these idiosyncrasies result in large magnitude differences in petrol prices, they may be exploited by consumers to significantly reduce their household expenditure on the product. Similarly, such seasonalities may influence retailers in their purchase and storage decision. The objective of this paper is to test for seasonalities in the Australian retail petrol market. The approach adopted is similar to that for determining calendar anomalies as documented in the financial and commodity markets literature. We find that a monthly seasonal effect is pronounced with petrol prices lower in the months of February-May and highest in July and August. A day-of-the-week effect is also apparent and is manifest in all petrol prices for capital cities (Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney) across various years. However, the half-month effect, as is common in stock returns, is not observed. Moreover, contrary to popular belief that petrol prices are higher surrounding holidays, no evidence of the holiday effect is found. In Brisbane and Melbourne, petrol prices also have some relationship to the mood of consumers, as proxied using weather conditions. This is not observed in Adelaide and Sydney. (Author)

Value for money or making the healthy choice: the impact of proportional pricing on consumers' portion size choices.

Science.gov (United States)

Vermeer, Willemijn M; Alting, Esther; Steenhuis, Ingrid H M; Seidell, Jacob C

2010-02-01

Large food portion sizes are determinants of a high caloric intake, especially if they have been made attractive through value size pricing (i.e. lower unit prices for large than for small portion sizes). The purpose of the two questionnaire studies that are reported in this article was to assess the impact of proportional pricing (i.e. removing beneficial prices for large sizes) on people's portion size choices of high caloric food and drink items. Both studies employed an experimental design with a proportional pricing condition and a value size pricing condition. Study 1 was conducted in a fast food restaurant (N = 150) and study 2 in a worksite cafeteria (N = 141). Three different food products (i.e. soft drink, chicken nuggets in study 1 and a hot meal in study 2) with corresponding prices were displayed on pictures in the questionnaire. Outcome measures were consumers' intended portion size choices. No main effects of pricing were found. However, confronted with proportional pricing a trend was found for overweight fast food restaurant visitors being more likely to choose small portion sizes of chicken nuggets (OR = 4.31, P = 0.07) and less likely to choose large soft drink sizes (OR = 0.07, P = 0.04). Among a general public, proportional pricing did not reduce consumers' size choices. However, pricing strategies can help overweight and obese consumers selecting appropriate portion sizes of soft drink and high caloric snacks. More research in realistic settings with actual behaviour as outcome measure is required.

Estimation of Cost Pass Through to Michigan Consumers in the ADM Price Fixing Case

OpenAIRE

Cotterill, Ronald W.

1998-01-01

This report analyzes the economic impact of price fixing in the wet corn milling industry on consumers in the State of Michigan. Two of the companies who produce citric acid have pleaded guilty to fixing its price. In this report we assume that price fixing also occurred among HFCS producers. Given the structure of the corn wet milling industry and the direct purchaser industries, the overcharge is essentially uniform across buyers and selling arrangements. We develop an actual economic model...

Joint Dynamic Pricing of Multiple Perishable Products Under Consumer Choice

OpenAIRE

Yalç{\\i}n Akçay; Harihara Prasad Natarajan; Susan H. Xu

2010-01-01

In response to competitive pressures, firms are increasingly adopting revenue management opportunities afforded by advances in information and communication technologies. Motivated by these revenue management initiatives in industry, we consider a dynamic pricing problem facing a firm that sells given initial inventories of multiple substitutable and perishable products over a finite selling horizon. Because the products are substitutable, individual product demands are linked through consume...

List prices vs. bargain prices: which solution to estimate consumer price indices?

OpenAIRE

Carlo De Gregorio

2010-01-01

Alternative approaches to CPI surveys are here evaluated, in markets where final prices are based on some sort of price listing. Three types of surveys are compared: local surveys (LOC), with small samples and a local price collection; list price surveys (LIS), with huge samples and centralised collection; mixed surveys (MXD), in which LOC and LIS are jointly used. Based on a multiplicative pricing model, some conditions are derived to establish the relative efficiency of these approaches. Th...

Study on the structure and level of electricity prices for Northwest-European large-scale consumers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-06-01

The aim of the study on the title subject is to make an overview of the structure and developments of electricity prices for large-scale consumers in Northwest-Europe (Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France) and of current regulations for large-scale consumers in Europe [nl

The influence of an online auction's product price and e-retailer reputation on consumers' perception, attitude, and behavioral intention.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Wann-Yih; Huang, Po-Ching; Fu, Chen-Su

2011-06-01

Online auctions combine the conventional auction model with information technology. However, information asymmetry within such auctions causes risks and uncertainties that influence consumer purchase intentions. In this study, a 2 (product price: high vs. low) × 2 (e-retailer reputation: high vs. low) experimental design was used to understand whether the product price and e-retailer reputation will influence consumers' perceived risk, attitude toward the website and purchase intention. The results of this study indicate that perceived risk negatively influences consumer attitude toward the website and online purchase intention, while consumer attitude toward the website positively influences purchase intention. Moreover, involvement moderates the influence of product price and e-retailer reputation only on social risk but does not have a significant effect on consumer attitude toward the website. This study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of online auction users' behavior. Finally, the managerial implications, limitations and future research directions are also provided. © 2011 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2011 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Overcoming consumer biases in the choice of pricing schemes: a lab experiment

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Shestakova, Natalia

-, č. 418 (2010), s. 1-42 ISSN 1211-3298 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LC542 Grant - others:GA UK(CZ) 60010 Institutional research plan: CEZ:MSM0021620846 Keywords : heuristics * price discrimination * consumers' choice Subject RIV: AH - Economics http://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp418.pdf

Energy Report. State of the art in the market for consumers. First six months of 2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-09-01

Based on a number of key indicators, the market outcomes and market structure of the consumer market for energy are mapped, including the behavior of consumers. This report is limited to displaying a number of figures and facts, relating to the demand for products, prices, concentrations, switching, satisfaction and confidence of consumers in the energy market and information from ConsuWijzer, a Dutch governmental consumer protection organization. [nl

Petroleum marketing monthly, July 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-07-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in five sections: summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products; and prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Consumer perception and preference for suboptimal food under the emerging practice of expiration date based pricing in supermarkets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica

2017-01-01

, it is unclear which contextual, individual, and product-related factors impact consumer likelihood of choice and thus acceptance of the practice in the long run. The study aimed at exploring the effect of communicating different motives for purchase, the product being organic, familiarity with the practice...... and the interaction with gender is observed for milk in particular. Overall, perceived quality and estimated likelihood of consumption at home majorly determine likelihood of choice. Consumer acceptance of expiration date based pricing of suboptimal food can be increased through furthering consumer familiarity......Consumers have been found to majorly prefer ‘optimal’ food over ‘suboptimal’ when purchasing food. To provide an incentive for consumers to select suboptimal food and thus decrease food waste in the supply chain, expiration date based pricing is suggested and increasingly applied. However...

Price and Service Competition of Dual-Channel Supply Chain with Consumer Returns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lili Ren

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Products returned by consumers are common in the retail industry and result in additional costs to both the manufacturer and the retailer. This paper proposes dual-channel supply chain models involving consumer returns policies. Also, the price and service competition between retail channel and direct channel is considered in the models. According to the models, we analyze the optimal decisions in both centralized and decentralized scenarios. Then we design a new contract, coordinate the dual-channel supply chain, and enable both the retailer and the manufacturer to be a win-win.

Inflation and changes in output and consumer prices of food in Nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The main objective of this study is to identify relationship between inflation, food production and changes in consumer prices of food in Nigeria. This study was carried out in the context of a macro-econometric model, which recognizes the inter-relationship among inflation and agricultural production. The study covered the ...

The economic burden of opioid prescription by dentists: A 12-month survey of consumer expenditure in Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Nogueira, Tulio Eduardo; Lino, Patrícia Azevedo; Martins, Maria Auxiliadora Parreiras; Silva, Maria Elisa Souza; Leles, Claudio Rodrigues; Abreu, Mauro Henrique Nogueira Guimarães

2017-09-01

To describe consumer expenditure on opioids prescribed by dentists in Brazil during a 12-month period. We surveyed individual dispensed prescriptions of opioids in private pharmacies from October 2012 to September 2013. A descriptive analysis of costs included a calculation of the overall and mean maximum price to consumers. Monetary costs were converted from local currency units (Brazilian Real - BRL) to international dollars using purchasing power parity (PPP) exchanging rates. 129,708 prescriptions were retrieved from the database. The overall expenditure on opioids was R$4,316,383.46 BRL or $2,721,315.82 (PPP). The mean cost of an individual prescription was R$33.27 BRL ($20.98 PPP), ranging from 14.19 to 3,255.60 BRL. Codeine was frequently prescribed (87.2 percent). The expenditure on opioids is a significant cost to Brazilian patients, especially given that the Brazilian Public Health System should dispense these drugs free of charge. Codeine was the most prescribed opioid. © 2017 American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

To consume or not. How oil prices affect the comovement of consumption and aggregate wealth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Odusami, Babatunde Olatunji

2010-01-01

This paper provides insight into how oil price movements affect the consumption choices of U.S. households through the wealth channel. Lettau and Ludvigson (2001) show that while consumption, asset wealth, and labor income share a common long-term trend; they substantially deviate from one another in the short run. In this paper, I show that these transitory deviations can be explained by fluctuations in the price of crude oil. Linear and threshold multivariate autoregressive models are used to measure the oil price effect. Oil price effect on the consumption to aggregate wealth ratio is robust to monetary policy effect, sub-period effect, and econometric specifications of oil price effect. Generally speaking, higher (lower) oil price will lead to a decrease (increase) in the proportion of aggregate wealth consumed. In addition, the magnitude of the oil price effect is asymmetric and sub-period dependent. Oil price effect was higher before the 1980's than in succeeding periods. (author)

Tariff Impact on the Domestic Price of Vegetable Oil in Iran and the Associated Issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

omid gilanpour

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This study uses vector error correction model to examine the effects of oilseeds, crude oil and vegetable oil tariffs on vegetable oil consumer price. Monthly data sets for the years 2004-2013 and VAR and VECM models were applied for this study. Research findings indicates only a long term equilibrium relation between the study variables .The effect of vegetable oil tariffs on consumer and producer price index are 0.4 and 0.07, respectively. Furthermore, one percent increase in the oil seeds and crude oil tariff, will increase consumer prices by 2.35, 0.19percent. The huge gap between the impacts of the two tariffs –e.g. oilseeds and crude oil tariffs- on consumer price shows that oil industries work with low efficiency. This practically doubles the impact of tariff on consumers. Accordingly, structural reform in the oil industry can develop oil production and prevent additional burden upon the consumer price.

Price-transparency and cost accounting: challenges for health care organizations in the consumer-driven era.

Science.gov (United States)

Hilsenrath, Peter; Eakin, Cynthia; Fischer, Katrina

2015-01-01

Health care reform is directed toward improving access and quality while containing costs. An essential part of this is improvement of pricing models to more accurately reflect the costs of providing care. Transparent prices that reflect costs are necessary to signal information to consumers and producers. This information is central in a consumer-driven marketplace. The rapid increase in high deductible insurance and other forms of cost sharing incentivizes the search for price information. The organizational ability to measure costs across a cycle of care is an integral component of creating value, and will play a greater role as reimbursements transition to episode-based care, value-based purchasing, and accountable care organization models. This article discusses use of activity-based costing (ABC) to better measure the cost of health care. It describes examples of ABC in health care organizations and discusses impediments to adoption in the United States including cultural and institutional barriers. © The Author(s) 2015.

Pricing and Timing Strategies for New Product Using Agent-Based Simulation of Behavioural Consumers

OpenAIRE

Keeheon Lee; Hoyeop Lee; Chang Ouk Kim

2014-01-01

In this study, we are interested in the problem of determining the pricing and timing strategies of a new product by developing an agent-based product diffusion simulation. In the proposed simulation model, agents imitate behavioural consumers, who are reference dependent and risk averse in the evaluation of new products and whose interactions create word-of-mouth regarding new products. Pricing and timing strategies involve the timing of a new product release, the timing of providing a disco...

Consumers' choice of drinking water: Is it dependent upon perceived quality, convenience, price and attitude?

Science.gov (United States)

Wahid, Nabsiah Abdul; Cheng, Patrick Tan Foon; Abustan, Ismail; Nee, Goh Yen

2017-10-01

Tap water is one of the many sources of water that the public as consumers can choose for drinking. This study hypothesized that perceived quality, convenience, price and environmental attitude would determine consumers's choice of drinking water following the Attribution Theory as the underlying model. A survey was carried out on Malaysia's public at large. From 301 usable data, the PLS analysis revealed that only perceived quality, convenience and price attributed towards the public's choice of drinking water while attitude was not significant. The findings are beneficial for the water sector industry, particularly for drinking water operators, state governments, and alternative drinking water manufacturers like bottled water companies. The ability to identify factors for why consumers in the marketplace choose the source of their drinking water would enable the operators to plan and strategize tactics that can disseminate accurate knowledge about the product that can motivate marketability of drinking water in Malaysia.

Method for Developing Descriptions of Hard-to-Price Products: Results of the Telecommunications Product Study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conrad, F.; Tonn, B.

1999-05-01

This report presents the results of a study to test a new method for developing descriptions of hard-to-price products. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is responsible for collecting data to estimate price indices such as the Consumers Price Index (BLS) is responsible for collecting data to estimate price indices such as the Consumers Price Index (CPI). BLS accomplishes this task by sending field staff to places of business to price actual products. The field staff are given product checklists to help them determine whether products found today are comparable to products priced the previous month. Prices for non-comparable products are not included in the current month's price index calculations. A serious problem facing BLS is developing product checklists for dynamic product areas, new industries, and the service sector. It is difficult to keep checklists up-to-date and quite often simply to develop checklists for service industry products. Some people estimates that upwards of 50 % of US economic activity is not accounted for in the CPI

Rushing into American Dream? House Prices, Timing of Homeownership, and Adjustment of Consumer Credit

OpenAIRE

Agarwal, Sumit; Hu, Luojia; Huang, Xing

2013-01-01

In this paper we use a large panel of individuals from Consumer Credit Panel dataset to study the timing of homeownership as a function of credit constraints and expectations of future house price. Our panel data allows us to track individuals over time and we model the transition probability of their first home purchase. We find that in MSAs with highest quartile house price growth, the median individual become homeowners earlier by 5 years in their lifecycle compared to MSAs with lowest qua...

Micro-energy markets: The role of a consumer preference pricing strategy on microgrid energy investment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faber, Isaac; Lane, William; Pak, Wayne; Prakel, Mary; Rocha, Cheyne; Farr, John V.

2014-01-01

The fragility of the modern electrical grid is exposed during random events such as storms, sporting events and often simply routine operation. Even with these obvious flaws large utilities and governments have been slow to create robust solutions due to the need of large capital investments required to address the issues. In this light creative economic and engineering solutions are desired to finance the needed upgrades. Driven by the requirement to have uninterrupted power that meets customers desires this research focuses on linking consumer preferences to a type of energy source in order to best fulfill stakeholder priorities. This approach is in contrast to the current and prevalent lowest cost methods to producing and consuming energy. This research yields a preliminary ‘micro-energy market’ that consists of an energy network architecture, pricing methodology and mathematical template which quantifies potential economic inefficiencies. If exploited these inefficiencies could be used to fund investment into various energy sources that provide unmet needs such as reduced carbon footprint, renewable, quality, and local production. These inefficiencies can be best exploited within the structure of a microgrid. Identification of opportunities on this smaller scale can provide an incentive for producers to develop a robust set of production facilities of varying size and characteristics to meet the consumer preferences. A stochastic optimization model of a microgrid implementation for a small military installation is used to evaluate the effects of this pricing methodology. The energy production of the resulting microgrid would be optimized to meet consumer preferences and minimize economic inefficiency. - Highlights: • This research focuses on linking consumer preferences to a type of energy source. • Pricing methodology quantifies strategic investments in alternative sources. • Inefficiencies could be used to fund investment into various energy sources

Healthier fast-food options – Are consumers happy with the price they pay and the value that they receive?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melanie Gopaul

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Changes in consumer lifestyle patterns have had a great impact on the fast-food industry worldwide and the demand for heathier food has forced such a growing industry to offer more alternatives to cater for these consumers. Many fast-food outlets have introduced healthier food options to their menus. However, there seems to be a common perception among consumers that healthier food options are more expensive. The primary research aim that pended from the literature was therefore to determine South African consumers’ level of satisfaction with the price and value of the healthier food options available at fast-food outlets. The results may assist fast-food outlets in adjusting their pricing strategy and offering consumers better value for money. A mixed method approach was used to collect data whereby self-administered questionnaires comprising of closed-ended, open-ended and scaled response questions were distributed to respondents. The findings indicated a low level of satisfaction among South African consumers’ with the price and value of healthier options offered at fast-food outlet

Petroleum marketing monthly, June 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-06-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in five sections: Summary Statistics; Crude Oil Prices; Prices of Petroleum Products; Volumes of Petroleum Products; and Prime Supplier Sales Volumes of Petroleum Products for Local Consumption. The feature article is entitled ``The Second Oxygenated Gasoline Season.`` 7 figs., 50 tabs.

A Data-Driven Bidding Model for a Cluster of Price-Responsive Consumers of Electricity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Saez Gallego, Javier; Morales González, Juan Miguel; Zugno, Marco

2016-01-01

This paper deals with the market-bidding problem of a cluster of price-responsive consumers of electricity. We develop an inverse optimization scheme that, recast as a bilevel programming problem, uses price-consumption data to estimate the complex market bid that best captures the price......-response of the cluster. The complex market bid is defined as a series of marginal utility functions plus some constraints on demand, such as maximum pick-up and drop-off rates. The proposed modeling approach also leverages information on exogenous factors that may influence the consumption behavior of the cluster, e...... can be largely captured in the form of a complex market bid, so that this could be ultimately used for the cluster to participate in the wholesale electricity market....

Recycling Pricing and Coordination of WEEE Dual-Channel Closed-Loop Supply Chain Considering Consumers' Bargaining.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Xiaodong; Wang, Jing; Tang, Juan

2017-12-15

Environmentally friendly handling and efficient recycling of waste electrical on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) have grown to be a global social problem. As holders of WEEE, consumers have a significant effect on the recycling process. A consideration of and attention to the influence of consumer behavior in the recycling process can help achieve more effective recycling of WEEE. In this paper, we built a dual-channel closed-loop supply chain model composed of manufacturers, retailers, and network recycling platforms. Based on the influence of customer bargaining behavior, we studied several different scenarios of centralized decision-making, decentralized decision-making, and contract coordination, using the Stackelberg game theory. The results show that retailers and network recycling platforms will reduce the direct recovery prices to maintain their own profit when considering the impact of consumer bargaining behavior, while remanufacturers will improve the transfer payment price for surrendering part of the profit under revenue and the expense sharing contract. Using this contract, we can achieve supply chain coordination and eliminate the effect of consumer bargaining behavior on supply chain performance. It can be viewed from the parameter sensitivity analysis that when we select the appropriate sharing coefficient, the closed-loop supply chain can achieve the same system performance under a centralized decision.

Food prices and consumer demand: differences across income levels and ethnic groups.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cliona Ni Mhurchu

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Targeted food pricing policies may improve population diets. To assess their effects on inequalities, it is important to determine responsiveness to price changes across income levels and ethnic groups. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to estimate price elasticity (PE values for major commonly consumed food groups in New Zealand, by income and ethnicity. PE values represent percentage change in demand associated with 1% change in price of that good (own-PE or another good (cross-PE. DESIGN: We used food expenditure data from national household economic surveys in 2007/08 and 2009/10 and Food Price Index data from 2007 and 2010. Adopting an Almost Ideal Demand System approach, own-PE and cross-PE estimates were derived for 24 food categories, household income quintiles, and two ethnic groups (Māori and non-Māori. RESULTS: Own-PE estimates (with two exceptions ranged from -0.44 to -1.78. Cross-PE estimates were generally small; only 31% of absolute values were greater than 0.10. Excluding the outlier 'energy drinks', nine of 23 food groups had significantly stronger own-PEs for the lowest versus highest income quintiles (average regression-based difference across food groups -0.30 (95% CI -0.62 to 0.02. Six own-PEs were significantly stronger among Māori; the average difference for Māori: non-Māori across food groups was -0.26 (95% CI -0.52 to 0.00. CONCLUSIONS: Food pricing policies have potential to improve population diets. The greater sensitivity of low-income households and Māori to price changes suggests the beneficial effects of such policies on health would be greatest for these groups.

Petroleum marketing monthly with data for April 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-07-05

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data on the Petroleum Marketing Monthly. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: Summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products; and prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption.

Brand Name, Store Image, and Country-of-Origin: The Effects on Consumers' Perception of Quality and Price.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Margaret C. A.

1993-01-01

A review of literature indicated that, with regard to brand labels, consumers' perception of price, but not of quality, was affected. Consumers expected to pay more for goods bought in a higher status store and rated imported goods as being more expensive than domestically produced goods. Products from developing countries received lower quality…

Price learning during grocery shopping

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Birger Boutrup

Many attempts have been made to measure consumers' price knowledge for groceries. However, the results have varied considerably and conflict with results of reference price research. This is the first study to examine price knowledge before, during, and after store visit, thus enabling a study...... of what consumers learn about prices during grocery shopping. Three measures of price knowledge corresponding to different levels of price information processing were applied. Results indicate that price learning does take place and that episodic price knowledge after store exit is far more widespread...... than expected. Consequently, a new view of how consumer price knowledge evolves during grocery shopping is presented....

EMPIRICAL GENERALIZATIONS ABOUT THE IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON PRICE SENSITIVITY AND PRICE

NARCIS (Netherlands)

KAUL, A; WITTINK, DR

1995-01-01

Consumers' sensitivities to price changes are an important input to strategic and tactical decisions. It has been argued that price sensitivities depend on factors such as advertising Prior studies on the effect of advertising on consumer price sensitivity have found seemingly conflicting results.

Contract mechanisms for coordinating pricing strategies in a supply chain with two consumer segments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nalla, V.R.; Venugopal, V.; Veen, van der J.A.A.

2009-01-01

This paper addresses pricing strategies in a serial supply chain (SC) consisting of a single Buyer, a single Supplier and where the end-consumers are comprised of two segments, each with a different willingness-to-pay. Under the assumption that the final demand and the segments’ willingness-to-pay

Food Prices and Consumer Demand: Differences across Income Levels and Ethnic Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Ni Mhurchu, Cliona; Eyles, Helen; Schilling, Chris; Yang, Qing; Kaye-Blake, William; Genç, Murat; Blakely, Tony

2013-01-01

Background Targeted food pricing policies may improve population diets. To assess their effects on inequalities, it is important to determine responsiveness to price changes across income levels and ethnic groups. Objective Our goal was to estimate price elasticity (PE) values for major commonly consumed food groups in New Zealand, by income and ethnicity. PE values represent percentage change in demand associated with 1% change in price of that good (own-PE) or another good (cross-PE). Design We used food expenditure data from national household economic surveys in 2007/08 and 2009/10 and Food Price Index data from 2007 and 2010. Adopting an Almost Ideal Demand System approach, own-PE and cross-PE estimates were derived for 24 food categories, household income quintiles, and two ethnic groups (Māori and non-Māori). Results Own-PE estimates (with two exceptions) ranged from −0.44 to −1.78. Cross-PE estimates were generally small; only 31% of absolute values were greater than 0.10. Excluding the outlier ‘energy drinks’, nine of 23 food groups had significantly stronger own-PEs for the lowest versus highest income quintiles (average regression-based difference across food groups −0.30 (95% CI −0.62 to 0.02)). Six own-PEs were significantly stronger among Māori; the average difference for Māori: non-Māori across food groups was −0.26 (95% CI −0.52 to 0.00). Conclusions Food pricing policies have potential to improve population diets. The greater sensitivity of low-income households and Māori to price changes suggests the beneficial effects of such policies on health would be greatest for these groups. PMID:24098408

The Efects of Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives and Price Premiums on Polish Consumers' Responses: An Experimental Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wójcik Piotr

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This article explores whether, how and which forms of corporate social responsibility (CSR initiatives influence consumer perceptions of the value of and intention to buy responsibly manufactured yogurt, and identifies the impact of the price rise effect on consumer responses. An experimental study was conducted using scenarios with a sample of 421 university students. The results indicate that information about positive corporate behavior evokes higher perceived value and buying intention than information about negative corporate behavior; that responses differ significantly depending on whether or not the CSR initiative relates to the firm's core business; and that there is a level of consumer sensitivity to the price premium for a responsibly made yogurt. This study expands existing knowledge beyond previous areas of focus by demonstrating that a CSR initiative related to a firm's core business generates higher perceived value and buying intention than a non-related initiative, and by showing that there exists a trade-of between functional and social attributes. The findings of this study may be of interest to companies by showing the level of premium price acceptance and by demonstrating that CSR initiatives detached from basic business activity may bring negative consequences in terms of sales volume.

Customizing Prices in Online Markets

OpenAIRE

Werner Reinartz

2002-01-01

Dynamic pricing is the dynamic adjustment of prices to consumers depending on the value these customers attribute to a good. Underlying the concept of dynamic pricing is what marketers call price customization. Price customization is the charging of different prices to end consumers based on a discriminatory variable. Internet technology will serve as a great enabling tool for making dynamic pricing accessible to many industries.

Price and consumption of tobacco

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Virendra Singh

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background: It is thought that price increase in tobacco products leads to reduced consumption. Though many studies have substantiated this concept, it has not been well studied in India. Recently, price of tobacco products was increased due to ban on plastic sachets of chewing tobacco and increased tax in Rajasthan. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of price rise on overall consumption of tobacco in Jaipur city, Rajasthan. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in Jaipur city. Two-staged stratified sampling was used. In the first phase of study, cost and consumption of various tobacco products in the months of February and April were enquired from 25 retail tobacco shops. In the second phase, tobacco consumption was enquired from 20 consecutive consumers purchasing any tobacco product from all the above retail tobacco shops. The data were statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired "t" test. Results: The comparison of prices of tobacco products between February and April revealed that the price of cigarette, bidi, and chewing tobacco has increased by 19%, 21%, and 68%, respectively. Average decrease in sales of cigarettes, bidi, and chewing tobacco at shops included in the study were 14%, 23%, and 38%, respectively. The consumers purchasing tobacco also reported decreased consumption. Chewing tobacco showed the maximum reduction (21%. Consumption of cigarette and bidi has also reduced by 15% and 13%, respectively. Conclusion: It may be concluded that reduction in consumption is associated with increased price of tobacco products. Reduced consumption is comparative to the magnitude of price increase.

Long memory in German energy price indices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barros, Carlos P. [Lisbon Univ. (Portugal). Inst. Superior de Economia e Gestao; Caporale, Guglielmo Maria [Brunel Univ., London (United Kingdom). Centre for Empirical Finance; Gil-Alana, Luis A. [Navarra Univ., Pamplona (Spain). Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

2012-09-15

This study examines the long-memory properties of German energy price indices (specifically, import and export prices, as well as producer and consumer prices) for hard coal, lignite, mineral oil and natural gas adopting a fractional integration modelling framework. The analysis is undertaken using monthly data from January 2000 to August 2011. The results suggest nonstationary long memory in the series (with orders of integration equal to or higher than 1) when breaks are not allowed for. However, endogenous break tests indicate a single break in all series except for producer prices for lignite for which two breaks are detected. When such breaks are taken into account, and with autocorrelated disturbances, evidence of mean reversion is found in practically all cases.

Price knowledge during grocery shopping

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Birger Boutrup; Grunert, Klaus G

2014-01-01

applying a multi-point, multi-measure approach, consumers appear to know more aboutprices than suggested by past research. Determinants of price knowledge are also examined and the results indicate that price knowledge buildsup not only because of active search but also due to accidental exposure to prices......Past research on consumer price knowledge has varied considerably partly due to differences in how and when price knowledge is measured.This paper applies a multi-point, multi-measure approach to reconcile differences in past price knowledge research by examining systematicrelationships between...... time of measurement and type of measures applied. Examination of consumer price knowledge before, during, and afterstore visit sheds light on what is measured at the individual points in time: episodic price knowledge and/or reference prices? With a between-subjects design interviewing 1...

Do High Consumers of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Respond Differently to Price Changes? A Finite Mixture IV-Tobit Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Etilé, Fabrice; Sharma, Anurag

2015-09-01

This study compares the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) tax between moderate and high consumers in Australia. The key methodological contribution is that price response heterogeneity is identified while controlling for censoring of consumption at zero and endogeneity of expenditure by using a finite mixture instrumental variable Tobit model. The SSB price elasticity estimates show a decreasing trend across increasing consumption quantiles, from -2.3 at the median to -0.2 at the 95th quantile. Although high consumers of SSBs have a less elastic demand for SSBs, their very high consumption levels imply that a tax would achieve higher reduction in consumption and higher health gains. Our results also suggest that an SSB tax would represent a small fiscal burden for consumers whatever their pre-policy level of consumption, and that an excise tax should be preferred to an ad valorem tax. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Inflation and Wheat Prices in Pakistan: 1990-2010

OpenAIRE

MUHAMMAD IRFAN JAVAID ATTARI

2012-01-01

This study is going to examine the relationship among consumer price index (CPI), economic performance, and wheat support prices in order to determine the level of inflation in case of Pakistan. The analysis is made on the monthly time series data from January-1990 to December-2010. The CPI is used as an inflation indicator by taking the percentage change; the GDP is used as the growth variable for measuring economic performance. The ARDL technique had been used to investigate such relationsh...

Petroleum marketing monthly, May 1999, with data for February 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-05-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: Initial Estimates; Summary Statistics; Crude Oil Prices; Prices of Petroleum Products; Volumes of Petroleum Products; and Prime Supplier Sales Volumes of Petroleum Products for Local Consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, May 1998, with data for February 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-05-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides Information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products; prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, July 1998 with data for April 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-07-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products; and prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly: August 1998, with data for May 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-08-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: Summary Statistics; Crude Oil Prices; Prices of Petroleum Products; Volumes of Petroleum Products; and Prime Supplier Sales Volumes of Petroleum Products for Local Consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, September 1998, with data for June 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-09-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products; prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, December 1998 with data for September 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-12-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products; and prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, June 1999, with data for March 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-06-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: Initial Estimates; Summary Statistics; Crude Oil Prices; Prices of Petroleum Products; Volumes of Petroleum Products; and Prime Supplier Sales Volumes of Petroleum Products for Local Consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, January 1999 with data for October 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-01-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products; and prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, July 1999, with data for April 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-07-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: initial estimates; summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products; and prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 70 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, November 1998, with data for August 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-11-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: Summary statistics; Crude oil prices; Prices of petroleum products; Volumes of petroleum products; and Prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, October 1998, with data for July 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-10-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: Summary statistics; Crude oil prices; Prices of petroleum products; Volumes of petroleum products; and Prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, June 1998, with data from March 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-06-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products and prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, March 1999 with data for December 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: summary statistics; crude oil prices; prices of petroleum products; volumes of petroleum products; and prime supplier sales volumes of petroleum products for local consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, February 1999 with data for November 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-02-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in six sections: Initial Estimates; Summary Statistics; Crude Oil Prices; Prices of Petroleum Products; Volumes of Petroleum Products; and Prime Supplier Sales Volumes of Petroleum Products for Local Consumption. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Regulated and unregulated Nordic retail prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnsen, Tor Arnt; Olsen, Ole Jess

2011-01-01

Nordic residential electricity consumers can now choose among a number of contracts and suppliers. A large number of households have continued to purchase electricity from the incumbent supplier at default contract terms. In this paper, we compare the situation for such passive customers. Danish default prices are regulated whereas default prices in the other countries are unregulated. Systematic price differences exist among the Nordic countries. However, as wholesale prices sometimes differ the gross margin is a more relevant indicator. Regulated gross margins are lower in Denmark than in Sweden but higher than in Norway and Finland. Because of market design Norwegian default contracts are competitive whereas Swedish contracts provide the retailer with some market power. We interpret the low Finnish margins as a result of municipal retailers continuing traditional pricing from the monopoly period. Danish margins are higher than the competitive Norwegian margins but are earned from a much lower level of consumption. The annually margins earned per consumer are very close in the two countries, which indicates that the Danish regulation is achieving its objective of approaching competitive prices. - Highlights: → Prices of active and passive Nordic residential electricity consumers are compared. → Active consumers get lower prices in Sweden but not in Norway. → Prices of passive consumers differ considerably among the four Nordic countries. → Danish regulated prices compare well with unregulated prices in the other countries. → Passive consumers in Finland have low prices compared with the other countries.

Regulated and unregulated Nordic retail prices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnsen, Tor Arnt, E-mail: tor.a.johnsen@bi.no [Norwegian School of Management BI, NO-0442 Oslo (Norway); Olsen, Ole Jess, E-mail: ojo@ruc.dk [Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change (ENSPAC), Roskilde University, Building 10.1, Universitetsvej 1, DK-4000, Roskilde (Denmark)

2011-06-15

Nordic residential electricity consumers can now choose among a number of contracts and suppliers. A large number of households have continued to purchase electricity from the incumbent supplier at default contract terms. In this paper, we compare the situation for such passive customers. Danish default prices are regulated whereas default prices in the other countries are unregulated. Systematic price differences exist among the Nordic countries. However, as wholesale prices sometimes differ the gross margin is a more relevant indicator. Regulated gross margins are lower in Denmark than in Sweden but higher than in Norway and Finland. Because of market design Norwegian default contracts are competitive whereas Swedish contracts provide the retailer with some market power. We interpret the low Finnish margins as a result of municipal retailers continuing traditional pricing from the monopoly period. Danish margins are higher than the competitive Norwegian margins but are earned from a much lower level of consumption. The annually margins earned per consumer are very close in the two countries, which indicates that the Danish regulation is achieving its objective of approaching competitive prices. - Highlights: > Prices of active and passive Nordic residential electricity consumers are compared. > Active consumers get lower prices in Sweden but not in Norway. > Prices of passive consumers differ considerably among the four Nordic countries. > Danish regulated prices compare well with unregulated prices in the other countries. > Passive consumers in Finland have low prices compared with the other countries.

How Does Pricing of Day-ahead Electricity Market Affect Put Option Pricing?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Raouf Sheybani

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, impacts of day-ahead market pricing on behavior of producers and consumers in option and day-ahead markets and on option pricing are studied. To this end, two comprehensive equilibrium models for joint put option and day-ahead markets under pay-as-bid and uniform pricing in day-ahead market are presented, respectively. Interaction between put option and day-ahead markets, uncertainty in fuel price, day-ahead market pricing, and elasticity of consumers to strike price, premium price, and day-ahead price are taken into account in these models. By applying the presented models to a test system impact of day-ahead market pricing on equilibrium of joint put option and day-ahead markets are studied.

The effect of excise tax increases on cigarette prices in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Linegar, Daniel J; van Walbeek, Corne

2018-01-01

The effectiveness of excise tax increases as a tool for reducing tobacco consumption depends largely on how the tax increases impact the retail price. We estimate this relationship in South Africa for 2001-2015. Statistics South Africa provided disaggregated cigarette price data, used in the calculation of the Consumers' Price Index. Data on the excise tax per cigarette were obtained from Budget Reviews prepared by the National Treasury of South Africa. Regression equations were estimated for each month. The month-on-month change in cigarette prices in February through April was regressed against March's excise tax change to estimate the pass-through coefficient. For the other 9 months, the month-on-month change in cigarette price was regressed against monthly dummy variables to determine the size of the non-tax-related price increase in each of these months. The analysis was performed in both nominal and real (inflation-adjusted) terms. Expressed in real terms, the excise tax was undershifted. A R1.00 (one rand) increase in the excise tax is associated with an increase in the retail price of cigarettes of R0.90 in the pre-2010 period, and R0.49 in the post-2010 period. In the pre-2010 period, the tobacco industry increased the retail price of cigarettes in July/August, independent of the excise tax increase. The discretionary July/August price increases largely disappeared after 2010, primarily because the market became more competitive. The degree of excise tax pass-through, and the magnitude of discretionary increases in cigarette prices, is significantly determined by the competitive environment in the cigarette market. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Potential impacts of electricity price changes on price formation in the economy: a social accounting matrix price modeling analysis for Turkey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akkemik, K. Ali

2011-01-01

Recent reforms in the Turkish electricity sector since 2001 aim to introduce a tariff system that reflects costs. This is expected to affect the production and consumer prices of electricity. The changes in electricity prices are then reflected in production costs in other segments of the economy. Subsequently, producer and consumer prices will be affected. The potential impact of the changes in electricity prices that the ongoing electricity reforms in Turkey will bring about may have important implications on the price formation in economic activities and the cost of living for households. This paper evaluates the potential impacts of changes in electricity prices from a social accounting matrix (SAM) price modeling perspective. It is found that based on the estimated price multipliers that prices in the energy-producing sectors, mining, and iron and steel manufacturing sectors would be affected more severely than the remaining sectors of the economy. Consumer prices are affected slightly less than producer prices. - Research Highlights: → The impact of electricity generation costs on prices in other sectors is modeled. → A micro-SAM emphasizing electricity supply is constructed using 2002 I-O tables. → Energy, mining, and steel sectors are more responsive to electricity costs. → Living costs are less responsive to electricity cost changes than producer prices.

Petroleum marketing monthly, June 1995 with data for March 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-06-16

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly. Monthly statistics on purchases of crude oil and sales of petroleum products are presented in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly in five sections: Summary Statistics Crude Oil Prices; Prices of Petroleum Products; Volumes of Petroleum Products; and Prime Supplier Sales Volumes of Petroleum Products for Local Consumption.

Analysis of rice purchase decision on rice consumer in Bandung city

Science.gov (United States)

Kusno, K.; Imannurdin, A.; Syamsiyah, N.; Djuwendah, E.

2018-03-01

This study was conducted at three kinds of purchase location which were traditional market, rice kiosk, and supermarket in Bandung City, with survey data of 108 respondents which were selected by systematic random sampling. The aim of this study is to (1) identify consumer characteristics, (2) identify which atribute is considered by consumer in buying rice, and (3) analyze the relationship between purchase decision and income class. Data were analyzed by descriptive analysis and Chi Square test. The results showed most consumers in the traditional market were middle-educated and lower middle-income, at the rice kiosk, the consumer were generally middle-educated and middle-income, and in the supermarkets, the majority were high-educated and upper middle-income consumers. “Kepulenan” be the first priority of most consumers, but for the lower-middle class, the main priority was price. Thus, in case of scarcity and rice price increase, the government should immediately arrange market operations which targeting to lower-middle class consumers. There was a significant relationship between (1) the quality of rice consumed, (2) the frequency of rice purchase per month, and (3) attitudes toward rice price increase; each with the income class. Although the price of rice increase, consumers of middle and upper-middle were remain loyal to the quality of rice they consumed. This indicates rice market in Bandung city is an ideal market for premium rice so that traders and producers are expected to maintain the quality of rice, such as keep using superior seeds and applying good cultivation based on Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) rules.

Domestic Price, (Expected) Foreign Price, and Travel Spending by Canadians in the United States

OpenAIRE

Jan Vilasuso; Fredric C. Menz

1998-01-01

In this paper, the authors develop and test a model to explain travel expenditures in the United States by Canadians. The model examines a consumer's choice problem where income is allocated between domestic and foreign consumption. Consumers do not know the foreign price level and base their spending in part on expected foreign price. In addition to expected foreign price, domestic price, exchange rates, income, and foreign price uncertainty influence travel spending. Empirically, each deter...

Who is exposed to gas prices? How gasoline prices affect automobile manufacturers and dealerships

OpenAIRE

Silva-Risso, Jorge; Zettelmeyer, Florian; Busse, Meghan R.; Knittel, Christopher Roland

2016-01-01

Many consumers are keenly aware of gasoline prices, and consumer responses to gasoline prices have been well studied. In this paper, by contrast, we investigate how gasoline prices affect the automobile industry: manufacturers and dealerships. We estimate how changes in gasoline prices affect equilibrium prices and sales of both new and used vehicles of different fuel economies. We investigate the implications of these effects for individual auto manufacturers, taking into account differences...

Who is exposed to gas prices? How gasoline prices affect automobile manufacturers and dealerships

OpenAIRE

Busse, Meghan R.; Kittel, Christopher R.; Zettelmeyer, Florian

2012-01-01

Many consumers are keenly aware of gasoline prices, and consumer responses to gasoline prices have been well studied. In this paper, by contrast, we investigate how gasoline prices affect the automobile industry: manufacturers and dealerships. We estimate how changes in gasoline prices affect equilibrium prices and sales of both new and used vehicles of different fuel economies. We investigate the implications of these effects for individual auto manufacturers, taking into account differences...

Do higher-priced generic medicines enjoy a competitive advantage under reference pricing?

Science.gov (United States)

Puig-Junoy, Jaume

2012-11-01

In many countries with generic reference pricing, generic producers and distributors compete by means of undisclosed discounts offered to pharmacies in order to reduce acquisition costs and to induce them to dispense their generic to patients in preference over others. The objective of this article is to test the hypothesis that under prevailing reference pricing systems for generic medicines, those medicines sold at a higher consumer price may enjoy a competitive advantage. Real transaction prices for 179 generic medicines acquired by pharmacies in Spain have been used to calculate the discount rate on acquisition versus reimbursed costs to pharmacies. Two empirical hypotheses are tested: the discount rate at which pharmacies acquire generic medicines is higher for those pharmaceutical presentations for which there are more generic competitors; and, the discount rate at which pharmacies acquire generic medicines is higher for those pharmaceutical forms for which the consumer price has declined less in relation to the consumer price of the brand drug before generic entry (higher-priced generic medicines). An average discount rate of 39.3% on acquisition versus reimbursed costs to pharmacies has been observed. The magnitude of the discount positively depends on the number of competitors in the market. The higher the ratio of the consumer price of the generic to that of the brand drug prior to generic entry (i.e. the smaller the price reduction of the generic in relation to the brand drug), the larger the discount rate. Under reference pricing there is intense price competition among generic firms in the form of unusually high discounts to pharmacies on official ex-factory prices reimbursed to pharmacies. However, this effect is highly distorting because it favours those medicines with a higher relative price in relation to the brand price before generic entry.

Competitive nonlinear pricing and bundling

OpenAIRE

Armstrong, Mark; Vickers, John

2006-01-01

We examine the impact of multiproduct nonlinear pricing on profit, consumer surplus and welfare in a duopoly. When consumers buy all their products from one firm (the one-stop shopping model), nonlinear pricing leads to higher profit and welfare, but often lower consumer surplus, than linear pricing. By contrast, in a unit-demand model where consumers may buy one product from one firm and another product from another firm, bundling generally acts to reduce profit and welfare and to boost cons...

Nutrition labeling and value size pricing at fast-food restaurants: a consumer perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Dougherty, Maureen; Harnack, Lisa J; French, Simone A; Story, Mary; Oakes, J Michael; Jeffery, Robert W

2006-01-01

This pilot study examined nutrition-related attitudes that may affect food choices at fast-food restaurants, including consumer attitudes toward nutrition labeling of fast foods and elimination of value size pricing. A convenience sample of 79 fast-food restaurant patrons aged 16 and above (78.5% white, 55% female, mean age 41.2 [17.1]) selected meals from fast-food restaurant menus that varied as to whether nutrition information was provided and value pricing included and completed a survey and interview on nutrition-related attitudes. Only 57.9% of participants rated nutrition as important when buying fast food. Almost two thirds (62%) supported a law requiring nutrition labeling on restaurant menus. One third (34%) supported a law requiring restaurants to offer lower prices on smaller instead of bigger-sized portions. This convenience sample of fast-food patrons supported nutrition labels on menus. More research is needed with larger samples on whether point-of-purchase nutrition labeling at fast-food restaurants raises perceived importance of nutrition when eating out.

Real-time Pricing in Power Markets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boom, Anette; Schwenen, Sebastian

We examine welfare e ects of real-time pricing in electricity markets. Before stochastic energy demand is known, competitive retailers contract with nal consumers who exogenously do not have real-time meters. After demand is realized, two electricity generators compete in a uniform price auction...... to satisfy demand from retailers acting on behalf of subscribed customers and from consumers with real-time meters. Increasing the number of consumers on real-time pricing does not always increase welfare since risk-averse consumers dislike uncertain and high prices arising through market power...

Real-time Pricing in Power Markets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boom, Anette; Schwenen, Sebastian

We examine welfare eects of real-time pricing in electricity markets. Before stochastic energy demand is known, competitive retailers contract with nal consumers who exogenously do not have real-time meters. After demand is realized, two electricity generators compete in a uniform price auction...... to satisfy demand from retailers acting on behalf of subscribed customers and from consumers with real-time meters. Increasing the number of consumers on real-time pricing does not always increase welfare since risk-averse consumers dislike uncertain and high prices arising through market power...

Petroleum marketing monthly

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-08-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Petroleum marketing monthly

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-07-01

Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PPM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o. b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Petroleum marketing monthly

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-02-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Early Impacts of Marijuana Legalization: An Evaluation of Prices in Colorado and Washington.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, Priscillia; Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo

2017-06-01

Following the legalization and regulation of marijuana for recreational purposes in states with medical markets, policymakers and researchers seek empirical evidence on how, and how fast, supply and demand changed over time. Prices are an indication of how suppliers and consumers respond to policy changes, so this study uses a difference-in-difference approach to exploit the timing of policy implementation and identify the impacts on marijuana prices 4-5 months after markets opened. This study uses unique longitudinal survey data of prices paid by consumers and a web-scraped dataset of dispensary prices advertised online for three U.S. medical marijuana states that all eventually legalized recreational marijuana. Results indicate there were no impacts on the prices paid for medical or recreational marijuana by state-representative residents within the short 4- to 5-months window following legalization. However, there were differences in how much people paid if they obtained marijuana for recreational purposes from a recreational store. Further analysis of advertised prices confirms this result, but further demonstrates heterogeneous responses in prices across types of commonly advertised strains; prices either did not change or increased depending on the strain type. A key implication of our findings is that there are both supply and demand responses at work in the opening of legalized markets, suggesting that evaluations of immediate effects may not accurately reflect the long run impact of legalization on consumption.

Impact of European pharmaceutical price regulation on generic price competition: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Puig-Junoy, Jaume

2010-01-01

Although economic theory indicates that it should not be necessary to intervene in the generic drug market through price regulation, most EU countries intervene in this market, both by regulating the maximum sale price of generics (price cap) and by setting the maximum reimbursement rate, especially by means of reference pricing systems. We analyse current knowledge of the impact of direct price-cap regulation of generic drugs and the implementation of systems regulating the reimbursement rate, particularly through reference pricing and similar tools, on dynamic price competition between generic competitors in Europe. A literature search was carried out in the EconLit and PubMed databases, and on Google Scholar. The search included papers published in English or Spanish between January 2000 and July 2009. Inclusion criteria included that studies had to present empirical results of a quantitative nature for EU countries of the impact of price capping and/or regulation of the reimbursement rate (reference pricing or similar systems) on price dynamics, corresponding to pharmacy sales, in the generic drug market. The available evidence indicates that price-cap regulation leads to a levelling off of generic prices at a higher level than would occur in the absence of this regulation. Reference pricing systems cause an obvious and almost compulsory reduction in the consumer price of all pharmaceuticals subject to this system, to a varying degree in different countries and periods, the reduction being greater for originator-branded drugs than for generics. In several countries with a reference pricing system, it was observed that generics with a consumer price lower than the reference price do not undergo price reductions until the reference price is reduced, even when there are other lower-priced generics on the market (absence of price competition below the reference price). Beyond the price reduction forced by the price-cap and/or reference pricing regulation itself

Food Melt in Consumer Food Environments in Low-income Urban Neighborhoods.

Science.gov (United States)

Trapl, Erika S; Pike, Stephanie N; Borawski, Elaine; Flocke, Susan A; Freedman, Darcy A; Walsh, Colleen C; Schneider, Christine; Yoder, Laura

2017-11-01

We systematically evaluated changes in availability, price, and quality of perishable food items from the beginning to the end of the month in lowincome, urban neighborhoods. The sample included grocery stores or supermarkets in Cleveland, Ohio, within neighborhoods with >30% of population receiving food assistance. We collected data for 2 sequential months during the first and fourth weeks of each month. Two coders evaluated stores, collecting measures of availability, price, and quality for 50 items. We examined difference in number and proportion of items available at the beginning of the month (BOM) to items remaining available at the end of the month (EOM), as well as quality and price of those items. Across 48 stores, availability at EOM was lower than BOM; as store size increased, reduction in availability (ie, food melt) was significantly (p Food melt differentially affects individuals in neighborhoods without grocery stores. Findings reveal composition of food environments is dynamic rather than static, influencing food-purchasing choices among lowincome consumers.

Price Recall, Bertrand Paradox and Price Dispersion With Elastic Demand

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carvalho, M.

2009-01-01

This paper studies the consequence of an imprecise recall of the price by the consumers in the Bertrand price competition model for a homogeneous good. It is shown that firms can exploit this weakness and charge prices above the competitive price. This markup increases for rougher recall of the

Electricity consumers under the state and the private sector: comparing the price performance of the French and UK electricity industries 1990-2000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Percebois, Jacques; Wright, Philip

2001-01-01

Particularly because a preoccupation with process has tended to dominate the debate about electricity privatisation and liberalisation, this paper focuses on price outcomes by comparing the relative price performance of the French and UK electricity industries between 1990 and 2000. The main conclusion is that in 1990 the state-owned French electricity industry was performing better for most consumers than the state-owned UK industry, and a decade later it was still doing so with respect to the privately-owned UK industry. While this conclusion could be qualified by saying that, heavily prompted or assisted by the Regulator, the UK privately-owned industry has shown itself capable of achieving faster reductions in prices to close the gap between itself and the French, this achievement has been concentrated in the industrial market and even there the very significant gains were mainly restricted to the very largest consumers. In the context of the European Union the UK is shown to have performed relatively poorly for the smallest domestic consumers and, while both countries did much better in the rankings of industrial prices, they were still a long way behind the top performers. (Author)

THE EFFECTS OF PRICE AND INCOMES ON CONSUMER DEMAND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrian Tănase

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The complexity of consumption can only be explained by identifying and analysing all the factors acting upon the carrier of demand, and in a given time and space, they have a higher or a lower importance, which makes it impossible to find a hierarchy. However, in societies characterized by a low standard of living, prices and incomes have a strong impact on consumer behaviour. Consequently, this paper approaches one of the most stringent issues, which interest specialists, governing bodies, mass-media and, last but not least, population. In the entire paper we analyse the population’s consumption, i.e. food, non-food products and services, by categories of households, from the economic, statistic and sociologic viewpoints. The paper ends with a brief presentation of conclusions and suggestions regarding the analysis and improvement of population’s consumption.

Forecasting Natural Rubber Price In Malaysia Using Arima

Science.gov (United States)

Zahari, Fatin Z.; Khalid, Kamil; Roslan, Rozaini; Sufahani, Suliadi; Mohamad, Mahathir; Saifullah Rusiman, Mohd; Ali, Maselan

2018-04-01

This paper contains introduction, materials and methods, results and discussions, conclusions and references. Based on the title mentioned, high volatility of the price of natural rubber nowadays will give the significant risk to the producers, traders, consumers, and others parties involved in the production of natural rubber. To help them in making decisions, forecasting is needed to predict the price of natural rubber. The main objective of the research is to forecast the upcoming price of natural rubber by using the reliable statistical method. The data are gathered from Malaysia Rubber Board which the data are from January 2000 until December 2015. In this research, average monthly price of Standard Malaysia Rubber 20 (SMR20) will be forecast by using Box-Jenkins approach. Time series plot is used to determine the pattern of the data. The data have trend pattern which indicates the data is non-stationary data and the data need to be transformed. By using the Box-Jenkins method, the best fit model for the time series data is ARIMA (1, 1, 0) which this model satisfy all the criteria needed. Hence, ARIMA (1, 1, 0) is the best fitted model and the model will be used to forecast the average monthly price of Standard Malaysia Rubber 20 (SMR20) for twelve months ahead.

THE INFLUENCE OF PRICES AND INCOME ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR OF THE POPULATION. THE CASE OF ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anghelina Andrei

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The recession influenced the consummers in their biggest concern – their income. In the same time the recession changed some important trends in consume. In this paperwork the authors intend to determine how strong the influence of prices and incomes of the population is on the consumer behavior, especially in Romania. Also the author want to present the case study of Romania concerning the recession of economy and some new aspects of consumer behavior. There is a strong conexion between the income and consume and the time of recession show it in the best way. In this way the author did some research on the market and by some analyses in a statistical editor we conclude that there is a strong determination in the consumer behavior by the income of the population especially in Romania, a country with a developing economy.

The Influence of Advertisement, Perceived Price, and Brand Image on Consumer Buying Decision to Asus Mobile Phone

OpenAIRE

Tumewu, Ferdinand J.; Ruslim, Archi C.

2015-01-01

Buying decision is the stage in which consumers make the decision or take an action whether to purchase a certain product or not. The purpose of this research is to analyze the simultaneous and partial effect of Advertising, Perceived Price and Brand Images on Consumer Buying Decision. The populations of this research are people who use ASUS smartphone with the sample size as many as 40 respondents. This research uses quantitative analyze by questionnaires and the Multiple Regression Analysis...

An Empirical Study on the Behavior of Monthly Stock Prices of Fortune 500 Firms and S&P Smaller Firms: Evidence and Implications

OpenAIRE

Young H. Kim; Edward L. Davis; Charles T. Moses

2014-01-01

This paper revisits a random walk hypothesis by investigating the behavior of monthly stock prices of 461 Fortune 500 firms over 45 years and 599 S&P smaller firms over 10 years. The Box-Jenkins ARIMA models are applied to time series analysis and stock market forecasting to find the monthly stock price behavior. The research findings show that 309 (67.03%) Fortune 500 firms and 449 (74.96%) S&P smaller firms follow a random walk. The monthly stock prices of Fortune 500 firms and S&P firms ...

Heat networks in France in 2014. Heat networks: which price for the consumer?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reynaud, Didier; Gong, Zheng; Moreau, Sylvain; Bottin, Anne; Reperant, Patricia

2016-04-01

A first document publishes and comments various statistics regarding heat networks in France in 2014: distribution in terms of quantity of supplied heat, main urban units, distribution in terms of urban unit size and in terms of community type (land, isolated town, outskirts, centre town). It also indicates the types, percentages and evolution of energies consumed in these heat networks, the shares of fossil and renewable energies, and the distribution of networks in terms of energy type. Some regional data are briefly commented (energy shares in each region, number of primary housing connected to an urban heating network). This publication also indicates methodological aspects and the definitions of the main components and characteristics of a heat network. Notably based on some of these data, the second document comments the price of heat supplied in these heat networks in 2014 as these prices are not regulated and depend on agreements between clients and providers. These prices are analysed in terms of linear thermal density, of heat quantity supplied by delivery point, of sector (industry, housing, office building), of rate of renewable energy, and of operator status (public service delegation or private ownership)

Analysis of consumer behaviour when purchasing selected commodity groups concerning the effect of price, habit, discount and product characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jitka Poměnková

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is consumer behaviour analysis when purchasing selected commodity groups concerning the effect of price, habit, discount and product characteristics. Analysis proceed from the Czech household marketing research, where 726 households were electronically questioned. As mentioned above, selected factors for the analysis were habit, products‘ characteristics, price and discount actions.Primary aim is to measure the correspondence of selected factors influence on consumer behaviour during purchase decision making process of selected commodity groups. Interpretation is based on two-tier evaluation. First level represents commodity groups distinction by the character of goods and subsequent evaluation of goods characteristics correspondence in accordance with each influencing factor. Second one represents behaviour of commodity group in cross-section of selected factors. For consumer behaviour analysis chi-square test was used. Before its application the data set (responses was divided according to the ten-point scale into three interval’ groups.

High prices on electric power now again?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doorman, Gerard

2003-01-01

Deregulation of the electric power market has yielded low prices for the consumers throughout the 1990s. Consumption has now increased considerably, but little new production has been added. This results in high prices in dry years, but to understand this one must understand price formation in the Nordic spot market. The high prices are a powerful signal to the consumers to reduce consumption, but they are also a signal to the producers to seize any opportunity to increase production. However, the construction of new dams etc. stirs up the environmentalists. Ordinary consumers may protect themselves against high prices by signing fixed-price contracts. For those who can tolerate price fluctuations, spot prices are a better alternative than the standard contract with variable price

Ordered Consumer Search

OpenAIRE

Armstrong, Mark

2016-01-01

The paper discusses situations in which consumers search through their options in a deliberate order, in contrast to more familiar models with random search. Topics include: network effects (consumers may be better off following the same search order as other consumers); the use of price and non-price advertising to direct search; the impact of consumers starting a new search with their previous supplier; the incentive sellers have to merge or co-locate with other sellers; and the incentive a...

DETERMINANTS OF AGRO–FOOD PRICE CHANGES IN SLOVENIA DEJAVNIKI SPREMINJANJA AGROŽIVILSKIH CEN V SLOVENIJI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergej GRIČAR

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the impacts of the current economic developments, the Euro adoption, and input prices on the consumer food prices. The focus of the analysis is on the consumer food price developments during the Slovenian adjustments towards the European Union membership, the Euro adoption by the followed increased in consumer prices, and the current economic and financial conditions. The empirical analysis on the determinants of the consumer food prices is based on the monthly statistical data, which were obtained from the Statistical Office of Republic of Slovenia. We use three statistical methods of the analyses on the time-series data: principal component analysis, regression analysis, and linear trend analysis. We found that the Euro adoption had only short-term impact on the consumer food prices. The rise in the consumer food prices has been determined by the intermediary costs and the agricultural producers` prices. Prispevek analizira vpliv ekonomsko-finančnih gibanj, uvedbe evra in cene inputov na cene hrane in brezalkoholnih pijač (agroživilske cene. Članek se osredotoča na agroživilske cene v času slovenskega pristopa k Evropski uniji, sprejetjem evra, povečanih cen življenjskih potrebščin in trenutne gospodarske in finančne krize. Empirična analiza dejavnikov agroživilskih cen temelji na mesečnih statističnih podatkih, ki so bili pridobljeni iz Statističnega urada Republike Slovenije. Uporabljene so tri statistične metode analize časovnih serij podatkov: metoda glavnih komponent, regresijska analiza in analiza linearnega trenda. Ugotovili smo, da se agroživilske cene na srednji rok niso povečale z uvedbo evra. Agroživilske cene pa imajo statistično značilno povezanost s stroški in s cenami pridelkov pri pridelovalcih.

A relação entre o preço pago pelo consumidor de carne bovina em Santa Maria e o recebido pelo produtor de gado de corte no Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil Relationship between price paid by consumers in Santa Maria and prices paid to beef cattle farmers in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Garibaldi Almeida Viana

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Este estudo analisa em que medida os preços pagos pelos consumidores de carne bovina - ponto final da cadeia - são repassados ao produtor. Os preços dos diferentes cortes de carne foram coletados através de pesquisa mensal de preços, em quatro supermercados de Santa Maria, RS, Brasil. Depois de obtidos os valores percentuais dos diferentes cortes na composição da carcaça, estes valores foram multiplicados pelo preço pago pelo consumidor, obtendo-se assim os preços e as proporções dos cortes referentes ao valor ajustado de um quilo de carcaça pago pelo consumidor. Para a obtenção do preço médio do kg do boi vivo recebido pelos produtores, foram considerados os preços coletados pela EMATER-RS. Verificou-se uma baixa variação ao longo do ano das partes componentes da carcaça, na contribuição do preço total. Na média, o dianteiro contribui com 26,10%, o costilhar com 13,40% e o traseiro com 60,50% do preço total da carcaça. O setor a jusante na cadeia bovina tem função reguladora do preço final ao consumidor, com uma margem de operação de 7,61 pontos ao longo do ano. Nos três quadrimestres ao longo do ano, a associação entre o preço recebido pelo produtor (PRP e o pago pelo consumidor (PPC teve um comportamento diferenciado. As associações verificadas foram fraca, negativamente forte e positivamente muito forte para o primeiro, segundo e terceiro quadrimestres, respectivamente.This study analyses how much of prices paid by the consumers of beef meat are passed on to the farmer. The prices of different types of beef cuts were collected monthly in four supermarkets in Santa Maria-RS, Brazil. The percentage values of different cuts were obtained and multiplied by the price paid by consumers. Thus, it was calculated the adjusted price of kilogram of carcass commercialized at supermarket. The average price per kilogram of live steers received by the farmer was collected by EMATER-RS. There was a low price variation

Consumer responses to time varying prices for electricity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorsnes, Paul; Williams, John; Lawson, Rob

2012-01-01

We report new experimental evidence of the household response to weekday differentials in peak and off-peak electricity prices. The data come from Auckland, New Zealand, where peak residential electricity consumption occurs in winter for heating. Peak/off-peak price differentials ranged over four randomly selected groups from 1.0 to 3.5. On average, there was no response except in winter. In winter, participant households reduced electricity consumption by at least 10%, took advantage of lower off-peak prices but did not respond to the peak price differentials. Response varied with house and household size, time spent away from home, and whether water was heated with electricity. - Highlights: ► Seasonal effects in winter. ► High conservation effect from information. ► Higher peak prices no effect on peak use. ► Low off-peak prices encourage less conservation off-peak.

Modelling the Price of Unleaded Petrol in Australia’s Capital Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abbas Valadkhani

2010-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the long-run and short-run determinants of unleaded petrol price in Australia’s capitalcities using monthly data to find out whether prices respond asymmetrically to external shocks. Based on thecointegration test results and the estimated asymmetric short-run dynamic models, it is found that: (1 in thelong-run petrol prices are mainly determined by Tapis crude oil and Singapore petrol prices; (2 there issome evidence of asymmetric price adjustments in the short-run since petrol price increases have been mostlypassed on to the consumer faster than price decreases in four capital cities. More specifically, this paperprovides convincing evidence in support of asymmetric price adjustments and the “rockets-and-feathershypothesis” in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. One can thus argue that there are a significantdegree of market inefficiency and/or collusion, requiring a closer government price monitoring and scrutiny.

How German Online Retailers Price Foods: An Empirical Analysis for Chocolate Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetlana Fedoseeva

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Despite the increasing importance of online grocery retailing, little is known about price dispersion across online providers, the relation between online and offline prices as well as the frequency of price adjustments. We employ means of descriptive and inductive statistics as well as panel econometrics to address these issues for German online food retailers. Daily online prices for twelve chocolate products charged by eight pure online and multichannel retailers and collected over three months are investigated. Information economics suggests that a maturing online market will call forth more price homogeneity online due to lower search costs by consumers as well as more flexible prices due to lower costs of price adjustments by retailers. Our results suggest, however, that neither homogenous prices nor frequent price adjustments do occur on the German online chocolate market.

Oligopolistic Competition in Price and Quality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A. Dubovik (Andrei); M.C.W. Janssen (Maarten)

2008-01-01

textabstractWe consider an oligopolistic market where firms compete in price and quality and where consumers are heterogeneous in knowledge: some consumers know both the prices and quality of the products offered, some know only the prices and some know neither. We show that two types of signalling

Price Transparency in the Online Age.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Jonathan L; Mills, Parker H

2016-05-01

Plastic surgeons are sometimes hesitant to provide their pricing information online, due to several concerns. However, if implemented right, price transparency can be used as a lead generation tool that provides consumers with the pricing information they want and gives the physician the consumer's contact information for follow-up. This study took place during the author's first year in private practice in a new city. An interactive price transparency platform (ie, cost estimator) was integrated into his website, allowing consumers to submit a "wishlist" of procedures to check pricing on these procedures of interest. However, the consumer must submit their contact information to receive the desired breakdown of costs that are tailored based on the author's medical fees. During that first year, without any advertising expenditure, the author's website received 412 wishlists from 208 unique consumers. Consumers (17.8%) that submitted a wishlist came in for a consultation and 62% of those booked a procedure. The average value of a booked procedure was over US $4000 and cumulatively, all of the leads from this one lead source in that first year generated over US $92,000 in revenue. When compared with non-price-aware patients, price-aware patients were 41% more likely to book a procedure. Price transparency led to greater efficiency and reduced consultations that ended in "sticker shock." When prudently integrated into a medical practice, price transparency can be a great lead generation source for patients that are (1) paying out of pocket for medically necessary services due to a high-deductible health plan or (2) paying for services not typically covered by insurance, such as cosmetic services.

The price facade: Symbolic and behavioural price cues in service environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhoeven, J.W.M.; van Rompay, Thomas Johannes Lucas; Pruyn, Adriaan T.H.

2009-01-01

Although the role of price expectations in predicting consumer behavior has been widely acknowledged, little is known about the way in which price expectations depend on environmental elements in hospitality settings. We propose that restaurant guests base price expectations on (1) perceptions of

Petroleum marketing monthly, May 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-05-26

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Limits to growth in organic sales : price elasticity of consumer demand for organic food in Dutch supermarkets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bunte, F.H.J.; Galen, van M.A.; Kuiper, W.E.; Bakker, J.H.

2007-01-01

This report determines how sensitive consumer demand for organic products is to changes in the prices of organic products. The report is based on the analysis of scanner data for supermarkets in ten Dutch communities. In the framework of the analysis, an experiment has been performed in which the

Business cycles and natural gas prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apostolos, S.; Asghar, S.

2005-01-01

This paper investigates the basic stylised facts of natural gas price movements using data for the period that natural gas has been traded on an organised exchange and the methodology suggested by Kydland and Prescott (1990). Our results indicate that natural gas prices are procyclical and lag the cycle of industrial production. Moreover, natural gas prices are positively contemporaneously correlated with United States consumer prices and lead the cycle of consumer prices, raising the possibility that natural gas prices might be a useful guide for US monetary policy, like crude oil prices are, possibly serving as an important indicator variable. (author)

Monitoring of Monthly Price Changes of Cultured Fishes in Sinop Province Between 2012 and 2013

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Birol Baki

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine the monthly price changes of cultured fish which were offered for sale in retail fish outlets in Sinop, Turkey. The fish enterprises were determined by stratified sampling method. The enterprises were grouped as I (the most, II (moderate and III (the least according to the amount of their sales. Each group was represented by two different fish enterprises. During the study, prices of the same fish species were obtained twice a month at the same time of the day and the data were calculated as average ± SD. The differences between the groups were determined by one-way variance analysis (ANOVA and the price relation level between species was evaluated by the correlation analysis using IBM SPSS 21 Statisticssoftware. It was determined that sea bream (Sparus aurata, sea bass (Dicentrarhus labrax, rainbow trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss (portion size and kilos and salmon (Salmo salar (import were offered for sale in fish markets as cultured fish species. These species were sold during the fishing ban period (April-August. They were also sold starting from September when the fishing ban period ended up and the fishery products were at their lowest. For all the species, the differences between the pricesice were not significant between the sampled enterprises. The average values of the current prices were higher than that of 2008-2013 period. A negative strong relation was determined between the rainbow trout and the salmon.

MONTHLY PRICE ANALYSIS OF COWPEA (BEANS AND MAIZE IN AKWA IBOM STATE, SOUTHERN NIGERIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunday Brownson Akpan

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The study examined the price transmission and market integration of Maize and Beans in the rural and urban markets of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Average monthly prices (measured in naira per kilogram of Maize and Cowpea in rural and urban markets were used in the analysis. The data was obtained from the quarterly publications of the Akwa Ibom State Agricultural Development Programme (AKADEP. The data covered the period; January 2005 to June 2013. The trend analysis showed that, prices of Maize and Beans in the rural and urban markets had exponential growth rates that were less than unity, which suggested a possible co-movement of these prices in the study area. Also, the Pearson correlation coefficient generated for the pair of rural and urban prices of Maize and Beans revealed significant linear symmetric relationships. The result implies the existence of symmetric market information flows between the rural and urban markets for Maize and Beans in the state. The Granger causality test revealed bi-directional relationships between the rural and urban price of Maize and Beans in the study area. The co-integration test revealed the presence of co-integration between the rural and urban prices of Maize and Beans. The coefficients of the price variables in the co-integration equations for Maize and Beans markets converged to unity or law of one price which implied perfect market integration in the long run. The results of the error correction model (ECM also confirm the existence of the short run market integration between the rural and urban prices of Maize and Beans in the study area. In addition, it was discovered that, the rural price of Maize adjusted faster to the stable state in the long run than the urban price. Likewise, the urban price of Beans adjusted faster than its corresponding rural price. The index of market connection (IMC supported the high short run market integration for prices of Maize and Beans in rural and urban markets. Based

Price formation and transmission along the food commodity chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivana Blažková

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The article is focused on analysis of price transmission along the wheat commodity chain in the Czech Republic, with the distinction on wheat products with low value added (wheat flour, respectively high value added (wheat rolls. The degree of vertical price transmission is measured to identify potential market failures, because asymmetric price transmission can be the result of existence of market power within the food commodity chain. The data basis is made up from monthly prices on partial markets of the analyzed commodity chain published by Czech Statistical Office and Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic. The monitored time period is from January 2000 till October 2009. The analysis is based on calculation of the price transmission elasticity coefficient (evaluation of price transmission along the chain and the intensity of dependency of positive and negative inter-market price differences (evaluation whether positive or negative price changes are better transmitted among particular vertical markets. Time lag is tested as well. The assessment of price transmission along the wheat commodity chain confirmed the existence of market power especially on the retail stage and low impact of price changes of farm prices on final consumer food prices.

Energy prices and taxes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

Energy Prices and Taxes contains a major international compilation of energy prices at all market levels: import prices, industry prices and consumer prices. The statistics cover main petroleum products, gas, coal and electricity, giving for imported products an average price both for importing country and country of origin. Every issue includes full notes on sources and methods and a description of price mechanisms in each country

Consumer Choice Between Hospital-Based and Freestanding Facilities for Arthroscopy: Impact on Prices, Spending, and Surgical Complications.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, James C; Brown, Timothy T; Whaley, Christopher; Bozic, Kevin J

2015-09-16

Hospital-based outpatient departments traditionally charge higher prices for ambulatory procedures, compared with freestanding surgery centers. Under emerging reference-based benefit designs, insurers establish a contribution limit that they will pay, requiring the patient to pay the difference between that contribution limit and the actual price charged by the facility. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of reference-based benefits on consumer choices, facility prices, employer spending, and surgical outcomes for orthopaedic procedures performed at ambulatory surgery centers. We obtained data on 3962 patients covered by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) who underwent arthroscopy of the knee or shoulder in the three years prior to the implementation of reference-based benefits in January 2012 and on 2505 patients covered by CalPERS who underwent arthroscopy in the two years after implementation. Control group data were obtained on 57,791 patients who underwent arthroscopy and were not subject to reference-based benefits. The impact of reference-based benefits on consumer choices between hospital-based and freestanding facilities, facility prices, employer spending, and surgical complications was assessed with use of difference-in-differences multivariable regressions to adjust for patient demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and geographic location. By the second year of the program, the shift to reference-based benefits was associated with an increase in the utilization of freestanding ambulatory surgery centers by 14.3 percentage points (95% confidence interval, 8.1 to 20.5 percentage points) for knee arthroscopy and by 9.9 percentage points (95% confidence interval, 3.2 to 16.7 percentage points) for shoulder arthroscopy and a corresponding decrease in the use of hospital-based facilities. The mean price paid by CalPERS fell by 17.6% (95% confidence interval, -24.9% to -9.6%) for knee procedures and by 17

Petroleum marketing monthly: September 1996, with data for June 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-09-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. Detailed statistics for crude oil, including the price of imported crude oil by country of origin, by gravity, and by crude stream. To aid the reader in determining the market changes, the majority of the tables show data for the report month and previous months for the current year, and the report month for the previous year. 7 figs., 50 tabs.

Information or prices, which is most powerful in increasing consumer demand for organic vegetables?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smed, Sinne; Andersen, Laura Mørch

2012-01-01

of consuming conventional vegetables on demand for organic foods for six different segments of Danish households. Three of these segments are positive towards organics whereas the remaining three segments are negative or indifferent. Using the double hurdle model we estimate partial effects of both directly...... and indirectly obtained information as well as prices. The results show, that there are larger effects of information for households where the information is in accordance with initial knowledge and attitudes, hence the positive segments react more to information whereas the negative segments react more......Based on a unique and very detailed panel dataset covering consumption of organically and conventionally produced vegetables in the years 2005 - 2007, we examine the effects of information about positive health effects of consuming organic vegetables and information about negative health effects...

7 CFR 1000.53 - Announcement of class prices, component prices, and advanced pricing factors.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... advanced pricing factors. 1000.53 Section 1000.53 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture..., component prices, and advanced pricing factors. (a) On or before the 5th day of the month, the market... administrator for each Federal milk marketing order shall announce the following prices and pricing factors for...

Dynamic Pricing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sharifi, Reza; Anvari-Moghaddam, Amjad; Fathi, S. Hamid

2017-01-01

Dynamic pricing scheme, also known as real-time pricing (RTP), can be more efficient and technically beneficial than the other price-based schemes (such as flat-rate or time-of-use (TOU) pricing) for enabling demand response (DR) actions. Over the past few years, advantages of RTP-based schemes h...... of dynamic pricing can lead to increased willingness of consumers to participate in DR programs which in turn improve the operation of liberalized electricity markets.......Dynamic pricing scheme, also known as real-time pricing (RTP), can be more efficient and technically beneficial than the other price-based schemes (such as flat-rate or time-of-use (TOU) pricing) for enabling demand response (DR) actions. Over the past few years, advantages of RTP-based schemes...

Determinants of food price inflation in Finland—The role of energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irz, Xavier; Niemi, Jyrki; Liu, Xing

2013-01-01

The agricultural commodity crisis of 2006–2008 and the recent evolution of commodity markets have reignited anxieties in Finland over fast-rising food prices and food security. Little is known about the strength of the linkages between food markets and input markets, such as the energy market. Using monthly series of price indices from 1995 to 2010, we estimate a vector error-correction (VEC) model in a cointegration framework in order to investigate the short-term and long-term dynamics of food price formation. The results indicate that a statistically significant long-run equilibrium relationship exists between the prices of food and those of the main variable inputs consumed by the food chain, namely agricultural commodities, labour, and energy. When judged by the magnitude of long-run pass-through rates, farm prices represent the main determinant of food prices, followed by wages in food retail and the price of energy. The parsimonious VEC model suggests that the dynamics of food price formation are dominated by a relatively quick process of adjustment to the long-run equilibrium, the half life of the transitional dynamics being six to eight months following a shock. - Highlights: • We investigate the dynamics of food price formation in Finland. • We establish the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between the prices of food, energy, agricultural commodities, and wages. • Energy price plays a significant but limited role in determining the equilibrium level of food prices

Tiered gasoline pricing: A personal carbon trading perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Yao; Fan, Jin; Zhao, Dingtao; Wu, Yanrui; Li, Jun

2016-01-01

This paper proffers a tiered gasoline pricing method from a personal carbon trading perspective. An optimization model of personal carbon trading is proposed, and then, an equilibrium carbon price is derived according to the market clearing condition. Based on the derived equilibrium carbon price, this paper proposes a calculation method of tiered gasoline pricing. Then, sensitivity analyses and consumers' surplus analyses are conducted. It can be shown that a rise in gasoline price or a more generous allowance allocation would incur a decrease in the equilibrium carbon price, making the first tiered price higher, but the second tiered price lower. It is further verified that the proposed tiered pricing method is progressive because it would relieve the pressure of the low-income groups who consume less gasoline while imposing a greater burden on the high-income groups who consume more gasoline. Based on these results, implications, limitations and suggestions for future studies are provided. - Highlights: • Tiered gasoline pricing is calculated from the perspective of PCT. • Consumers would be burdened with different actual gasoline costs. • A specific example is provided to illustrate the calculation of TGP. • The tiered pricing mechanism is a progressive system.

Consequences of long-term power outages and high electricity prices lasting for months

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

Several areas in the world have experienced electricity outages for longer periods of time, but the consequences of these are sparsely documented. There is a need for further analysis of the socioeconomic consequences of the outages. In addition to KILE (Quality adjusted revenue framework for un supplied energy) costs one has to take into account that the costs often increase proportionally with the durance of the outage, and that KILE tariffs do not reflect lost consumer's surplus for products that are not produced during an outage. A good example is the public underground transport, where the company's economical loss can be significantly smaller than the loss of utility value for the travellers. If the authorities act with reasonability it is difficult to see that periods with very high prices represent a big problem. The most important problems are related to diffused effects, especially for households with a weak economy. These problems can be solved with improved contractual forms (price guarantees) or by transfers to the households, without weakening the incentives for electricity economising (ml)

Truly costly sequential search and oligopolistic pricing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, Maarten C W; Moraga-González, José Luis; Wildenbeest, Matthijs R.

We modify the paper of Stahl (1989) [Stahl, D.O., 1989. Oligopolistic pricing with sequential consumer search. American Economic Review 79, 700-12] by relaxing the assumption that consumers obtain the first price quotation for free. When all price quotations are costly to obtain, the unique

Peak load pricing lowers generation costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lande, R.H.

1980-01-01

Before a utility implements peak load pricing for different classes of consumers, the costs and the benefits should be compared. The methodology described enables a utility to determine whether peak load pricing should be introduced for specific users. Cost-benefit analyses for domestic consumers and commercial/industrial consumers, showing break-even points are presented. (author)

Consumer preference for cowpea in Kwara State, Nigeria | Ayinde ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The primary data were collected through a structured from 120 respondents and secondary data was used to determine the factors for variation in prices of cowpea. The study revealed that consumers prefer that is of medium size, red in colour, very sweet in taste and a shelf-life of at least month. It also showed that the most ...

Petroleum marketing monthly, August 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-08-15

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product Sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Petroleum marketing monthly, September 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-09-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum product sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Optimal Advance Selling Strategy under Price Commitment

OpenAIRE

Chenhang Zeng

2012-01-01

This paper considers a two-period model with experienced consumers and inexperienced consumers. The retailer determines both advance selling price and regular selling price at the beginning of the first period. I show that advance selling weekly dominates no advance selling, and the optimal advance selling price may be at a discount, at a premium or at the regular selling price. To help the retailer choose the optimal pricing strategy, conditions for each possible advance selling strategy to ...

Policy on energy pricing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Webb, M. G.

1977-10-15

Some economic principles of energy pricing in a market type economy in which there is consumer sovereignty are discussed. Thus resources will be allocated via the production processes in line with the preferences of consumers as revealed by their purchases of goods and services. Prices play the crucial role of coordinating instruments in this allocative process. It is assumed that all the energy industries are in the public sector. The following topics are discussed: the specification of objectives for the energy sector; marginal cost pricing; problems associated with the measurement of marginal costs; some aspects of the environmental costs associated with energy production and use, and some issues related to time differentiated tariffs; the modification of prices to achieve financial targets; and the use of energy prices to achieve income distribution objectives.

Consumer perception and preference for suboptimal food under the emerging practice of expiration date based pricing in supermarkets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica

2018-01-01

Consumers have been found to majorly prefer ‘optimal’ food over ‘suboptimal’ when purchasing food. To provide an incentive for consumers to select suboptimal food and thus decrease food waste in the supply chain, expiration date based pricing is suggested and increasingly applied. However......, it is unclear which contextual, individual, and product-related factors impact consumer likelihood of choice and thus acceptance of the practice in the long run. The study aimed at exploring the effect of communicating different motives for purchase, the product being organic, familiarity with the practice......, individual preferences, and product-related factors. An online survey experiment among 842 Danish consumers realistically mimicked the current market context. Findings reveal that neither communicating budget saving or food waste avoidance nor the product being organic has an influence. However...

Fuel switching? Demand destruction? Gas market responses to price spikes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lippe, D.

2004-01-01

This presentation defined fuel switching and addressed the issue regarding which consumers have the capability to switch fuels. In response to short term price aberrations, consumers with fuel switching capabilities reduce their use of one fuel and increase consumption of an alternative fuel. For example, natural gas consumption by some consumers declines in response to price spikes relative to prices of alternative fuels. This presentation also addressed the issue of differentiating between fuel switching and demand destruction. It also demonstrated how to compare gas prices versus alternative fuel prices and how to determine when consumers will likely switch fuels. Price spikes have implications for long term trends in natural gas demand, supply/demand balances and prices. The power generating sector represents a particular class of gas consumers that reduce operating rates of gas fired plants and increase operating rates of other plants. Some gas consumers even shut down plants until gas prices declines and relative economies improve. Some practical considerations for fuel switching include storage tank capacity, domestic refinery production, winter heating season, and decline in working gas storage. tabs., figs

Microgrids Real-Time Pricing Based on Clustering Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hao Liu

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Microgrids are widely spreading in electricity markets worldwide. Besides the security and reliability concerns for these microgrids, their operators need to address consumers’ pricing. Considering the growth of smart grids and smart meter facilities, it is expected that microgrids will have some level of flexibility to determine real-time pricing for at least some consumers. As such, the key challenge is finding an optimal pricing model for consumers. This paper, accordingly, proposes a new pricing scheme in which microgrids are able to deploy clustering techniques in order to understand their consumers’ load profiles and then assign real-time prices based on their load profile patterns. An improved weighted fuzzy average k-means is proposed to cluster load curve of consumers in an optimal number of clusters, through which the load profile of each cluster is determined. Having obtained the load profile of each cluster, real-time prices are given to each cluster, which is the best price given to all consumers in that cluster.

A model for the effects of psychological pricing in Gabor-Granger price studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wedel, M; Leeflang, PSH

We present a model of consumers' price sensitivity that explicitly deals with the existence of so-called psychological price levels or odd prices, i.e. prices ending in an odd number. The model is formulated in a latent class framework, in which splines are used to model utility as a function of

Nonlinear Pricing to Produce Information

OpenAIRE

David J. Braden; Shmuel S. Oren

1994-01-01

We investigate the firm's dynamic nonlinear pricing problem when facing consumers whose tastes vary according to a scalar index. We relax the standard assumption that the firm knows the distribution of this index. In general the firm should determine its marginal price schedule as if it were myopic, and produce information by lowering the price schedule; “bunching” consumers at positive purchase levels should be avoided. As a special case we also consider a market characterized by homogeneous...

99 cent: Price Points in E-Commerce

OpenAIRE

Franz Hackl; Michael E. Kummer; Rudolf Winter-Ebmer

2010-01-01

Basu (2006) argues that the prevalence of 99 cent prices in shops can be explained with rational consumers who disregard the rightmost digits of the price. This bounded rational behaviour leads to a Bertrand equi- librium with positive markups. We use data from an Austrian price com- parison site and find results highly compatible with Basu's theory. We can show that price points - in particular prices ending in 9 - are preva- lent and have significant impact on consumer demand. Moreover, the...

Petroleum marketing monthly

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-11-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data.

The relationship between alcohol price and brand choice among underage drinkers: are the most popular alcoholic brands consumed by youth the cheapest?

Science.gov (United States)

Albers, Alison B; DeJong, William; Naimi, Timothy S; Siegel, Michael; Jernigan, David H

2014-11-01

We examined the influence of price on alcohol brand choice among underage youth. Using a national sample of 1,032 youth, ages 13-20, recruited from a national Internet panel in 2011-2012, we compared differences in mean prices between popular and unpopular brands, examined the association of price and brand popularity using logistic regression, and rank ordered the average price of top brands. Lower brand-specific prices were significantly associated with higher levels of past 30-day consumption prevalence. However, youth did not preferentially consume the cheapest brands. These findings indicate that youth have preferences for certain brands, even if those brands cost more than competing brands. Our study highlights the need for research on the impact of brand-specific alcohol marketing on underage drinking.

Reducing electricity consumption peaks with parametrised dynamic pricing strategies given maximal unit prices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

N.F. Höning (Nicolas); J.A. La Poutré (Han); F. Lopes; Z. Vale; J. Sousa; H. Coelho

2013-01-01

htmlabstractDemand response is a crucial mechanism for flattening of peak loads. For its implementation, we not only require consumers who react to price changes, but also intelligent strategies to select prices. We propose a parametrised meta-strategy for dynamic pricing and identify suitable

Petroleum marketing monthly, November 1993

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-11-09

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) is designed to give information and statistical data about a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed costs of imported crude oil, and the refiner`s acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented.

Petroleum marketing monthly, July 1993

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-07-15

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) is designed to give information and statistical data about a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented.

Petroleum marketing monthly, January 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-02-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) is designed to give information and statistical data about a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented.

Petroleum marketing monthly, February 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-02-25

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly is designed to give information and statistical data about a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiner`s acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented.

Petroleum marketing monthly, August 1993

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-08-10

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) is designed to give information and statistical data about a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented.

Petroleum marketing monthly, April 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-04-12

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) is designed to give information and statistical data about a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented.

Petroleum marketing monthly, March 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-03-22

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly is designed to give information and statistical data about a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, education institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiner`s acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented.

Petroleum marketing monthly, October 1993

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-10-07

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) is designed to give information and statistical data about a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase prices, the f.o b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented.

Effect of marketing activities, benefits, risks, confusion due to over-choice, price, quality and consumer trust on online tourism purchasing

OpenAIRE

Pappas, Nikolaos

2015-01-01

The paper focuses on website vendors and three fundamental aspects, which influence price quality and trust, the major factors that affect purchasing intentions amongst online consumers. The three fundamental aspects in question are: perceived benefits, risks and confusion due to over-choice. The purpose of the study is to examine the influence of these three aspects on consumers' trust and their online purchasing intentions, and also to evaluate their interrelationship with marketing activit...

Price elasticity of tobacco products among economic classes in India, 2011-2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Selvaraj, Sakthivel; Srivastava, Swati; Karan, Anup

2015-12-09

The objectives of this study are to: (1) examine the pattern of price elasticity of three major tobacco products (bidi, cigarette and leaf tobacco) by economic groups of population based on household monthly per capita consumption expenditure in India and (2) assess the effect of tax increases on tobacco consumption and revenue across expenditure groups. Data from the 2011-2012 nationally representative Consumer Expenditure Survey from 101,662 Indian households were used. Households which consumed any tobacco or alcohol product were retained in final models. The study draws theoretical frameworks from a model using the augmented utility function of consumer behaviour, with a two-stage two-equation system of unit values and budget shares. Primary outcome measures were price elasticity of demand for different tobacco products for three hierarchical economic groups of population and change in tax revenue due to changes in tax structure. We finally estimated price elasticity of demand for bidi, cigarette and leaf tobacco and effects of changes in their tax rates on demand for these tobacco products and tax revenue. Own price elasticities for bidi were highest in the poorest group (-0.4328) and lowest in the richest group (-0.0815). Cigarette own price elasticities were -0.832 in the poorest group and -0.2645 in the richest group. Leaf tobacco elasticities were highest in the poorest (-0.557) and middle (-0.4537) groups. Poorer group elasticities were the highest, indicating that poorer consumers are more price responsive. Elasticity estimates show positive distributional effects of uniform bidi and cigarette taxation on the poorest consumers, as their consumption is affected the most due to increases in taxation. Leaf tobacco also displayed moderate elasticities in poor and middle tertiles, suggesting that tax increases may result in a trade-off between consumption decline and revenue generation. A broad spectrum rise in tax rates across all products is critical for

Causes for an asymmetric relation between the price of crude oil and refined petroleum products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaufmann, R.K.; Laskowski, C.

2005-01-01

We revisit the issue of asymmetries in the relation between the price of crude oil and refined petroleum products in the United States. An econometric analysis of monthly data indicates that the asymmetric relationship between the price of crude oil and motor gasoline is generated by refinery utilization rates and inventory behavior. The asymmetric relation between the price of crude oil and home heating oil probably is generated by contractual arrangements between retailers and consumers. Together, these results imply that price asymmetries may be generated by efficient markets. Under these conditions, there is little justification for policy interventions to reduce or eliminate price asymmetries in motor gasoline and home heating oil markets. (author)

Consumer motivations toward buying local rice: The case of northern Iranian consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahnama, Hassan

2017-07-01

This research had two purposes. The first aim was to identify Iranian and Non-Iranian rice consumers based on demographic characteristics and examine difference of these features with buying behaviors. The second purpose of study was to investigate consumer's motivation to buy local rice in Iran. The sample were 1500 people (men and women). The data was collected by using questionnaire based on a face-to-face survey. Chi-square, confirmatory factor analysis, and multiple linear regression were applied to assess collected data by a questionnaire survey. Regarding Iranian local rice buyers, 884 people buy local rice. Chi-square test showed that there is a significant difference between gender, having children, and marital status in buying local rice. Habitual Iranian local rice buyers include: female (51%), people who are more than 45 years old (51%), people with children (63%), people who are living urban (61%), married people (48%) and individuals that their monthly income is between 321.5 and 625 Dollars (53%). Regarding non-Iranian rice buyers, 616 people buy it. Also there is a significant difference between gender, location, marital status, and income in buying local rice. For considering consumers motivation toward buying local rice the econometrical model is used. Model had three aspects including; quality aspects (taste, good appearance), economic aspects (price, convenience, consumer's ethnocentrism), and safety aspects (health, not using pesticides and environment protection) and seven subset. The results of analysis indicated that quality aspects, economic aspects and safety aspects have positive effects on buying Iranian local rice. Also, indicative variables including; taste, good appearance, price, convenience, consumer's ethnocentrism, health, not using pesticides and environment have significant effects on buying it. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Core Indicators of Japan's Consumer Price Index

OpenAIRE

Shigenori Shiratsuka

2006-01-01

The primary objective of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) in conducting monetary policy is to promote sustainable growth by achieving price stability. The price stability that needs to be achieved is regarded as not just short-term and temporary, but sustainable in the medium to long term, which is the common understanding among major central banks. To fulfill this mandate, the BOJ is required to identify the underlying trend of inflation by excluding various idiosyncratic disturbances from measured p...

The evolution of electricity prices in an uncertain world. Contracting and managing the price risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vassilopoulos, Ph.; Rapin, D.

2004-01-01

With the liberalization of the electricity market, the large industrial consumers saw their electric bill changing nature. Before, this price reflected a long term negotiation with the monopoly, now it is established in a free way via wholesale markets. This evolution marks a transfer of the management of price risk from the producer towards the consumer. This change is not in itself a problem if the hedging instruments are adapted. We note a contamination of the price of the derivative products by the spot while at the same time the traditional relation between cash and term is not always valid for electricity because of its non storability. When well even the price of the derivative products would be formed in an autonomous way, it poses a second problem: that of their indexing on price references like Platt's whose result is assimilated more to a survey of large producers than a true confrontation of supply and demand. This article proposes to examine this change of nature and behaviour of electricity prices. After having explained the intrinsically volatile characteristic of spot prices, we will recall that the products in the long term are not always optimal solutions to decrease this price risk. Lastly, we will highlight a solution of skirting at the risks mentioned above: contracting between producers and consumers. (authors)

The relationship between alcohol price and brand choice among underage drinkers: Are the most popular alcoholic brands consumed by youth the cheapest?

Science.gov (United States)

Albers, Alison Burke; DeJong, William; Naimi, Tim; Siegel, Michael; Jernigan, David H.

2014-01-01

We examined the influence of price on alcohol brand choice among underage youth. Using a national sample of 1,032 youth ages 13–20, recruited from a national internet panel in 2011–2012, we compared differences in mean prices between popular and unpopular brands; examined the association of price and brand popularity using logistic regression; and rank ordered the average price of top brands. Lower brand-specific prices were significantly associated with higher levels of past 30-day consumption prevalence. However, youth did not preferentially consume the cheapest brands. These findings indicate that youth have preferences for certain brands, even if those brands cost more than competing brands. Our study highlights the need for research on the impact of brand-specific alcohol marketing on underage drinking. PMID:25183436

Managing Consumer Referrals in a Chain Network

OpenAIRE

Maria Arbatskaya; Hideo Konishi

2014-01-01

We consider the optimal pricing and referral strategy of a monopoly that uses a simple consumer communication network (a chain) to spread product information. The first-best policy with fully discriminatory position-based referral fees involves standard monopoly pricing and referral fees that provide consumers with strictly positive referral incentives. Effective price discrimination among consumers based on their positions in the chain occurs in both the first-best solution and the second-be...

The composite barrel of retail prices and its relationship to crude oil prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balabanoff, S.

1993-01-01

This paper challenges assumptions about the relationship between refinery gate prices, retail prices paid by consumers and crude oil prices. The analysis presented here considers their relationship within the context of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC's) composite barrel statistics, which includes taxes and other government policy effects on prices. Speed of adjustment and retail price response to taxes are analysed with respect to crude import prices. OPEC's composite barrel is explained and evaluated. Test results are summarized. (UK)

Intranational Price Convergence and Price Stickiness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bergman, Ulf Michael; Heebøll, Christian; Hansen, Niels Lynggaard

2017-01-01

We show that estimates of the half-life of deviations from LOOP are biased when not taking into account the precision when aggregating over types of goods. Using a comprehensive dataset with monthly price data for 124 homogeneous products across regions in Denmark over the period 1997–2010 we find...... a large positive aggregation bias. On average, we find that the half-life is 8.4 months when taking the bias into account compared to 28.7 months when applying the standard method. The heterogeneity in estimated half-life can be explained by price stickiness, distance between regions and whether the good...

German energy prices top the scale as Commission examines price transparency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1994-01-01

The results of the price transparency directive indicate clearly that gas and electricity prices to both large and small consumers vary widely between member states. And one message which will hit home to large industrial consumers of gas and electricity when they examine the Commission's recent analysis is that relocating or setting up a subsidiary in Germany is a decision which must be taken with care. The Commission's first attempt to examine the directive's operation reveals that the majority of gas and electricity prices in Germany are higher than those in the bulk of other member states. While the reasons for this are known - for electricity it is mainly due to the Kohlepfennig, a surcharge added to power bills to support the uneconomic coal industry -the Commission's analysis focuses on the price difference between member states rather than the various reasons - tariff policy, taxes, environmental costs - for the difference. (Author)

Factors influencing consumer behaviour in market vegetables in Yemen

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tarish H. Al-Gahaifi

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the research is to understand factors influencing consumer behaviour when buying vegetables in Republic of Yemen. Data collection was done by structured questionnaire administered through schools, universities, government offices, and markets from 13 provinces in 5 governorates. Random convenience sampling technique was used. Total sample comprised of 463 completed questionnaires which were used for analysis. The respondents were classified into five categories on the base of their monthly income, age, education, gender, and type of settlement. Authors present the factors that can influence significantly this behaviour, e.g. price, quality, the location of seller, habit, personal relationship between consumer and seller, occasions, discount, sorting, word-mouth, time of purchase, the way of products display, and recommendation of friends and families. From the obtained results, it is obvious that there was high influence on the behaviour of Yemeni consumer when buying vegetables for factors price, occasions, discontent, and time of purchase, while factors habit, display, sorting, and the location of seller suggests medium influence, and the influence was low for word-mouth.

One TV, One Price?

OpenAIRE

Jean Imbs; Haroon Mumtaz; Morten O. Ravn; Hélène Rey

2009-01-01

We use a unique dataset on television prices across European countries and regions to investigate the sources of differences in price levels. Our findings are as follows: (i) Quality is a crucial determinant of price differences. Even in an integrated economic zone as Europe, rich economies tend to consume higher quality goods. This effect accounts for the lion’s share of international price dispersion. (ii) Sizable international price differentials subsist even for the same television sets. ...

How do urban households in China respond to increasing block pricing in electricity? Evidence from a fuzzy regression discontinuity approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Zibin; Cai, Wenxin; Feng, Xiangzhao

2017-01-01

China is the largest electricity consumption country after it has passed the United States in 2011. Residential electricity consumption in China grew by 381.35% (12.85% per annum) between 2000 and 2013. In order to deal with rapid growth in residential electricity consumption, an increasing block pricing policy was introduced for residential electricity consumers in China on July 1st, 2012. Using difference-in-differences models with a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, we estimate a causal effect of price on electricity consumption for urban households during the introduction of increasing block pricing policy in Guangdong province of China. We find that consumers do not respond to a smaller (approximately 8%) increase in marginal price. However, consumers do respond to a larger increase in marginal price. An approximately 40% increase in marginal price induces an approximately 35% decrease in electricity use (284 kW h per month). Our results suggest that although the increasing block pricing could affect the behavior of households with higher electricity use, there is only a limit potential to overall energy conservation. - Highlights: • Estimate electricity consumption changes in response to the IBP in China. • Employ quasi-experimental approach and micro household level data in China. • Households do not respond to a smaller increase in marginal price. • 40% increase in marginal price induces a 35% decrease in electricity use.

Large-scale energy consumers pay less

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denneman, A.

2012-01-01

The price of electricity in the Netherlands rose with 6 percent in the first quarter of 2012, whereas large business consumers are paying less. The natural gas price has risen with about 10 percent in the last year, both for households and for large business consumers. Meanwhile, households are paying twice as much for electricity and gas as large business consumers. [nl

Price elasticity of tobacco products among economic classes in India, 2011–2012

Science.gov (United States)

Selvaraj, Sakthivel; Srivastava, Swati; Karan, Anup

2015-01-01

Objectives The objectives of this study are to: (1) examine the pattern of price elasticity of three major tobacco products (bidi, cigarette and leaf tobacco) by economic groups of population based on household monthly per capita consumption expenditure in India and (2) assess the effect of tax increases on tobacco consumption and revenue across expenditure groups. Setting Data from the 2011–2012 nationally representative Consumer Expenditure Survey from 101 662 Indian households were used. Participants Households which consumed any tobacco or alcohol product were retained in final models. Primary outcome measures The study draws theoretical frameworks from a model using the augmented utility function of consumer behaviour, with a two-stage two-equation system of unit values and budget shares. Primary outcome measures were price elasticity of demand for different tobacco products for three hierarchical economic groups of population and change in tax revenue due to changes in tax structure. We finally estimated price elasticity of demand for bidi, cigarette and leaf tobacco and effects of changes in their tax rates on demand for these tobacco products and tax revenue. Results Own price elasticities for bidi were highest in the poorest group (−0.4328) and lowest in the richest group (−0.0815). Cigarette own price elasticities were −0.832 in the poorest group and −0.2645 in the richest group. Leaf tobacco elasticities were highest in the poorest (−0.557) and middle (−0.4537) groups. Conclusions Poorer group elasticities were the highest, indicating that poorer consumers are more price responsive. Elasticity estimates show positive distributional effects of uniform bidi and cigarette taxation on the poorest consumers, as their consumption is affected the most due to increases in taxation. Leaf tobacco also displayed moderate elasticities in poor and middle tertiles, suggesting that tax increases may result in a trade-off between consumption decline and

An exploratory analysis of cigarette price premium, market share and consumer loyalty in relation to continued consumption versus cessation in a national US panel

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Michael; Wang, Yanwen; Cahn, Zachary; Berg, Carla J

2015-01-01

Introduction Brand equity and consumer loyalty play a role in continued purchasing behaviour; however, this research has largely focused on non-addictive products without counter-marketing tactics. We examined the impact of brand equity (price premium, market share) and consumer loyalty (switching rates) on smoking cessation (discontinued cigarette purchases for 1 year) among smokers in a consumer panel. Methods In Spring 2015, we analysed 1077 cigarette-purchasing households in the Nielsen Homescan Panel. We analysed cessation in relation to brand equity, consumer loyalty, other purchasing behaviours (nicotine intake, frequency), sociodemographics and tobacco control activities (per state-specific data) over a 6-year period (2004–2009) using Cox proportional hazard modelling. Results The sample was 13.28% African-American; the average income was $52 334 (SD=31 445). The average price premium and market share of smokers’ dominant brands were $1.31 (SD=0.49) and 15.41% (SD=19.15), respectively. The mean brand loyalty level was 0.90 (SD=0.17), indicating high loyalty. In our final model, a higher price premium and market share were associated with lower quit rates (p=0.039); however, an interaction effect suggested that greater market share was not associated with lower cessation rates for African-American smokers (p=0.006). Consumer loyalty was not associated with cessation. Other predictors of lower quit rates included a higher nicotine intake (p=0.006) and baseline purchase frequency (pconsumer relationships. Thus, continued efforts should aim to regulate tobacco marketing efforts in order to disrupt these relationships to promote cessation. PMID:26534732

Perceptions of unfairness in price increases: an experimental study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verônica Feder Mayer

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This experimental study investigates antecedents and consequences of perceptions of price unfairness in a price increase situation. The proposed theoretical model states that consumer dependence on the service provider as well as the relevance the consumer attributes to the service (for the consumer's life will affect his/her degree of (a unfairness price perception, (b anger, and (c intention to complain and retaliate. The results support all the hypotheses specified in the model. The findings not only indicate that some situations of unfairness price perception lead to stronger emotions and more dramatic reactions from consumers, but also allow us to predict which situations of perceived unfairness offer greater risks and have greater potential for conflict.

Biodiesel as a motor fuel price stabilization mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serra, Teresa; Gil, José M.

2012-01-01

This article studies the capacity of biofuels to reduce motor fuel price fluctuations. For this purpose, we study dependence between crude oil and biodiesel blend prices in Spain. Copula models are used for this purpose. Results suggest that the practice of blending biodiesel with diesel can protect consumers against extreme crude oil price increases. - Highlights: ► We study the capacity of biofuels to reduce fuel price fluctuations. ► We focus on Spanish biodiesel market. ► Biodiesel and crude oil price dependence is studied using copula functions. ► Biodiesel can protect consumers against extreme crude oil price increases.

Assessing the effect of oil price on world food prices: Application of principal component analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esmaeili, Abdoulkarim; Shokoohi, Zainab

2011-01-01

The objective of this paper is to investigate the co-movement of food prices and the macroeconomic index, especially the oil price, by principal component analysis to further understand the influence of the macroeconomic index on food prices. We examined the food prices of seven major products: eggs, meat, milk, oilseeds, rice, sugar and wheat. The macroeconomic variables studied were crude oil prices, consumer price indexes, food production indexes and GDP around the world between 1961 and 2005. We use the Scree test and the proportion of variance method for determining the optimal number of common factors. The correlation coefficient between the extracted principal component and the macroeconomic index varies between 0.87 for the world GDP and 0.36 for the consumer price index. We find the food production index has the greatest influence on the macroeconomic index and that the oil price index has an influence on the food production index. Consequently, crude oil prices have an indirect effect on food prices. - Research Highlights: →We investigate the co-movement of food prices and the macroeconomic index. →The crude oil price has indirect effect on the world GDP via its impacts on food production index. →The food production index is the source of causation for CPI and GDP is affected by CPI. →The results confirm an indirect effect among oil price, food price principal component.

Dynamic Price Dispersion of Storable Goods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gao, Cixiu

2014-01-01

with different search costs and willingness to wait. I demonstrate that the high-price-low-price pattern is rational for storable goods. In a Markov-perfect equilibrium, agents’ actions depend on consumer inventory, and purchase decisions are characterized by a critical price. The equilibrium price series...

Petroleum marketing monthly, August 1990

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1990-11-07

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) is designed to give information and statistical data about a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners' acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented. 12 figs., 49 tabs.

Policy Brief: Petroleum product pricing reforms in India. Are we on the right track?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agarwal, Pravin Kumar; Soni, Anmol

2013-03-15

The path to petroleum product pricing reforms in India has been full of undulations. Even though Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) was dismantled during 1 April 1998 to 31 March 2002, the government continued to regulate the prices of petrol, diesel, Public distribution System (PDS) kerosene, and domestic LPG, except for over a year, when oil marketing companies (OMCs) revised the consumer prices of petrol and diesel in line with the international prices. In June 2010, petrol pricing was deregulated, but government control continued to an extent. This control of petroleum product prices has not only severely affected the fiscal balance of the economy, but has also adversely impacted the oil companies (both upstream and downstream), eventually affecting the overall development of the sector. In fact, the impact of petroleum product subsidies has compelled the government to announce certain reforms in the past few months.

When Supermarket Consumers Get Stocked in the Middle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Torben; Jensen, Jan Møller; Solgaard, Hans Stubbe

2011-01-01

, suggesting that consumers with a high-quality/low-price preference structure should be disconfirmed and thus dissatisfied. However, this study finds that – when patronising discount stores and upscale stores – consumers who attach high weight to quality and price are likely to become more satisfied than......Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether consumer supermarket satisfaction is influenced by the mere composition of consumers' preference structure, as opposed to more widespread approaches where consumer satisfaction is regarded as the degree to which consumer expectations and....../or preferences are met. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected from 130 consumers using self-administered questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was used to test the authors' proposed hypotheses. Findings – According to consumers, not many supermarkets offer high quality at low prices...

Pricing and tariffs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dyrelund, A.

1993-01-01

Danish suppliers of electricity and district heating are with a few exceptions either public utilities or cooperatives owned by consumers. The basic tariff regulations for electricity and heat in Denmark state that the tariff has to cover all costs and that only a reasonable interest of invested capital may be included in the tariff. Consequently, all profit has to be used to lower prices. For municipality-owned utilities the consumer prices would be the same if the consumers were the owners. It is typical for the district heating and electricity sector that the technical system, the organizations involved and the tariff levels show the same structure: Plants - transmission - distribution - consumer. E.g. the price of energy from the transmission system includes costs of plants and transmission, but not costs of distribution. Concerning energy saving measures in buildings it is important to note that energy saving measures should not be evaluated on the basis of saved GJ (Giga Joule) thermal energy and GJ electricity because the fuel energy consumption and the share of variable costs depend on the supply system. To find least-cost solutions to satisfy the basic demand for energy services, it is necessary to be aware of the whole chain of elements from fuel to services: fuel - plant - network - consumer installations - building envelope - services. The consumer tariff is the most important link between the supply systems and the buildings. A reasonably designed incentive tariff may work for least-cost solutions, whereas other tariffs may encourage a waste of resources, either waste of fuel energy or waste of investments. (AB)

SECOND ROUND EFFECTS AND PASS-THROUGH OF FOOD PRICES TO INFLATION IN KENYA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roseline Nyakerario Misati

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In the recent past, the Kenyan economy experienced persistent inflationary pressures, partly attributed to food price spikes. However, the quantitative role of food prices in inflation is not well understood or formally empirically analyzed in Kenya yet food occupies a weight of 36 percent in the consumer price index and contributes a monthly average of over 40 percent to overall inflation. Based on monthly data covering the period 1997-2012, this paper attempts to fill this gap by examining the relationship between food prices and inflation. The study used gap models and Phillips curve approaches to estimate the passthrough effects of food prices to both overall inflation and non-food non-fuel inflation. Based on gap models, the results confirm presence of second round effects from food prices to inflation while estimations of the Phillips curve suggest a domestic food price pass-through of 0.49 to overall inflation and 0.38 to non-food non-fuel inflation. The world food prices pass-through to overall inflation and non-food non-fuel inflation are estimated at 0.09 and 0.08, respectively. Thus this paper recommends usage of headline inflation to estimate trend inflation, enhanced communication to mitigate second round effects and that while monetary policy is very critical in anchoring inflationary expectations, there is mutual gain from a supportive fiscal policy in addressing supply side shocks.

Drug Pricing Reforms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaiser, Ulrich; Mendez, Susan J.; Rønde, Thomas

2015-01-01

Reference price systems for prescription drugs have found widespread use as cost containment tools. Under such regulatory regimes, patients co-pay a fraction of the difference between pharmacy retail price of the drug and a reference price. Reference prices are either externally (based on drug...... prices in other countries) or internally (based on domestic drug prices) determined. In a recent study, we analysed the effects of a change from external to internal reference pricing in Denmark in 2005, finding that the reform led to substantial reductions in prices, producer revenues, and expenditures...... for patients and the health insurance system. We also estimated an increase in consumer welfare but the size effect depends on whether or not perceived quality differences between branded and other drugs are taken into account....

Demystifying patient price estimates. The advantages of transparency.

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Cheri S; Harvey, Gayla

2015-05-01

With the increase of high-deductible health plans, more consumers want to know the cost of their health care before they purchase services. A healthcare organization should formulate transparent price policies that: Fit with its intentions, processes, and goals. Ensure consumers are thoroughly educated about their financial responsibilities. Include the use of consumer pricing tools that help patients feel like empowered consumers. Reflect an enterprisewide culture of transparency.

On Mergers in Consumer Search Markets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.C.W. Janssen (Maarten); J.L. Moraga-Gonzalez (José Luis)

2007-01-01

textabstractWe study mergers in a market where N firms sell a homogeneous good and consumers search sequentially to discover prices. The main motivation for such an analysis is that mergers generally affect market prices and thereby, in a search environment, the search behavior of consumers.

Optimal public rationing and price response.

Science.gov (United States)

Grassi, Simona; Ma, Ching-To Albert

2011-12-01

We study optimal public health care rationing and private sector price responses. Consumers differ in their wealth and illness severity (defined as treatment cost). Due to a limited budget, some consumers must be rationed. Rationed consumers may purchase from a monopolistic private market. We consider two information regimes. In the first, the public supplier rations consumers according to their wealth information (means testing). In equilibrium, the public supplier must ration both rich and poor consumers. Rationing some poor consumers implements price reduction in the private market. In the second information regime, the public supplier rations consumers according to consumers' wealth and cost information. In equilibrium, consumers are allocated the good if and only if their costs are below a threshold (cost effectiveness). Rationing based on cost results in higher equilibrium consumer surplus than rationing based on wealth. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimizing Household Chlorination Marketing Strategies: A Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effect of Price and Promotion on Adoption in Haiti.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritter, Michael; Camille, Eveline; Velcine, Christophe; Guillaume, Rose-Kerline; Lantagne, Daniele

2017-07-01

Household water treatment can reduce diarrheal morbidity and mortality in developing countries, but adoption remains low and supply is often unreliable. To test effects of marketing strategies on consumers and suppliers, we randomized 1,798 households in rural Haiti and collected data on purchases of a household chlorination product for 4 months. Households received randomly selected prices ($0.11-$0.56 per chlorine bottle), and half received monthly visits from sales agents. Each $0.22 drop in price increased purchases by 0.10 bottles per household per month ( P sales agents increased purchases at mid-range prices; however, the additional revenue did not offset visit cost. Choosing the lowest price and conducting visits maximizes chlorine purchase, whereas slightly raising the retail price and not conducting visits maximizes cost recovery. For the equivalent cost, price discounts increase purchases 4.2 times as much as adding visits at the current retail price. In this context, price subsidies may be a more cost-effective use of resources than household visits, though all marketing strategies tested offer cost-effective ways to achieve incremental health impact. Decisions about pricing and promotion for health products in developing countries affect health impact, cost recovery, and cost-effectiveness, and tradeoffs between these goals should be made explicit in program design.

Price regulation in the Spanish energy sectors: who benefits?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arocena, Pablo; Contin, Ignacio; Huerta, Emilio

2002-01-01

This paper analyses the distribution of benefits between firms and consumers due to the price regulation of the Spanish energy sectors (electricity, oil fuels and gas) during the decade 1987-1997. To that effect, we compare the actual evolution of energy prices with alternate benchmarks in order to assess the potential existence of a pro-industry or a pro-consumer bias in the pricing policies followed by the regulator. Our results show a pro-industry-biased regulatory context, where consumers benefited very little from price control. The successive price adjustments over time allowed the companies to keep all the productivity gains and cost reductions and to increase their profitability rates relative to those achieved in the manufacturing sector. (Author)

Price regulation in the Spanish energy sectors: who benefits?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arocena, Pablo; Contin, Ignacio; Huerta, Emilio [Departamento de Gestion de Empresas, Universidad Publica de Navarra, Campus de Arrosadia. 31006, Pamplona (Spain); [Canterbury Business School, University of Kent Canterbury (United Kingdom)

2002-08-01

This paper analyses the distribution of benefits between firms and consumers due to the price regulation of the Spanish energy sectors (electricity, oil fuels and gas) during the decade 1987-1997. To that effect, we compare the actual evolution of energy prices with alternate benchmarks in order to assess the potential existence of a pro-industry or a pro-consumer bias in the pricing policies followed by the regulator. Our results show a pro-industry-biased regulatory context, where consumers benefited very little from price control. The successive price adjustments over time allowed the companies to keep all the productivity gains and cost reductions and to increase their profitability rates relative to those achieved in the manufacturing sector. (Author)

Pass-through of crude oil prices at different stages in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatih Akçelik

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the degree of oil price pass-through to domestic prices at different stages of supply chain in Turkey. Our results, based on vector autoregressive models, point out that the pass-through to domestic motor fuel prices is considerably fast as expected and just one third of a change in crude oil prices is reflected to the motor fuel prices due to the high share of taxes on retail prices. On the other hand, it is shown that impact of oil prices on transport services takes a longer time compared to other domestic prices. Over the 2004–2014 period, estimates suggest that a 10% permanent change in the international crude oil prices is associated with a 0.42 percentage points change in consumer inflation at the end of one year. The final accumulated pass-through to consumer inflation reaches 0.50 percentage points. Moreover, the pass-through to producer prices is nearly twice as much as that to consumer prices. Findings also provide some evidence for a strengthening in oil price pass-through to consumer inflation over time, which might reflect the growing natural gas intensity of the economy.

Extra price of climate-neutral consumer products; Meerprijs klimaatneutrale consumentenproducten

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Swigchem, J.; De Haan, F.

2001-04-01

Climate-neutral production of consumer products means (1) prevent the emission of CO2 (e.g. by saving energy and using renewable energy), and/or (2) compensate CO2 emission by afforestation. The extra price to realize this was calculated for three different products: paper diapers, coffee and deepfrozen green beans. [Dutch] In de titel studie is berekend tegen welke meerprijs producenten hun producten klimaatneutraal kunnen produceren. De meerprijs is berekend van drie producten: papieren luiers, koffie en diepvriessperciebonen. Deze zijn uitsluitend gekozen als voorbeeld, en zijn (binnen de gestelde criteria) willekeurig. Klimaatneutraal produceren houdt in: (1) voorkomen dat CO2-emissies vrijkomen (bijvoorbeeld door energie te besparen en duurzame energie in te zetten), en/of (2) de CO2-emissies die vrijkomen compenseren door bijvoorbeeld bosaanplant. Uit de studie blijkt dat circa 90% van de CO2-emissies die een gevolg zijn van de productie van de onderzochte producten, tegen geringe meerkosten kunnen worden gereduceerd of gecompenseerd. Een combinatie van energie-efficiency maatregelen en compensatie door bosaanplant levert de laagste meerkosten op.

Limited use of price and quality advertising among American hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Muhlestein, David B; Wilks, Chrisanne E A; Richter, Jason P

2013-08-29

Consumer-directed policies, including health savings accounts, have been proposed and implemented to involve individuals more directly with the cost of their health care. The hope is this will ultimately encourage providers to compete for patients based on price or quality, resulting in lower health care costs and better health outcomes. To evaluate American hospital websites to learn whether hospitals advertise directly to consumers using price or quality data. Structured review of websites of 10% of American hospitals (N=474) to evaluate whether price or quality information is available to consumers and identify what hospitals advertise about to attract consumers. On their websites, 1.3% (6/474) of hospitals advertised about price and 19.0% (90/474) had some price information available; 5.7% (27/474) of hospitals advertised about quality outcomes information and 40.9% (194/474) had some quality outcome data available. Price and quality information that was available was limited and of minimal use to compare hospitals. Hospitals were more likely to advertise about service lines (56.5%, 268/474), access (49.6%, 235/474), awards (34.0%, 161/474), and amenities (30.8%, 146/474). Insufficient information currently exists for consumers to choose hospitals on the basis of price or quality, making current consumer-directed policies unlikely to realize improved quality or lower costs. Consumers may be more interested in information not related to cost or clinical factors when choosing a hospital, so consumer-directed strategies may be better served before choosing a provider, such as when choosing a health plan.

The impact of choice context on consumers' choice heuristics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mueller Loose, Simone; Scholderer, Joachim; Corsi, Armando M.

2012-01-01

Context effects in choice settings have received recent attention but little is known about the impact of context on choice consistency and the extent to which consumers apply choice heuristics. The sequence of alternatives in a choice set is examined here as one specific context effect. We compare...... how a change from a typical price order to a sensory order in wine menus affects consumer choice. We use pre-specified latent heuristic classes to analyse the existence of different choice processes, which begins to untangle the ‘black box’ of how consumers choose. Our findings indicate...... that in the absence of price order, consumers are less price-sensitive, pay more attention to visually salient cues, are less consistent in their choices and employ other simple choice heuristics more frequently than price. Implications for consumer research, marketing and consumer policy are discussed....

Pricing strategy for aesthetic surgery: economic analysis of a resident clinic's change in fees.

Science.gov (United States)

Krieger, L M; Shaw, W W

1999-02-01

The laws of microeconomics explain how prices affect consumer purchasing decisions and thus overall revenues and profits. These principles can easily be applied to the behavior aesthetic plastic surgery patients. The UCLA Division of Plastic Surgery resident aesthetics clinic recently offered a radical price change for its services. The effects of this change on demand for services and revenue were tracked. Economic analysis was applied to see if this price change resulted in the maximization of total revenues, or if additional price changes could further optimize them. Economic analysis of pricing involves several steps. The first step is to assess demand. The number of procedures performed by a given practice at different price levels can be plotted to create a demand curve. From this curve, price sensitivities of consumers can be calculated (price elasticity of demand). This information can then be used to determine the pricing level that creates demand for the exact number of procedures that yield optimal revenues. In economic parlance, revenues are maximized by pricing services such that elasticity is equal to 1 (the point of unit elasticity). At the UCLA resident clinic, average total fees per procedure were reduced by 40 percent. This resulted in a 250-percent increase in procedures performed for representative 4-month periods before and after the price change. Net revenues increased by 52 percent. Economic analysis showed that the price elasticity of demand before the price change was 6.2. After the price change it was 1. We conclude that the magnitude of the price change resulted in a fee schedule that yielded the highest possible revenues from the resident clinic. These results show that changes in price do affect total revenue and that the nature of these effects can be understood, predicted, and maximized using the tools of microeconomics.

Consumer Willingness to Pay for Dengue Vaccine (CYD-TDV, Dengvaxia®) in Brazil; Implications for Future Pricing Considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Godói, Isabella P; Santos, André S; Reis, Edna A; Lemos, Livia L P; Brandão, Cristina M R; Alvares, Juliana; Acurcio, Francisco A; Godman, Brian; Guerra Júnior, Augusto A

2017-01-01

Introduction and Objective: Dengue virus is a serious global health problem with an estimated 3.97 billion people at risk for infection worldwide. In December 2015, the first vaccine (CYD-TDV) for dengue prevention was approved in Brazil, developed by Sanofi Pasteur. However, given that the vaccine will potentially be paid via the public health system, information is need regarding consumers' willingness to pay for the dengue vaccine in the country as well as discussions related to the possible inclusion of this vaccine into the public health system. This was the objective of this research. Methods : We conducted a cross-sectional study with residents of Greater Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, about their willingness to pay for the CYD-TDV vaccine. Results : 507 individuals were interviewed. These were mostly female (62.4%) had completed high school (62.17%), were working (74.4%), had private health insurance (64.5%) and did not have dengue (67.4%). The maximum median value of consumers' willingness to pay for CYD-TDV vaccine is US$33.61 (120.00BRL) for the complete schedule and US$11.20 (40.00BRL) per dose. At the price determined by the Brazil's regulatory chamber of pharmaceutical products market for the commercialization of Dengvaxia ® for three doses, only 17% of the population expressed willingness to pay for this vaccine. Conclusion : Brazil is currently one of the largest markets for dengue vaccine and the price established is a key issue. We believe the manufacturer should asses the possibility of lower prices to reach a larger audience among the Brazilian population.

The impact of category prices on store price image formation : An empirical analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Da Silva Lourenço, C.J.; Gijsbrechts, E.; Paap, R.

2015-01-01

The authors empirically explore how consumers update beliefs about a store's overall expensiveness. They estimate a learning model of store price image (SPI) formation with the impact of actual prices linked to category characteristics, on a unique dataset combining store visit and purchase

Oil market prices 1989/1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenkins, G.

1991-01-01

There are many oil markets. Oil Market Prices lists the markets, provides statistics on prices and the volumes of trade, analyses the price structures in the markets and provides supplementary information on ocean freight rates and oil refining margins. Oil Market Prices will serve as a permanent record of crude oil prices including those quoted on the futures and forward markets, the many wholesale prices for refined oil products, prices consumers pay and the average prices received by the oil companies. In all instances the sources of the statistics are given together with comprehensive listing of alternative sources. (Author)

Developments in Global Food Prices

OpenAIRE

Vanessa Rayner; Emily Laing; Jamie Hall

2011-01-01

Global food prices have increased significantly since the early 2000s, reversing the long-run trend decline in relative food prices over previous decades. A range of supply disruptions in key food-producing countries have contributed to higher food prices, along with strong demand from developing countries as per capita incomes rise and consumption patterns change. Rising commodity prices are leading to higher headline consumer price inflation in many countries though, at this stage, core mea...

Higher Retail Prices of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages 3 Months After Implementation of an Excise Tax in Berkeley, California.

Science.gov (United States)

Falbe, Jennifer; Rojas, Nadia; Grummon, Anna H; Madsen, Kristine A

2015-11-01

We assessed the short-term ability to increase retail prices of the first US 1-cent-per-ounce excise tax on the distribution of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), which was implemented in March 2015 by Berkeley, California. In 2014 and 2015, we examined pre- to posttax price changes of SSBs and non-SSBs in a variety of retailers in Berkeley and in the comparison cities Oakland and San Francisco, California. We examined price changes by beverage, brand, size, and retailer type. For smaller beverages (≤ 33.8 oz), price increases (cents/oz) in Berkeley relative to those in comparison cities were 0.69 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.36, 1.03) for soda, 0.47 (95% CI = 0.08, 0.87) for fruit-flavored beverages, and 0.47 (95% CI = 0.25, 0.69) for SSBs overall. For 2-liter bottles and multipacks of soda, relative price increases were 0.46 (95% CI = 0.03, 0.89) and 0.49 (95% CI = 0.21, 0.77). We observed no relative price increases for nontaxed beverages overall. Approximately 3 months after the tax was implemented, SSB retail prices increased more in Berkeley than in nearby cities, marking a step in the causal pathway between the tax and reduced SSB consumption.

Prices regulation in price-cap: the lessons of the british gas industry; Reglementations tarifaires en price-cap: les lecons de l'industrie gaziere anglaise

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

David, L.

2003-07-01

This article examines the problem of the price-cap regulation applied to the british gas transport. The RPI-X cap is a particular form of the price cap. This cap seems to be more remunerative for the regulatory firm than a cap calculated on the Laspeyres index because it authorizes a greater freedom of prices choice, to the prejudice of the consumers. Facing these perverse effects, Cowan proposed in 1997 a new system, not more satisfying. Another equation is analyzed in this article, proposed by Ofgem. Meanwhile this system presents no improvement of the consumers surplus facing the RPI-X cap. (A.L.B.)

Odd Price: Harga, Psikologi Dan Perilaku Konsumen Dalam Purchase Decision Making

OpenAIRE

Tjiptodjojo, Kartika Imasari

2012-01-01

Price is one important component in marketing as well as in creating of customer value. Determination of an appropriate pricing strategy will not only affect consumers' perception of the level, but will bring the consumers to the point of purchase. Odd Price is one of the company's strategies to create the impression in the minds of consumer’s low price. This strategy is considered quite successful in influencing consumer psychology in deciding to buy the product or service offered by t...

Government Pricing Policy and Behavioral Consumption of Tobacco

OpenAIRE

Firend, A.R

2015-01-01

This research examines the impact of tobacco tax on government revenues and consumer's behavior towards price increases. In this examines historical trends of tobacco tax hikes in Malaysia and consumer's reaction towards anticipated price increases. Methodology consisted of qualitative and quantitative data collection for triangulation in addition to review reports and studies of governmental and independent agencies. Findings suggest that price increases has a minimal affect on consumption h...

Petroleum marketing monthly, November 1991. [Contains glossary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-11-07

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly is designed to give information and statistical data about a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners' acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented. 12 figs., 53 tabs.

A game theory model for stabilizing price of chili: A case study

Science.gov (United States)

Wardayanti, Ari; Aviv, Afgan Suffan; Sutopo, Wahyudi; Hisjam, Muh.

2017-11-01

Chili is one of the important agricultural commodity in Indonesia because of its widely consumption by the Indonesian. Chili becomes one of the commodities that experience price fluctuations and important cause of yearly inflation in Indonesia. The unstable price of chili is affected by the scarcity of the commodity in some months and the difference of the harvest season. This study proposes a model to solve the problem by considering the substitution of fresh chilies with dried chili. We propose the cooperative of chili's farmer as entities that process fresh chili into dry ones. The existence of substitution products is expected to maintain the price stability chili. This research was conducted by taking a case study on chili commodity markets in Surakarta which consists of 19 traditional markets. This study aims to create a price stabilization scheme with product substitution using a game theory model. There are 4 strategies proposed in game theory model to describe the relationship between producers and consumers. In this case, the producers are the farmers and the consumers are the trade market. A mixed strategy of was chosen to determine the optimal value among 4 strategies. From the calculation results obtained optimal value when doing a mixed strategy of IDR 201,188,829,000.

“Call for Prices”: Strategic Implications of Raising Consumers' Costs

OpenAIRE

Preyas S. Desai; Anand Krishnamoorthy; Preethika Sainam

2010-01-01

Many consumer durable retailers often do not advertise their prices and instead ask consumers to call them for prices. It is easy to see that this practice increases the consumers' cost of learning the prices of products they are considering, yet firms commonly use such practices. Not advertising prices may reduce the firm's advertising costs, but the strategic effects of doing so are not clear. Our objective is to examine the strategic effects of this practice. In particular, how does making...

Demand side management in recycling and electricity retail pricing

Science.gov (United States)

Kazan, Osman

This dissertation addresses several problems from the recycling industry and electricity retail market. The first paper addresses a real-life scheduling problem faced by a national industrial recycling company. Based on their practices, a scheduling problem is defined, modeled, analyzed, and a solution is approximated efficiently. The recommended application is tested on the real-life data and randomly generated data. The scheduling improvements and the financial benefits are presented. The second problem is from electricity retail market. There are well-known patterns in daily usage in hours. These patterns change in shape and magnitude by seasons and days of the week. Generation costs are multiple times higher during the peak hours of the day. Yet most consumers purchase electricity at flat rates. This work explores analytic pricing tools to reduce peak load electricity demand for retailers. For that purpose, a nonlinear model that determines optimal hourly prices is established based on two major components: unit generation costs and consumers' utility. Both are analyzed and estimated empirically in the third paper. A pricing model is introduced to maximize the electric retailer's profit. As a result, a closed-form expression for the optimal price vector is obtained. Possible scenarios are evaluated for consumers' utility distribution. For the general case, we provide a numerical solution methodology to obtain the optimal pricing scheme. The models recommended are tested under various scenarios that consider consumer segmentation and multiple pricing policies. The recommended model reduces the peak load significantly in most cases. Several utility companies offer hourly pricing to their customers. They determine prices using historical data of unit electricity cost over time. In this dissertation we develop a nonlinear model that determines optimal hourly prices with parameter estimation. The last paper includes a regression analysis of the unit generation cost

Dynamic electricity pricing—Which programs do consumers prefer?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dütschke, Elisabeth; Paetz, Alexandra-Gwyn

2013-01-01

Dynamic pricing is being discussed as one method of demand side management (DSM) which could be crucial for integrating more renewable energy sources into the electricity system. At the same time, there have been very few analyses of consumer preferences in this regard: Which type of pricing program are consumers most likely to choose and why? This paper sheds some light on these issues based on two empirical studies from Germany: (1) A questionnaire study including a conjoint analysis-design and (2) A field experiment with test-residents of a smart home laboratory. The results show that consumers are open to dynamic pricing, but prefer simple programs to complex and highly dynamic ones; smart home technologies including demand automation are seen as a prerequisite for DSM. The study provides some indications that consumers might be more willing to accept more dynamic pricing programs if they have the chance to experience in practice how these can be managed in everyday life. At the same time, the individual and societal advantages of such programs are not obvious to consumers. For this reason, any market roll-out will need to be accompanied by convincing communication and information campaigns to ensure that these advantages are perceived. - Highlights: • Little is known about consumer preferences on dynamic pricing. • Two studies are conducted to analyze this topic. • A survey shows that consumers without experience prefer conventional programs. • Test residents of a smart home were more open to dynamic pricing. • They also prefer well-structured programs

An exploratory analysis of cigarette price premium, market share and consumer loyalty in relation to continued consumption versus cessation in a national US panel.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Michael; Wang, Yanwen; Cahn, Zachary; Berg, Carla J

2015-11-03

Brand equity and consumer loyalty play a role in continued purchasing behaviour; however, this research has largely focused on non-addictive products without counter-marketing tactics. We examined the impact of brand equity (price premium, market share) and consumer loyalty (switching rates) on smoking cessation (discontinued cigarette purchases for 1 year) among smokers in a consumer panel. In Spring 2015, we analysed 1077 cigarette-purchasing households in the Nielsen Homescan Panel. We analysed cessation in relation to brand equity, consumer loyalty, other purchasing behaviours (nicotine intake, frequency), sociodemographics and tobacco control activities (per state-specific data) over a 6-year period (2004-2009) using Cox proportional hazard modelling. The sample was 13.28% African-American; the average income was $52,334 (SD=31,445). The average price premium and market share of smokers' dominant brands were $1.31 (SD=0.49) and 15.41% (SD=19.15), respectively. The mean brand loyalty level was 0.90 (SD=0.17), indicating high loyalty. In our final model, a higher price premium and market share were associated with lower quit rates (p=0.039); however, an interaction effect suggested that greater market share was not associated with lower cessation rates for African-American smokers (p=0.006). Consumer loyalty was not associated with cessation. Other predictors of lower quit rates included a higher nicotine intake (p=0.006) and baseline purchase frequency (pconsumer relationships. Thus, continued efforts should aim to regulate tobacco marketing efforts in order to disrupt these relationships to promote cessation. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

DEFINITION OF COMPETITIVE PRICE OF HOUSES PROCEEDING FROM THEIR CONSUMER PROPERTIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Хакимзян Амирович Фасхиев

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The method of determination of competitive prices of individual houses, which is based on the price depending on the customer value of the object to the decision maker. Line «red price» compared to residential houses built on the basis of an assessment of their quality aggregate-decomposition method. The price of the test at home is determined by the line «red price» for its calculated level of quality. The technique can be used in the valuation of real estate activities. An example of determining the price of an apartment house, located in the suburbs of a large city.

Natural gas tariffing principles for non-eligible consumers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

This document explains the main principles and control means of natural gas tariffing in France for non-eligible consumers: marginal cost tariffing and equal terms between consumers, prices control regime and public utility contract between the Government and Gaz de France company for the smoothing of the strong volatility of petroleum products price, successive increase of prices due to import tariffs. The evolution of prices between 1998 and today are summarized in tables and graphs. (J.S.)

State energy price and expenditure report 1989

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

The State Energy Price and Expenditure Report (SEPER) presents energy price and expenditure estimates for the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the United States. The estimates are provided by energy source (e.g., petroleum, natural gas, coal, and electricity) and by major consuming or economic sector. This report is an update of the State Energy Price and Expenditure Report 1988 published in September 1990. Changes from the last report are summarized in a section of the documentation. Energy price and expenditure estimates are published for the years 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1985 through 1989. Documentation follows the tables and describes how the price estimates are developed, including sources of data, methods of estimation, and conversion factors applied. Consumption estimates used to calculate expenditures, and the documentation for those estimates, are from the State Energy Data Report, Consumption Estimates, 1960--1989 (SEDR), published in May 1991. Expenditures are calculated by multiplying the price estimates by the consumption estimates, adjusted to remove process fuel and intermediate product consumption. All expenditures are consumer expenditures, that is, they represent estimates of money directly spent by consumers to purchase energy, generally including taxes. 11 figs., 43 tabs

State energy price and expenditure report 1989

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-09-30

The State Energy Price and Expenditure Report (SEPER) presents energy price and expenditure estimates for the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the United States. The estimates are provided by energy source (e.g., petroleum, natural gas, coal, and electricity) and by major consuming or economic sector. This report is an update of the State Energy Price and Expenditure Report 1988 published in September 1990. Changes from the last report are summarized in a section of the documentation. Energy price and expenditure estimates are published for the years 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1985 through 1989. Documentation follows the tables and describes how the price estimates are developed, including sources of data, methods of estimation, and conversion factors applied. Consumption estimates used to calculate expenditures, and the documentation for those estimates, are from the State Energy Data Report, Consumption Estimates, 1960--1989 (SEDR), published in May 1991. Expenditures are calculated by multiplying the price estimates by the consumption estimates, adjusted to remove process fuel and intermediate product consumption. All expenditures are consumer expenditures, that is, they represent estimates of money directly spent by consumers to purchase energy, generally including taxes. 11 figs., 43 tabs.

Price volatility in wind dominant electricity markets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Farashbashi-Astaneh, Seyed-Mostafa; Chen, Zhe

2013-01-01

High penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources causes price volatility in future electricity markets. This is specially the case in European countries that plan high penetration levels. This highlights the necessity for revising market regulations and mechanisms in accordance...... to generation combination portfolio. Proposed solutions should be able to tackle with emerging challenges which are mainly due to high variability and unpredictability of intermittent renewable resources. In this paper high price volatility will be introduced as an emerging challenge in wind dominant...... electricity markets. High price volatility is unappreciated because it imposes high financial risk levels to both electricity consumers and producers. Additionally high price variations impede tracking price signals by consumers in future smart grid and jeopardize implementation of demand response concepts...

The real-time price elasticity of electricity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lijesen, Mark G.

2007-01-01

The real-time price elasticity of electricity contains important information on the demand response of consumers to the volatility of peak prices. Despite the importance, empirical estimates of the real-time elasticity are hardly available. This paper provides a quantification of the real-time relationship between total peak demand and spot market prices. We find a low value for the real-time price elasticity, which may partly be explained from the fact that not all users observe the spot market price. If we correct for this phenomenon, we find the elasticity to be fairly low for consumers currently active in the spot market. If this conclusion applies to all users, this would imply a limited scope for government intervention in supply security issues. (Author)

Tiered co-payments, pricing, and demand in reference price markets for pharmaceuticals.

Science.gov (United States)

Herr, Annika; Suppliet, Moritz

2017-12-01

Health insurance companies curb price-insensitive behavior and the moral hazard of insureds by means of cost-sharing, such as tiered co-payments or reference pricing in drug markets. This paper evaluates the effect of price limits - below which drugs are exempt from co-payments - on prices and on demand. First, using a difference-in-differences estimation strategy, we find that the new policy decreases prices by 5 percent for generics and increases prices by 4 percent for brand-name drugs in the German reference price market. Second, estimating a nested-logit demand model, we show that consumers appreciate co-payment exempt drugs and calculate lower price elasticities for brand-name drugs than for generics. This explains the different price responses of brand-name and generic drugs and shows that price-related co-payment tiers are an effective tool to steer demand to low-priced drugs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Economic information from Smart Meter: Nexus Between Demand Profile and Electricity Retail Price Between Demand Profile and Electricity Retail Price

OpenAIRE

Yu, Yang; Liu, Guangyi; Zhu, Wendong; Wang, Fei; Shu, Bin; Zhang, Kai; Rajagopal, Ram; Astier, Nicolas

2016-01-01

In this paper, we demonstrate that a consumer's marginal system impact is only determined by their demand profile rather than their demand level. Demand profile clustering is identical to cluster consumers according to their marginal impacts on system costs. A profile-based uniform-rate price is economically efficient as real-time pricing. We develop a criteria system to evaluate the economic efficiency of an implemented retail price scheme in a distribution system by comparing profile cluste...

Investor response to consumer elasticity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grenaa Jensen, Stine; Meibom, Peter; Ravn, H.F.; Straarup, Sarah

2004-01-01

In the Nordic electricity system there is considerable uncertainty with respect to the long-term development in production capacity. The process towards liberalisation of the electricity sector started in a situation with a large reserve margin, but this margin is gradually vanishing. Since the potential investors in new production capacity are unaccustomed with investments under the new regime it is unknown if and when investments will take place. The electricity price is the key market signal to potential investors. The price is settled as a balance between supply and demand, and it is generally assumed that the demand side has an important role in this, and increasingly so. However, since consumers have not earlier had the incentive to respond to electricity prices, no reliable estimate of demand elasticity is known. The purpose of the present study is to analyse the role of electricity demand elasticity for investments in new electricity production capacity. Electricity price scenarios generated with a partial equilibrium model (Balmorel) are combined with a model of investment decisions. In this, various scenarios concerning the development in the demand elasticity are used. The simulated investment decisions are taken in a stochastic, dynamic setting, where a key point is the timing of the investment decision in relation to the gathering of new information relative to the stochastic elements. Based on this, the consequences of the development in consumer price elasticity for investments in a base load and a peak load plant are investigated. The main result of the analysis is that peak load investments can be made unprofitable by the development in consumer price elasticity, such that an investor will tend to wait with his peak load investment, until the development in consumer price elasticity has been revealed. (au)

Petroleum marketing monthly with data for May 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-08-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Petroleum marketing monthly with data for September 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-12-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures and accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Reducing the Burden of Price.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Janet S.

1984-01-01

Setting prices for undergraduate education and assessing their effects on consumers and institutions is complicated by widespread price discounting. Student aid programs, credit, subsidized employment, and tax policy can reduce the actual costs paid by students and their families. (MSE)

Store managers’ perception of the new Walmart/Massmart price promotion strategy

OpenAIRE

2015-01-01

M.Com. Hi-Lo price promotions are engraved in the South African fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector where price cuts and pricing specials are used to draw consumer traffic into stores. Massmart, in particular, Game stores are known for price cuts in the way they promote hence the arrival of Walmart present a dilemma for Games stores because Walmart is known for its everyday low pricing strategy (EDLP) compared to Hi-Lo price promotions which are popular in Game stores...

Regulation of Pharmaceutical Prices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaiser, Ulrich; Méndez, Susan J.; Rønde, Thomas

2014-01-01

Reference prices constitute a main determinant of patient health care reimbursement in many countries. We study the effects of a change from an "external" (based on a basket of prices in other countries) to an "internal" (based on comparable domestic products) reference price system. We find...... that while our estimated consumer compensating variation is small, the reform led to substantial reductions in list and reference prices as well as co-payments, and to sizeable decreases in overall producer revenues, health care expenditures, and co-payments. These effects differ markedly between branded...

Regulation of Pharmaceutical Prices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaiser, Ulrich; Méndez, Susan J.; Rønde, Thomas

Reference prices constitute a main determinant of patient health care reimbursement in many countries. We study the effects of a change from an "external" (based on a basket of prices in other countries) to an "internal" (based on comparable domestic products) reference price system. We find...... that while our estimated consumer compensating variation is small, the reform led to substantial reductions in list and reference prices as well as co-payments, and to sizeable decreases in overall producer revenues, health care expenditures, and co-payments. These effects differ markedly between branded...

Pricing strategies of the supermarket sector

OpenAIRE

Leal, Joana Lobato da Fonseca Sáragga

2014-01-01

The food retail industry is a very competitive market. Supermarkets use a combination of price, quality of products and service to lure consumers and increase their profit. This work project draws upon both empirical and theoretical literatures to understand the different pricing strategies that the supermarket sector uses. Everyday Low Price, Promotional, Zone Pricing and Loyalty Programs are the most common pricing strategies in this industry. By using data from the Portuguese supermarket l...

Incorporating the value of changes in price volatility into cost-benefit analysis-an application to oil prices in the transport sector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jensen, Thomas C., E-mail: tcj@transport.dtu.d [Department of Transport, Danish Technical University, Bygningstorvet 116 Vest, 2800 Lyngby (Denmark); Moller, Flemming [National Environmental Research Institute, Box 358, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde (Denmark)

2010-01-15

This paper contains a tentative suggestion of how to take into account the value of changes in price volatility in real world cost-benefit analyses. Price volatility is an important aspect of security of supply which first of all concerns physical availability, but assuming that consumers are risk averse, security of supply can also be viewed as a matter of avoiding oscillations in consumption originating from volatile prices of for instance oil. When the government makes transport-related choices on behalf of the consumers, the effect on oscillations in general consumption should be included in the policy assessment taking into account the most significant correlations between prices of alternative fuels and between fuel prices and consumption in general. In the present paper, a method of valuing changes in price volatility based on portfolio theory is applied to some very simple transport-related examples. They indicate that including the value of changes in price volatility often makes very little difference to the results of cost-benefit analyses, but more work has to be done on quantifying, among other things, consumers' risk aversion and the background standard deviation in total consumption before firm conclusions can be drawn.

Incorporating the value of changes in price volatility into cost-benefit analysis. An application to oil prices in the transport sector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jensen, Thomas C. [Department of Transport, Danish Technical University, Bygningstorvet 116 Vest, 2800 Lyngby (Denmark); Moeller, Flemming [National Environmental Research Institute, Box 358, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde (Denmark)

2010-01-15

This paper contains a tentative suggestion of how to take into account the value of changes in price volatility in real world cost-benefit analyses. Price volatility is an important aspect of security of supply which first of all concerns physical availability, but assuming that consumers are risk averse, security of supply can also be viewed as a matter of avoiding oscillations in consumption originating from volatile prices of for instance oil. When the government makes transport-related choices on behalf of the consumers, the effect on oscillations in general consumption should be included in the policy assessment taking into account the most significant correlations between prices of alternative fuels and between fuel prices and consumption in general. In the present paper, a method of valuing changes in price volatility based on portfolio theory is applied to some very simple transport-related examples. They indicate that including the value of changes in price volatility often makes very little difference to the results of cost-benefit analyses, but more work has to be done on quantifying, among other things, consumers' risk aversion and the background standard deviation in total consumption before firm conclusions can be drawn. (author)

Incorporating the value of changes in price volatility into cost-benefit analysis. An application to oil prices in the transport sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jensen, Thomas C.; Moeller, Flemming

2010-01-01

This paper contains a tentative suggestion of how to take into account the value of changes in price volatility in real world cost-benefit analyses. Price volatility is an important aspect of security of supply which first of all concerns physical availability, but assuming that consumers are risk averse, security of supply can also be viewed as a matter of avoiding oscillations in consumption originating from volatile prices of for instance oil. When the government makes transport-related choices on behalf of the consumers, the effect on oscillations in general consumption should be included in the policy assessment taking into account the most significant correlations between prices of alternative fuels and between fuel prices and consumption in general. In the present paper, a method of valuing changes in price volatility based on portfolio theory is applied to some very simple transport-related examples. They indicate that including the value of changes in price volatility often makes very little difference to the results of cost-benefit analyses, but more work has to be done on quantifying, among other things, consumers' risk aversion and the background standard deviation in total consumption before firm conclusions can be drawn. (author)

How policies affect international biofuel price linkages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajcaniova, Miroslava; Drabik, Dusan; Ciaian, Pavel

2013-01-01

We estimate the role of biofuel policies in determining which country is the price leader in world biofuel markets using a cointegration analysis and a Vector Error Correction (VEC) model. Weekly prices are analyzed for the EU, US, and Brazilian ethanol and biodiesel markets in the 2002–2010 and 2005–2010 time periods, respectively. The US blender's tax credit and Brazil's consumer tax exemption are found to play a role in determining the ethanol prices in other countries. For biodiesel, our results demonstrate that EU policies – the consumer tax exemption and blending target – tend to determine the world biodiesel price. - Highlights: • We estimate the role of biofuel policies in determining biofuel prices. • We use a cointegration analysis and the Vector Error Correction (VEC) model. • The biofuel policies in US and Brazil determine the world ethanol prices. • EU biofuel policies tend to form the world biodiesel price

Stochastic Pricing and Order Model with Transportation Mode Selection for Low-Carbon Retailers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi Zheng

2016-01-01

Full Text Available More and more enterprises have begun to pay attention to their carbon footprint in the supply chain, of which transportation has become the second major source of carbon emissions. This paper aims to study both optimum pricing and order quantities, considering consumer demand and the selection of transportation modes by retailers, in terms of carbon emissions sensitivity and price sensitivity under the conditions of a cap-and-trade policy and uncertain market demand. Firstly, we analyze the effects of transportation mode (including transportation costs and transportation-induced carbon emissions, initial emissions allowances, carbon emissions trading price and consumer sensitivity to carbon emissions on the optimum decisions and profits of retailers. The results demonstrate that when consumers are less sensitive to price, the optimum retail price and the optimum order quantity of products are proportional to the transportation cost and transportation-induced carbon emissions of retailers per unit product, the carbon emissions trading price as well as consumer sensitivity to carbon emissions. However, when consumers are highly sensitive to price, the optimum order quantity of products is inversely proportional to the transportation costs and transportation-induced carbon emissions of retailers per unit product, the carbon emissions trading price and consumer sensitivity to carbon emissions. In addition, the optimum retail price of products is inversely proportional to consumer sensitivity to carbon emissions. We also find that retailers prefer a low-carbon transportation mode when the carbon emissions trading price is high. Meanwhile, the carbon emissions trading price influences the carbon emissions trading volume of retailers. These theoretical findings are further validated by some numerical analysis.

Design of variable energy and price components of electricity tariffs as an incentive for system-efficient energy management of flexible consumers in households

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schreiber, Michael

2017-01-01

harm the overall system by further increasing the existing peak demands. The robustness of energy management under the proposed electricity tariff is evaluated in several additional analyses, such as varying shares of flexible customers, different kinds of flexibility options, and historical and forecasted market prices. These analyses show that the decentralized approach of flexible electricity tariffs induces a result almost as good as the centralized approach of a virtual power plant, given the assumption that not all consumers have access to high amounts of flexibility simultaneously and the maximum power withdrawal is not overly limited by the available grid capacities. Building on these findings, it is initially proposed to introduce into a real system an electricity tariff that includes a flexible electricity component alongside a fixed tariff component. This tariff design would be appropriate while participation is limited to only a small number of flexible consumers. However, if the number of consumers reacting to flexible market prices were to increase, it would be necessary to introduce the tariff design developed in this thesis, which consists of a time-varying energy price component in addition to a power price component. This tariff design incentivises consumers to adapt their energy consumption to the variable renewable insertion without inducing critical peak demands. The question of whether this energy tariff would be sufficient for a highly flexible and more digitalized energy system, or would need to be replaced by an even more intelligent approach, remains open for future research.

Regulated prices: for how long more?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pauron, M.

2008-01-01

Does a government has to intervene in a liberalize market? Between the purchasing power of consumers, the rise of raw materials price and the opening of markets, each announcement by the French government of an increase of the tariffs of Gaz de France (GDF: the historical French gas utility) irritates the ones and the others: the consumer considers it as another attack to its purchasing power, while the gas operators, GDF and its competitors, consider that the gas prices remain below the market prices, does not reflect the real increase of costs, and disturbs the good operation of the competitive market. This paper put the question of what must be the position of a government in a de-regulated energy market in order to implement sustainable economic measures and protect the low-income consumers. (J.S.)

Are Alcohol Taxation and Pricing Policies Regressive? Product-Level Effects of a Specific Tax and a Minimum Unit Price for Alcohol.

Science.gov (United States)

Vandenberg, Brian; Sharma, Anurag

2016-07-01

To compare estimated effects of two policy alternatives, (i) a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol and (ii) specific (per-unit) taxation, upon current product prices, per capita spending (A$), and per capita consumption by income quintile, consumption quintile and product type. Estimation of baseline spending and consumption, and modelling policy-to-price and price-to-consumption effects of policy changes using scanner data from a panel of demographically representative Australian households that includes product-level details of their off-trade alcohol spending (n = 885; total observations = 12,505). Robustness checks include alternative price elasticities, tax rates, minimum price thresholds and tax pass-through rates. Current alcohol taxes and alternative taxation and pricing policies are not highly regressive. Any regressive effects are small and concentrated among heavy consumers. The lowest-income consumers currently spend a larger proportion of income (2.3%) on alcohol taxes than the highest-income consumers (0.3%), but the mean amount is small in magnitude [A$5.50 per week (95%CI: 5.18-5.88)]. Both a MUP and specific taxation will have some regressive effects, but the effects are limited, as they are greatest for the heaviest consumers, irrespective of income. Among the policy alternatives, a MUP is more effective in reducing consumption than specific taxation, especially for consumers in the lowest-income quintile: an estimated mean per capita reduction of 11.9 standard drinks per week (95%CI: 11.3-12.6). Policies that increase the cost of the cheapest alcohol can be effective in reducing alcohol consumption, without having highly regressive effects. © The Author 2015. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Non-price competition in the regional high-rise construction market

Science.gov (United States)

Ganebnykh, Elena; Burtseva, Tatyana; Gurova, Ekaterina; Polyakova, Irina

2018-03-01

The article analyzes the market of high-rise residential construction in the city of Kirov (Russia). A minimal significance of price factors has been revealed in the process of the market analysis. This suggests that a lower price does not guarantee an increase in consumer demand. Thus, factors of non-price competition are of great importance in the market in question. The expert survey has identified the factors of non-price competition which influence consumer perceptions. A perceptual map has been constructed on the basis of the identified factors by means of the factor analysis to determine the positioning of each high-rise building relative to the consumer requirements. None of the high-rise residential buildings in the market in question meets the consumers' expectations of an "ideal facility".

Consumer cost effectiveness of CO2 mitigation policies in restructured electricity markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moore, Jared; Apt, Jay

2014-01-01

We examine the cost of carbon dioxide mitigation to consumers in restructured USA markets under two policy instruments, a carbon price and a renewable portfolio standard (RPS). To estimate the effect of policies on market clearing prices, we constructed hourly economic dispatch models of the generators in PJM and in ERCOT. We find that the cost effectiveness of policies for consumers is strongly dependent on the price of natural gas and on the characteristics of the generators in the dispatch stack. If gas prices are low (∼$4/MMBTU), a technology-agnostic, rational consumer seeking to minimize costs would prefer a carbon price over an RPS in both regions. Expensive gas (∼$7/MMBTU) requires a high carbon price to induce fuel switching and this leads to wealth transfers from consumers to low carbon producers. The RPS may be more cost effective for consumers because the added energy supply lowers market clearing prices and reduces CO 2 emissions. We find that both policies have consequences in capacity markets and that the RPS can be more cost effective than a carbon price under certain circumstances: continued excess supply of capacity, retention of nuclear generators, and high natural gas prices. (letter)

Consumer Behaviour in Online Shopping

OpenAIRE

Hasslinger, Anders; Hodzic, Selma; Opazo, Claudio

2008-01-01

The Internet has developed into a new distribution channel and online transactions are rapidly increasing. This has created a need to understand how the consumer perceives online purchases. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine if there are any particular factors that influence the online consumer. Primary data was collected through a survey that was conducted on students at the University of Kristianstad. Price, Trust and Convenience were identified as important factors. Price was ...

New product pricing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkinson, V.K.

1981-01-01

One of the most uncertain elements in budget planning is estimating production costs of items that have heretofore only been produced in prototype configurations and quantities. This paper examines the design and development of a mathematical model which computes appropriate prices for new and unique products. The resulting model offers a producer a fair return on his investment and the consumer a fair purchase price

Tradeoffs between Price and Quality: How a Value Index Affects Preference Formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Creyer, Elizabeth H.; Ross, William T., Jr.

1997-01-01

Some of a group of 143 consumers were given a choice between higher-priced, higher-quality items and items with lower price and quality but higher value index (benefit/cost tradeoff); others were given price and quality information only. Consumers were more likely to choose lower-priced, higher-value options when the index information was…

Do consumers of manufactured cigarettes respond differently to price changes compared with their Roll-Your-Own counterparts? Evidence from New Zealand.

Science.gov (United States)

Tait, Peter; Rutherford, Paul; Saunders, Caroline

2015-05-01

Price-based mechanisms are an important tobacco cessation policy tool in New Zealand (NZ) and so measurement of smokers' reaction to price changes is crucial in determining efficacy of this approach. Although approximately two-thirds of NZ tobacco demand is for manufactured cigarettes (MC) and one-third is for Roll-Your-Own (RYO) tobacco, previous price elasticity estimates have ignored differences between RYO tobacco and MC consumers. We employ a seemingly unrelated regression econometric approach applied to quarterly data over the period 1991-2011 to estimate price elasticities of demand separately for MC and RYO tobacco. Estimate of price elasticity of demand for MC is -1.033, and -0.441 for RYO tobacco. RYO tobacco is an inferior good; a 1% increase in average weekly income is associated with a 0.8% reduction in demand. RYO tobacco is a substitute for MC; a 1% increase in the price of MC is associated with a 0.867% increase in demand for RYO tobacco. There is significantly different price responsiveness across the two tobacco product types. MC smokers react far more strongly to price increases compared with RYO tobacco smokers. These findings suggest that pricing mechanisms may be more effective for reducing MC demand than for RYO tobacco. However, substitution between products means that this pricing effect is muted by the uptake of RYO tobacco use. Cessation policy specific to RYO use should be designed to target this growing group. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Pricing products: juxtaposing affordability with quality appeal.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-01-01

Choosing appropriate product prices is 1 of the most crucial steps in creating an effective contraceptive social marketing (CSM) sales campaign. The Social Marketing Forum conducted an informal survey of social marketing project managers, international contractors, and marketing consultants to determine how CSM programs cope with pricing problems and ways to circumvent some obstacles. According to Diana Altman, a family planning consultant, low prices that make products available to needy individuals are more important than the program's self sufficiency, yet if prices are too low, consumers think the products were unusable in the US and thus were dumped on local markets. Other key factors include commercial competition, spiraling inflation rates, and problems with rising prices and retailer/distributor margins. A sampling of per capita gross national products indicates the poverty level of most CSM projects' target market. Consequently, CSM projects must set low pices, regardless of program operating costs. The goal often is to increase the demand and availability for contraceptives. The fact that social marketing products must pass through retail networks to reach consumers complicates the pricing equation. To deal with the problem, India's Nirodh program gives a 25% margin to distributors/wholesalers, compared to 6% offered on most other goods. Retailers also receive a 25% margin, more than double the commercial rate. Once prices are set, increases pose hazards. Local government approval often is a prerequisite and can require lengthy negotiations. Market studies remain a valuable approach to effective pricing, according to PNA's Mallamad and other research consultants. They cite such effective research strategies as test marketing products and asking consumers how prices affect buying habits. Further, CSM projects can jump over some pricing hurdles through creative marketing. An effective pricing strategy alone cannot produce a successful CSM program. Pricing

The evolution of gas price: gas assessment and perspectives; The evolution of gas price on the American, Asian and European markets; Assessment of the organised gas market; Assessment of gas market opening; Gas price: the point of view of consumers and providers; Tariff, the formula which cannot be found: a new stage in an endless history; The diversity of the world gas industry: the Mediterranean situation on prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malherbe, Herve; Corbeau, Anne-Sophie; Lu, Long; Maire, Jacques; Verdier, Catherine; Bros, Thierry; Nyouki, Evariste; Astruc, Pierre; Katz, Richard; Jamme, Dominique; Rosier, Philippe; Salanson, Damien; Saniez, Thierry; Moraleda, Pedro; Le Gourrierec, M.

2012-01-01

After a brief introduction, this document contains the various contributions and interventions during round tables dealing with the evolution of gas price on American, Asian and European markets, an assessment of the organised gas market (model, references, members, and so on), an assessment of market gas opening, the point of view of consumers and providers on gas price. Then three articles address the issue of gas pricing in France, the developments of gas industry in the world (consumptions, production, perspectives for LNG) and the Mediterranean situation with respect to gas prices (trends and challenges)

Did the expiration of retail price caps affect prices in the restructured Texas electricity market?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Linhong; Zarnikau, Jay

2009-01-01

On January 1, 2007, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market became the first restructured market in the US to completely remove caps on the prices which could be charged to residential energy consumers by the retailers associated with the traditional or incumbent utility service providers. Our analysis suggests that the expiration of the price-to-beat (PTB) price caps may have led to a reduction in the average prices charged by competitive retail electric providers (REPs). (author)

Oil transformation sector modelling: price interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maurer, A.

1992-01-01

A global oil and oil product prices evolution model is proposed that covers the transformation sector incidence and the final user price establishment together with price interactions between gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons. High disparities among oil product prices in the various consumer zones (North America, Western Europe, Japan) are well described and compared with the low differences between oil supply prices in these zones. Final user price fluctuations are shown to be induced by transformation differences and competition; natural gas market is also modelled

Pricing schemes for new drugs: a welfare analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Levaggi, Rosella

2014-02-01

Drug price regulation is acquiring increasing significance in the investment choices of the pharmaceutical sector. The overall objective is to determine an optimal trade-off between the incentives for innovation, consumer protection, and value for money. However, price regulation is itself a source of distortion. In this study, we examine the welfare properties of listing through a bargaining process and value-based pricing schemes. The latter are superior instruments to uncertain listing processes for maximising total welfare, but the distribution of the benefits between consumers and the industry depends on rate of rebate chosen by the regulator. However, through an appropriate choice, it is always possible to define a value-based pricing scheme with risk sharing, which both consumers and the industry prefer to an uncertain bargaining process. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimating Hedonic Prices for Stellenbosch wine

OpenAIRE

Sanja Lutzeyer

2008-01-01

This paper estimates a hedonic price function for Stellenbosch wines to determine the association between market value and different characteristics of these wines. In such a hedonic price function, the price of a bottle of wine is ascribed to the implicit value of its attributes. Besides contributing to both South African and international wine pricing literature, the benefits of developing a hedonic wine pricing model extend to numerous players in the wine industry. Consumers are provided w...

Report of the Select Committee on Petroleum Product Pricing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dooks, B.

2004-01-01

An all-party Committee of the House of Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia was established to investigate the pricing of petroleum products such as gasoline and home heating fuel. The Committee conducted public hearings in Halifax, Yarmouth, Bridgewater, Sydney, and Truro, in order to seek input from consumers, producers, suppliers and operators. The mandate of the Select Committee on Petroleum Product Pricing was to investigate the supply and pricing of fuels, including gasoline and home heating oil and to determine whether current prices are justified and fair. This investigation included an examination of the reasons for the current level of product prices; product supply; reasons for volatility in product prices; the rationale for differences in prices across different regions of the province; factors that affect the viability of low volume outlets in the rural and urban marketplace; factors that affect the viability of independent retail operators in the province; and, any evidence of predatory pricing practices at the wholesale and retail levels of the market. The Select Committee also made recommendations related to fair and reasonable product prices at the consumer level, retail and wholesale margins, as well as other actions that may be required to correct imbalances in the distribution and sales of these products to consumers in the province. 8 appendices

The true Price of Chocolate?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ingram, V.J.; Chocoloney, T.

2015-01-01

Chocolate prices generally do not incorporate many of the environmental and social externalities, costs which are incurred as the main ingredients such as cocoa and sugar move from farms, to factories to consumers. Nor do prices reflect the benefits of non-conventional production and alternative

Retailer branding of consumer sales promotions. A major development in food marketing?

Science.gov (United States)

Hamlin, Robert P; Lindsay, Sophie; Insch, Andrea

2012-02-01

This article examines retailer branding of consumer price promotions. It discusses the mechanics of price promotions, consumers' reactions to them and the benefits that accrue to those that use them. It describes how large food retailers can now deploy branded price promotion systems that are fundamentally different to 'traditional' price promotions in both their mechanics and their effects on consumer decision processes. The article describes a field experiment that compared the performance of a food retailer's branded price promotion system with that of a generic (manufacturer) price promotion. The research involved three experiments that covered two food categories (sliced bread and margarine) and two levels of discount (10% and 20%). The results indicate that food retailers are able to attach powerful brands to their price promotion systems, and these brand heuristics can significantly increase consumer purchase intent relative to an equivalent generic/manufacturer promotion. This incremental heuristic effect was stable in both categories and for both levels of price discount studied. These results are consistent with the predictions of alternative, non-cognitive and heuristic based models of food consumer choice that have been published recently in 'Appetite'. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mind your pricing cues.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Eric; Simester, Duncan

2003-09-01

For most of the items they buy, consumers don't have an accurate sense of what the price should be. Ask them to guess how much a four-pack of 35-mm film costs, and you'll get a variety of wrong answers: Most people will underestimate; many will only shrug. Research shows that consumers' knowledge of the market is so far from perfect that it hardly deserves to be called knowledge at all. Yet people happily buy film and other products every day. Is this because they don't care what kind of deal they're getting? No. Remarkably, it's because they rely on retailers to tell them whether they're getting a good price. In subtle and not-so-subtle ways, retailers send signals to customers, telling them whether a given price is relatively high or low. In this article, the authors review several common pricing cues retailers use--"sale" signs, prices that end in 9, signpost items, and price-matching guarantees. They also offer some surprising facts about how--and how well--those cues work. For instance, the authors' tests with several mail-order catalogs reveal that including the word "sale" beside a price can increase demand by more than 50%. The practice of using a 9 at the end of a price to denote a bargain is so common, you'd think customers would be numb to it. Yet in a study the authors did involving a women's clothing catalog, they increased demand by a third just by changing the price of a dress from $34 to $39. Pricing cues are powerful tools for guiding customers' purchasing decisions, but they must be applied judiciously. Used inappropriately, the cues may breach customers' trust, reduce brand equity, and give rise to lawsuits.

Petroleum Marketing Monthly, January 1991. [Contains Glossary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-01-09

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) is designed to give information and statistical data about a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication provides statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners' acquisition cost of crude oil. Sales data for motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane are presented. 12 figs., 55 tabs.

7 CFR 1220.115 - Net market price.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... AGREEMENTS AND ORDERS; MISCELLANEOUS COMMODITIES), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SOYBEAN PROMOTION, RESEARCH, AND CONSUMER INFORMATION Soybean Promotion and Research Order Definitions § 1220.115 Net market price. The term net market price means— (a) except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the sales price, or...

Consumer choice between ethanol and gasoline: Lessons from Brazil and Sweden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pacini, Henrique, E-mail: henrique.pacini@energy.kth.se; Silveira, Semida, E-mail: semida.silveira@energy.kth.se

2011-11-15

The introduction of flex-fuel vehicles since 2003 has made possible for Brazilian drivers to choose between high ethanol blends or gasoline depending on relative prices and fuel economies. In Sweden, flex-fuel fleets were introduced in 2005. Prices and demand data were examined for both Brazil and Sweden. Bioethanol has been generally the most cost-efficient fuel in Brazil, but not for all states. In any case, consumers in Brazil have opted for ethanol even when this was not the optimal economic choice. In Sweden, a different behavior was observed when falling gasoline prices made E85 uneconomical in late 2008. In a context of international biofuels expansion, the example of E85 in Sweden indicates that new markets could experience different consumer behavior than Brazil: demand falls rapidly with reduced price differences between ethanol and gasoline. At the same time, rising ethanol demand and lack of an international market with multiple biofuel producers could lead to higher domestic prices in Brazil. Once the limit curve is crossed, the consumer might react by shifting back to the usage of gasoline. - Research Highlights: > Brazil and Sweden both have infrastructure for high fuel ethanol blends. > Flex-fuel vehicles enable competition between ethanol and gasoline in fuel markets. > Data suggests that consumers make their fuel choice based mainly on prices. > Consumers in Sweden appear to be more price-sensitive than their Brazilian counterparts. > In the absence of international markets, high ethanol prices may drive consumers back to gasoline.

What have we learned from the experience of low oil prices?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alhajji, A.F.

2001-01-01

This article is an attempt to assess the effect of the low oil prices the world experienced in the mid-1980s, 1998 and early 1999. Such an assessment will help us predict the consequences of low oil prices in the future. The study focuses on the boon and bane of low oil prices from the producers' and consumers' points of view. Low oil prices, which are not related to technology and lower production costs, have depleted oil reserves, increased the income gap between consumers and producers, created friction among OPEC Members and between OPEC and non-OPEC producers, and led to the imposition of tariffs on oil imports in consuming countries. In addition, they have led to economic hardship in oil-producing countries, including declines in oil revenue, budget deficits, budget cuts and cancelled projects, borrowing and debts, deterioration in the balance of payments, negative economic growth, currency devaluations and political unrest. They have affected oil companies through reduced earnings, forced lay-offs of workers, lower investment and increased mergers. Despite these disadvantages, oil producers may benefit from low oil prices in the long run. They will increase demand, slow the process of substitution and decrease non-OPEC production. Consumers, on the other hand, will benefit from low oil prices, through higher economic growth and disposable income, and lower legislative and import costs. In addition, consumers will drive faster and longer. These benefits do not come without cost. Low prices will also increase the future vulnerability of consuming countries and lead to more dependence on oil at the expense of alternative energy sources, more dependence on oil imports, more waste, more environmental damage and less efficiency. After outlining the advantages and disadvantages, the study concludes that the disadvantages of low oil prices outweigh their benefits; that is, low oil prices have caused substantial damage. This is due to market inefficiencies and

Perceived price complexity of dynamic energy tariffs: An investigation of antecedents and consequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Layer, Patrick; Feurer, Sven; Jochem, Patrick

2017-01-01

Dynamic tariffs have the potential to contribute to a successful shift from conventional to renewable energies, but tapping this potential in Europe ultimately depends on residential consumers selecting them. This study proposes and finds that consumer reactions to dynamic tariffs depend on the level of perceived price complexity that represents the cognitive effort consumers must engage in to compute the overall bill amount. An online experiment conducted with a representative sample of 664 German residential energy consumers examines how salient characteristics of dynamic tariffs contribute to perceived price complexity. Subsequently, a structural equation model (SEM) reveals that the depth of information processing is central to understand how price complexity relates to consumers’ behavioral intentions. The results suggest that it will be challenging to convince European consumers to select complex dynamic tariffs under the current legal framework. Policymakers will need to find ways to make these tariffs more attractive. - Highlights: • Little is known about the processes by which consumers evaluate dynamic tariffs. • In this evaluation process perceived price complexity plays a central role. • Tariff type, price endings, and discount presentation format drive price complexity. • Perceived price complexity decreases the depth of information processing. • A decreased depth of information processing ultimately leads to lower behavioral intentions.

Product Variety, Consumer Preferences, and Web Technology: Can the Web of Data Reduce Price Competition and Increase Customer Satisfaction?

Science.gov (United States)

Hepp, Martin

E-Commerce on the basis of current Web technology has created fierce competition with a strong focus on price. Despite a huge variety of offerings and diversity in the individual preferences of consumers, current Web search fosters a very early reduction of the search space to just a few commodity makes and models. As soon as this reduction has taken place, search is reduced to flat price comparison. This is unfortunate for the manufacturers and vendors, because their individual value proposition for a particular customer may get lost in the course of communication over the Web, and it is unfortunate for the customer, because he/she may not get the most utility for the money based on her/his preference function. A key limitation is that consumers cannot search using a consolidated view on all alternative offers across the Web. In this talk, I will (1) analyze the technical effects of products and services search on the Web that cause this mismatch between supply and demand, (2) evaluate how the GoodRelations vocabulary and the current Web of Data movement can improve the situation, (3) give a brief hands-on demonstration, and (4) sketch business models for the various market participants.

Ontario gas prices review task force report : fairness at the pump

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

Sudden gas price increases hit Ontario consumers in July 1999, and as a result, the Gas Busters Hotline operated by the provincial government received over 4,000 complaints concerning the price of gas. World crude oil prices increased to above 34 American dollars per barrel by March 2000, and there were discrepancies by as much as 10 cents a litre in the price of gas in Ontario, depending on the community where the purchase was made. The Gas Prices Review Task Force was established in November 1999 to assist in the identification of an adequate solution to the rising price of gas. Public participation was sought, as well as input from representatives of consumer groups and industry. The Task Force was also mandated to conduct policy options research to ensure fair prices at the pump, to examine the regulatory or legislative initiatives that would work best for the protection of the consumer, in accordance with the federal Competition Act. A report was submitted to the Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations. A total of fourteen recommendations were made to the Minister. The recommendations touched topics as varied as tax collection legislation, price monitoring, segmented earnings reports, removal of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). refs., figs

How Much Will My Child's Operation Cost? Availability of Consumer Prices From US Hospitals for a Common Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgical Procedure.

Science.gov (United States)

Racimo, Allison R; Talathi, Nakul S; Zelenski, Nicole A; Wells, Lawrence; Shah, Apurva S

2018-05-02

Price transparency allows patients to make value-based health care decisions and is particularly important for individuals who are uninsured or enrolled in high-deductible health care plans. The availability of consumer prices for children undergoing orthopaedic surgery has not been previously investigated. We aimed to determine the availability of price estimates from hospitals in the United States for an archetypal pediatric orthopaedic surgical procedure (closed reduction and percutaneous pinning of a distal radius fracture) and identify variations in price estimates across hospitals. This prospective investigation utilized a scripted telephone call to obtain price estimates from 50 "top-ranked hospitals" for pediatric orthopaedics and 1 "non-top-ranked hospital" from each state and the District of Columbia. Price estimates were requested using a standardized script, in which an investigator posed as the mother of a child with a displaced distal radius fracture that needed closed reduction and pinning. Price estimates (complete or partial) were recorded for each hospital. The number of calls and the duration of time required to obtain the pricing information was also recorded. Variation was assessed, and hospitals were compared on the basis of ranking, teaching status, and region. Less than half (44%) of the 101 hospitals provided a complete price estimate. The mean price estimate for top-ranked hospitals ($17,813; range, $2742 to $49,063) was 50% higher than the price estimate for non-top-ranked hospitals ($11,866; range, $3623 to $22,967) (P=0.020). Differences in price estimates were attributable to differences in hospital fees (P=0.003), not surgeon fees. Top-ranked hospitals required more calls than non-top-ranked hospitals (4.4±2.9 vs. 2.8±2.3 calls, P=0.003). A longer duration of time was required to obtain price estimates from top-ranked hospitals than from non-top-ranked hospitals (8.2±9.4 vs. 4.1±5.1 d, P=0.024). Price estimates for pediatric

Increasing Dominance - the Role of Advertising, Pricing and Product Design

OpenAIRE

Kretschmer, Tobias; Rösner, Mariana

2010-01-01

Despite the empirical relevance of advertising strategies in concentrated markets, the economics literature is largely silent on the effect of persuasive advertising strategies on pricing, market structure and increasing (or decreasing) dominance. In a simple model of persuasive advertising and pricing with differentiated goods, we analyze the interdependencies between ex-ante asymmetries in consumer appeal, advertising and prices. Products with larger initial appeal to consumers will ...

Consumers' Privacy Choices in the Era of Big Data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Prüfer, Jens; Dengler, Sebastian

2018-01-01

Recent progress in information technologies provides sellers with detailed knowledge about consumers' preferences, approaching perfect price discrimination in the limit. We construct a model where consumers with less strategic sophistication than the seller's pricing algorithm face a trade-off when

Equilibrium prices supported by dual price functions in markets with non-convexities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjoerndal, Mette; Joernsten, Kurt

2004-06-01

The issue of finding market clearing prices in markets with non-convexities has had a renewed interest due to the deregulation of the electricity sector. In the day-ahead electricity market, equilibrium prices are calculated based on bids from generators and consumers. In most of the existing markets, several generation technologies are present, some of which have considerable non-convexities, such as capacity limitations and large start up costs. In this paper we present equilibrium prices composed of a commodity price and an uplift charge. The prices are based on the generation of a separating valid inequality that supports the optimal resource allocation. In the case when the sub-problem generated as the integer variables are held fixed to their optimal values possess the integrality property, the generated prices are also supported by non-linear price-functions that are the basis for integer programming duality. (Author)

Consumers and their buying decision making based on price and information about corporate social responsibility (CSR. Case study: undergraduate students from a private university in mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florina Guadalupe Arredondo Trapero

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The articles objective is to demonstrate that a socially responsible consumer is interested of being informed about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR practices and is also willing to pay a higher price for a product made with CSR. Criteria of price as well as the interest of being informed about CSR practices were the two variables analyzed for the Chi-Square test. Even though CSR was declared as an important issue for the majority of participants, products made with CSR hasn’t achieved much influence in the buying decision making or in the need of being informed about the CSR practices. The need to create social consciousness for consumers to promote CSR practices through the buying decision making was also demonstrated.

The importance of price for the sale of ecological products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Jesper Kirkeby; Sørensen, Hans Christian

1993-01-01

Executive summary: 1. A high price has been considered as one of the main reasons for consumers' unwillingness to buy ecological products in spite of often positive attitudes towards this category of products. The study reported in this paper had the purpose to find out whether the present price ...... are characterised by low consumer involvement: few alternatives are compared, not very many product attributes are used, and in the decision making, consumers resort to the application of simple choice tactics....... level for ecological products is indeed a decisive obstacle to the sale of ecological prducts. 2. The survey indicated that the market share for ecological products cannot be increased at the present price level. Hence, there is good reason to focus on the price parameter. 3. An experiment with price...... reductions produced considerable changes in customer choices and hence in the estimated market share. The change for tomatoes entails a doubling of the market share at a price reduction of DKK 2.00. For potatoes one could observe a 10% increase per DKK 1.30 price reduction. The ecological market share...

Value-based differential pricing: efficient prices for drugs in a global context.

Science.gov (United States)

Danzon, Patricia; Towse, Adrian; Mestre-Ferrandiz, Jorge

2015-03-01

This paper analyzes pharmaceutical pricing between and within countries to achieve second-best static and dynamic efficiency. We distinguish countries with and without universal insurance, because insurance undermines patients' price sensitivity, potentially leading to prices above second-best efficient levels. In countries with universal insurance, if each payer unilaterally sets an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) threshold based on its citizens' willingness-to-pay for health; manufacturers price to that ICER threshold; and payers limit reimbursement to patients for whom a drug is cost-effective at that price and ICER, then the resulting price levels and use within each country and price differentials across countries are roughly consistent with second-best static and dynamic efficiency. These value-based prices are expected to differ cross-nationally with per capita income and be broadly consistent with Ramsey optimal prices. Countries without comprehensive insurance avoid its distorting effects on prices but also lack financial protection and affordability for the poor. Improving pricing efficiency in these self-pay countries includes improving regulation and consumer information about product quality and enabling firms to price discriminate within and between countries. © 2013 The Authors. Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Achieving Consumer Purchase Payoffs: A Used Car Purchase.

Science.gov (United States)

Maynes, E. Scott; Maynes, Blanche R.

1997-01-01

This case study of a used car purchase illuminates the concepts and principles that should guide purchase decisions. It suggests that consumers should be aware there is little correlation between price and quality; competent shopping yields better quality; and consumers must decide their preferred trade-off between price and quality. (SK)

Controlling Electricity Consumption by Forecasting its Response to Varying Prices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Corradi, Olivier; Ochsenfeld, Henning Peter; Madsen, Henrik

2013-01-01

electricity consumption using a one-way price signal. Estimation of the price-response is based on data measurable at grid level, removing the need to install sensors and communication devices between each individual consumer and the price-generating entity. An application for price-responsive heating systems......In a real-time electricity pricing context where consumers are sensitive to varying prices, having the ability to anticipate their response to a price change is valuable. This paper proposes models for the dynamics of such price-response, and shows how these dynamics can be used to control...... is studied based on real data, before conducting a control by price experiment using a mixture of real and synthetic data. With the control objective of following a constant consumption reference, peak heating consumption is reduced by nearly 5%, and 11% of the mean daily heating consumption is shifted....

Deregulated power prices: comparison of diurnal patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ying Li; Flynn, P.C.

2004-01-01

We examine electrical power price, and in particular its daily and average weekday vs. weekend pattern of change, for 14 deregulated markets. Power price in deregulated markets shows fundamentally different patterns. North American markets show a monotonic diurnal weekday price pattern, while all other markets studied show more than one price peak. Deregulated power markets differ in maximum vs. minimum daily average price and in average weekday to weekend price, in turn creating a different incentive for a consumer to time shift power consuming activities. Markets differ in the extent to which a small fraction of the days shapes the average diurnal pattern and value of price. Deregulated markets show a wide variation in the correlation between load and price. Some deregulated markets, most notably Britain and Spain, show patterns that are predictable and consistent, and hence that can encourage a customer to shape consumption behaviors. Other markets, for example South Australia, have patterns that are inconsistent and irregular, and hence are hard for a customer to interpret; a customer in such a market will have a higher incentive to escape risk through hedging mechanisms. (Author)

Deregulated power prices: comparison of diurnal patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Ying; Flynn, Peter C.

2004-01-01

We examine electrical power price, and in particular its daily and average weekday vs. weekend pattern of change, for 14 deregulated markets. Power price in deregulated markets shows fundamentally different patterns. North American markets show a monotonic diurnal weekday price pattern, while all other markets studied show more than one price peak. Deregulated power markets differ in maximum vs. minimum daily average price and in average weekday to weekend price, in turn creating a different incentive for a consumer to time shift power consuming activities. Markets differ in the extent to which a small fraction of the days shapes the average diurnal pattern and value of price. Deregulated markets show a wide variation in the correlation between load and price. Some deregulated markets, most notably Britain and Spain, show patterns that are predictable and consistent, and hence that can encourage a customer to shape consumption behaviors. Other markets, for example South Australia, have patterns that are inconsistent and irregular, and hence are hard for a customer to interpret; a customer in such a market will have a higher incentive to escape risk through hedging mechanisms

The effect of costs and regulation on electricity prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schlaf, E.P.

1991-01-01

Two distinct econometric tests were performed to determine if state price regulation of public utilities has had a measurable impact on retail electricity prices. The results of both tests agree that, during the 1971-1985 period, average national electricity prices in each of the three major consuming sectors and the four Census regions were below the level which would have been preferred by profit-maximizing monopolists. Electricity consumers received price benefits during the sample period as a result of regulation. The first test of the effectiveness of state price regulation used a 'revealed preference' approach by comparing the actual prices set by regulatory commissioners with prices and outcomes predicted by three competing theories of regulatory motivation. The second test of the effectiveness of price regulation combined traditional cost function inputs with regulatory variables in reduced-form price equations to determine whether the amount of regulatory intensity, as measured by the number of staff members per regulated utility, is associated with declining electricity prices and whether appointed commissioners allow higher prices than elected commissioners

PRICING STRATEGY USED AS A TOOL FOR BUILDING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE RETAIL SECTOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toma Sorin

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of pricing strategy in the retail sector and the power of their influence on consumer behavior. Merchants should consider the price generates perceptions and can influence consumer behavior and buying customers. They must also understand how to participate in the price of consumer satisfaction.

Prices and heterogeneous search costs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luis Moraga-Gonzalez, Jose; Sandor, Zsolt; Wildenbeest, Matthijs R.

2017-01-01

We study price formation in a model of consumer search for differentiated products in which consumers have heterogeneous search costs. We provide conditions under which a pure-strategy symmetric Nash equilibrium exists and is unique. Search costs affect two margins-the intensive search margin (or

Demand Uncertainty and Price Stabilization

OpenAIRE

E. Kwan Choi; Stanley R. Johnson

1987-01-01

Price stabilization is an important policy goal of government intervention in competitive markets. These policies are primarily directed at raising producer income and stabilizing market prices at levels acceptable to consumers and producers (Fox 1956, Turnovsky 1978, Newbery and Stiglitz 1979). Many of the stabilization policy results have been developed from the study of agricultural commodity markets. In these markets, prices tend to be highly variable due to uncertain and inelastic supply...

Consumer choice between ethanol and gasoline: Lessons from Brazil and Sweden

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pacini, Henrique; Silveira, Semida

2011-01-01

The introduction of flex-fuel vehicles since 2003 has made possible for Brazilian drivers to choose between high ethanol blends or gasoline depending on relative prices and fuel economies. In Sweden, flex-fuel fleets were introduced in 2005. Prices and demand data were examined for both Brazil and Sweden. Bioethanol has been generally the most cost-efficient fuel in Brazil, but not for all states. In any case, consumers in Brazil have opted for ethanol even when this was not the optimal economic choice. In Sweden, a different behavior was observed when falling gasoline prices made E85 uneconomical in late 2008. In a context of international biofuels expansion, the example of E85 in Sweden indicates that new markets could experience different consumer behavior than Brazil: demand falls rapidly with reduced price differences between ethanol and gasoline. At the same time, rising ethanol demand and lack of an international market with multiple biofuel producers could lead to higher domestic prices in Brazil. Once the limit curve is crossed, the consumer might react by shifting back to the usage of gasoline. - Research highlights: → Brazil and Sweden both have infrastructure for high fuel ethanol blends. → Flex-fuel vehicles enable competition between ethanol and gasoline in fuel markets. → Data suggests that consumers make their fuel choice based mainly on prices. → Consumers in Sweden appear to be more price-sensitive than their Brazilian counterparts. → In the absence of international markets, high ethanol prices may drive consumers back to gasoline.

Creative pricing strategies for medical services.

Science.gov (United States)

Tellis, G J

1987-01-01

This paper discusses the strategic role of the pricing of medical services. Strategic pricing is a creative process that can be a vital means of defining marketing segments, differentiating services, and gaining a competitive advantage. The central issue in strategic pricing is creatively using the principle of cross-subsidies or shared economies over consumer groups, service sets, or competitors. This principle yields a rich set of pricing strategies that can be used in response to various environments.

Coupon advertising under imperfect price information

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moraga-Gonzälez, José Luis; Petrakis, Emmanuel

1999-01-01

This paper studies sales promotions through coupons in an oligopoly under imperfect price information. Sellers can distribute either ordinary coupons, or coupon (price) advertising, or both types of coupons, at distant locations to attract consumers from their rivals' markets. A unique symmetric

Price setting in turbulent times

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ólafsson, Tjörvi; Pétursdóttir, Ásgerdur; Vignisdóttir, Karen Á.

This price setting survey among Icelandic firms aims to make two contributions to the literature. First, it studies price setting in an advanced economy within a more turbulent macroeconomic environment than has previously been done. The results indicate that price adjustments are to a larger...... extent driven by exchange rate fluctuations than in most other advanced countries. The median Icelandic firm reviews its prices every four months and changes them every six months. The main sources of price rigidity and the most commonly used price setting methods are the same as in most other countries....... A second contribution to the literature is our analysis of the nexus between price setting and exchange rate movements, a topic that has attracted surprisingly limited attention in this survey-based literature. A novel aspect of our approach is to base our analysis on a categorisation of firms...

Weighted Average Cost of Retail Gas (WACORG) highlights pricing effects in the US gas value chain: Do we need wellhead price-floor regulation to bail out the unconventional gas industry?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weijermars, Ruud

2011-01-01

The total annual revenue stream in the US natural gas value chain over the past decade is analyzed. Growth of total revenues has been driven by higher wellhead prices, which peaked in 2008. The emergence of the unconventional gas business was made possible in part by the pre-recessional rise in global energy prices. The general rise in natural gas prices between 1998 and 2008 did not lower overall US gas consumption, but shifts have occurred during the past decade in the consumption levels of individual consumer groups. Industry's gas consumption has decreased, while power stations increased their gas consumption. Commercial and residential consumers maintained flat gas consumption patterns. This study introduces the Weighted Average Cost of Retail Gas (WACORG) as a tool to calculate and monitor an average retail price based on the different natural gas prices charged to the traditional consumer groups. The WACORG also provides insight in wellhead revenues and may be used as an instrument for calibrating retail prices in support of wellhead price-floor regulation. Such price-floor regulation is advocated here as a possible mitigation measure against excessive volatility in US wellhead gas prices to improve the security of gas supply. - Highlights: → This study introduces an average retail price, WACORG. → WACORG can monitor price differentials for the traditional US gas consumer groups. → WACORG also provides insight in US wellhead revenues. → WACORG can calibrate retail prices in support of wellhead price-floor regulation. → Gas price-floor can improve security of gas supply by reducing price volatility.

Pricing Strategy and the Formation and Evolution of Reference Price Perceptions in New Product Categories

OpenAIRE

Lowe, Ben; Alpert, Frank

2010-01-01

This study examines the formation and evolution of reference price perceptions in new product categories. It contributes to our understanding of pricing new products by integrating two important research streams in marketing-reference price theory and the theory of pioneer brand advantage. Prior research has focused solely on products in existing or incrementally new categories, and has typically examined fast-moving consumer goods. Using a cross-sectional experiment to study the formation of...

Rising Prices of Targeted Oral Anticancer Medications and Associated Financial Burden on Medicare Beneficiaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, Ya-Chen Tina; Xu, Ying; Liu, Lei; Smieliauskas, Fabrice

2017-08-01

Purpose The high cost of oncology drugs threatens the affordability of cancer care. Previous research identified drivers of price growth of targeted oral anticancer medications (TOAMs) in private insurance plans and projected the impact of closing the coverage gap in Medicare Part D in 2020. This study examined trends in TOAM prices and patient out-of-pocket (OOP) payments in Medicare Part D and estimated the actual effects on patient OOP payments of partial filling of the coverage gap by 2012. Methods Using SEER linked to Medicare Part D, 2007 to 2012, we identified patients who take TOAMs via National Drug Codes in Part D claims. We calculated total drug costs (prices) and OOP payments per patient per month and compared their rates of inflation with general health care prices. Results The study cohort included 42,111 patients who received TOAMs between 2007 and 2012. Although the general prescription drug consumer price index grew at 3% per year over 2007 to 2012, mean TOAM prices increased by nearly 12% per year, reaching $7,719 per patient per month in 2012. Prices increased over time for newly and previously launched TOAMs. Mean patient OOP payments dropped by 4% per year over the study period, with a 40% drop among patients with a high financial burden in 2011, when the coverage gap began to close. Conclusion Rising TOAM prices threaten the financial relief patients have begun to experience under closure of the coverage gap in Medicare Part D. Policymakers should explore methods of harnessing the surge of novel TOAMs to increase price competition for Medicare beneficiaries.

The ordinary consumer: the burden of economic sanctions against Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nureev Rustem, M.

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The main thrust of the paper - an attempt to assess how much the sanctions combined with the drop in oil prices hit the consumers. This paper provides an overview of the sanctions imposed by European Union, the United States and other countries (ban largest organizations in Russia to attract foreign capital of the European Union and the United States. The burden of economic sanctions against Russia for the average consumer is shown on the change in prices for food products, electronic products, analyzed Russian car market, the dynamics of small and medium-sized businesses in Russia. The results of import substitution - the balances of trade of consumer goods in Q1 2015 compared to Q1 2014. Dynamics of demand for electronic goods in the paper discusses the example of the effect of price changes in the popular Russian companies (Apple, Sony, etc. to sales. Rising prices for electronic goods has led Apple to a Giffen’s paradox in late 2014, the higher the price - the more sales. Despite the rapid rise in prices for the company's products (price of products apple Nov. 25 rose by 25% on December 22 for another 35%, sales growth was 80%. This is due to the fact that Russian consumers feared further rise in price of goods and the goods were afraid to lose, which has become for many of them a necessity. Car loans in Q1 2015 compared to Q1 2014 decreased by 4 times, car sales fell by 2 times, import cars from abroad fell almost 2-fold. Especially hard hit small businesses. If in 2013 in Russia was opened 490.7 thous. legal entities, and closed 419 thousand. Then for 11 months in 2014 opened 417.5 ths. legal entities and closed down 483.6 thousand. This means that if in 2013 opening of 70 thousand legal persons more, in 2014 almost 70 thousand legal persons shut more than open. Statistics show that the number of people wishing to sell his business in 2014 increased significantly. In Moscow, for example, in 2014, it was filed with the 14.5 times the

The effects of the vegetable prices insurance on the fluctuation of price: Based on Shanghai evidences

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Chunhong; Li, Huishang; Hao, Shuai; Zhang, Xuebiao; Yang, Wei

2017-10-01

Taking Shanghai as an example, the influence of the vegetable price insurance on the fluctuation of prices was analyzed in the article. It was found that the sequence of seasonal fluctuations characteristics of leafy vegetable prices was changed by the vegetable cost-price insurance, the period of price fluctuation was elongated from 12-to-18 months to 37 months, and the influence of random factors on the price fluctuations was reduced in some degree. There was still great space for innovation of the vegetable prices insurance system in Shanghai. Some countermeasures would be suggested to develop the insurance system to better to play the role of insurance and promote the market running more smoothly in Shanghai such as prolonging the insurance cycle, improving the price information monitoring mechanism and innovating income insurance products and so on.

Petroleum marketing monthly, January 1996 with data for October 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-01-04

The Petroleum Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane.

Food consumption and food prices in Kenya : a review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meilink, H.A.

1987-01-01

Abr. sum.: This report reviews government policies concerning consumer food prices in Kenya. In respect of official food pricing, Kenya can be said to pursue a 'cheap food' policy. It was found that most foods falling under price control measures showed less price increases than the average rate of

The Economics of Pricing and Customer Decision-Making. Research Notes.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Debra J.

1996-01-01

Reviews two research articles. Gratton and Taylor, using economic analysis and market research, found that consumers of leisure experiences complained about price increases, but continued consuming. They recommend discounts for those in need and price increases focusing on service quality. Greenleaf and Lehmann identified 11 reasons why people…

Non-price competition in the regional high-rise construction market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ganebnykh Elena

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the market of high-rise residential construction in the city of Kirov (Russia. A minimal significance of price factors has been revealed in the process of the market analysis. This suggests that a lower price does not guarantee an increase in consumer demand. Thus, factors of non-price competition are of great importance in the market in question. The expert survey has identified the factors of non-price competition which influence consumer perceptions. A perceptual map has been constructed on the basis of the identified factors by means of the factor analysis to determine the positioning of each high-rise building relative to the consumer requirements. None of the high-rise residential buildings in the market in question meets the consumers’ expectations of an “ideal facility”.

Minority Game of price promotions in fast moving consumer goods markets

Science.gov (United States)

Groot, Robert D.; Musters, Pieter A. D.

2005-05-01

A variation of the Minority Game has been applied to study the timing of promotional actions at retailers in the fast moving consumer goods market. The underlying hypotheses for this work are that price promotions are more effective when fewer than average competitors do a promotion, and that a promotion strategy can be based on past sales data. The first assumption has been checked by analysing 1467 promotional actions for three products on the Dutch market (ketchup, mayonnaise and curry sauce) over a 120-week period, both on an aggregated level and on retailer chain level. The second assumption was tested by analysing past sales data with the Minority Game. This revealed that high or low competitor promotional pressure for actual ketchup, mayonnaise, curry sauce and barbecue sauce markets is to some extent predictable up to a forecast of some 10 weeks. Whereas a random guess would be right 50% of the time, a single-agent game can predict the market with a success rate of 56% for a 6-9 week forecast. This number is the same for all four mentioned fast moving consumer markets. For a multi-agent game a larger variability in the success rate is obtained, but predictability can be as high as 65%. Contrary to expectation, the actual market does the opposite of what game theory would predict. This points at a systematic oscillation in the market. Even though this result is not fully understood, merely observing that this trend is present in the data could lead to exploitable trading benefits. As a check, random history strings were generated from which the statistical variation in the game prediction was studied. This shows that the odds are 1:1,000,000 that the observed pattern in the market is based on coincidence.

Petroleum marketing monthly, June 1996: With data for March 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-06-04

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o. b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Petroleum marketing monthly, May 1996 with data for February 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-05-02

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Petroleum marketing monthly, May 1995 with data for February 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-05-09

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Petroleum marketing monthly, April 1999, with data for January 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-04-01

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly. 56 tabs.

Petroleum marketing monthly, October 1995 with data for July 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-10-03

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost Of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Petroleum marketing monthly, September 1995 with data for June 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-08-31

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly (PMM) provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the fob and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

Prices on the way up?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

It may have taken until the very last day of the month, but prices are finally on the way up. On July 31, a US utility concluded at least two transactions for a minimum of 250,000 lbs U3O8 equivalent, pushing the top of NUKEM's price range up 10 cents. After three months with prices languishing below US$7.85, the price range now stands at US$7.75-$7.95. The pace of new demand held steady in July versus June, with more than 3.4 million lbs equivalent in new requests entering the market. There was one difference: The new demand in July was characterized by longer lead time. Most new demand in June required delivery by the end of the fourth quarter, a lead time of about 3 to 6 months. In July, buyers accepted delivery anywhere from 4 to 9 months out, with most delivery requests landing in 1993. This jump in lead times is largely due to one seller in the market offering first and second quarter 1993 deliveries near the bottom of the price range to utilities with flexible needs

Energy Trading and Pricing in Microgrids with Uncertain Energy Supply: A Three-Stage Hierarchical Game Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai Ma

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This paper studies an energy trading and pricing problem for microgrids with uncertain energy supply. The energy provider with the renewable energy (RE generation (wind power determines the energy purchase from the electricity markets and the pricing strategy for consumers to maximize its profit, and then the consumers determine their energy demands to maximize their payoffs. The hierarchical game is established between the energy provider and the consumers. The energy provider is the leader and the consumers are the followers in the hierarchical game. We consider two types of consumers according to their response to the price, i.e., the price-taking consumers and the price-anticipating consumers. We derive the equilibrium point of the hierarchical game through the backward induction method. Comparing the two types of consumers, we study the influence of the types of consumers on the equilibrium point. In particular, the uncertainty of the energy supply from the energy provider is considered. Simulation results show that the energy provider can obtain more profit using the proposed decision-making scheme.

Petroleum marketing monthly, March 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-03-10

This report for March 1995, provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly. A glossary is included.

Fuel price impacts and compliance costs associated with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christensen, Adam; Siddiqui, Sauleh

2015-01-01

US policy instruments concerning vehicle biofuels are currently being revisited. For example, as part of an on-going annual Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) implementation, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requests stakeholder feedback/analysis of programmatic effects, including impacts on gasoline/diesel prices and compliance costs. Motivated by the need for regulatory-specific feedback, a novel regional market model is developed that quantifies price impacts across different regional markets for a number of market variables, including several types of compliance certificates known as Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs). An analysis of the most recent EPA proposal suggests that the D4 (biodiesel) RIN price could rise to >$1.00/RIN. Sensitivity results show that the D4 RIN price is highly sensitive to soybean oil prices, while D5/D6 RIN prices are most sensitive to the volume of E85 consumed. It was found that the projected costs associated with the RFS in 2017 could be reduced by approximately 50% if an additional 600 million gallons of E85 were consumed. The analysis also suggests that the RFS does not dramatically affect the retail price of either gasoline and diesel fuels paid by consumers. - Highlights: • The most recent EPA could cause the biodiesel RIN price to rise to >$1.00/RIN. • D5/D6 RIN prices are most sensitive to the volume of E85 consumed. • Retail prices for fuel do not change dramatically. • 2017 compliance costs could fall by 50% if more E85 were consumed.

Do expert ratings or economic models explain champagne prices?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bentzen, Jan Børsen; Smith, Valdemar

2008-01-01

Champagne is bought with low frequency and many consumers most likely do not have or seek full information on the quality of champagne. Some consumers may rely on the reputation of particular brands, e.g. "Les Grandes Marques", some consumers choose to gain information from sensory ratings...... of champagne. The aim of this paper is to analyse the champagne prices on the Scandinavian markets by applying a hedonic price function in a comparative framework with minimal models using sensory ratings....

Projections of the energy prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jankauskas, V.

1996-01-01

This article deals with the trends of the main fuel prices development in the Western European markets. There are two possible price development scenarios presented in the article. Transportation costs of various internationally traded fuels from various sources (Russia, Western Europe) are estimated and their most feasible values are considered. Fuel prices for the final big consumers are calculated adding the domestic distribution costs. Trends of heat and electricity price development in Lithuania during the period of 1991-1995 are analyzed. Forecasts of the electricity generation and supply costs are calculated according to various scenarios. Electricity prices will be lowest in the case of the further operation of the Ignalina NPP and low fuel prices in international markets. (author). 8 refs., 14 figs., 4 tabs

Extra-virgin olive oil: are consumers provided with the sensory quality they want? A hedonic price model with sensory attributes.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavallo, Carla; Caracciolo, Francesco; Cicia, Gianni; Del Giudice, Teresa

2018-03-01

Over the years, niche-differentiation strategies and food policies have pushed quality standards of European extra-virgin olive oil towards a product that has a sensory profile consisting of fruity, bitter and pungent notes, with such oils having excellent healthy features. However, it is unclear whether typical consumers are ready for a richer and more complex sensory profile than the neutral one historically found on the market. This potential discrepancy is investigated in the present study aiiming to determine whether current demand is able to appreciate this path of quality enhancement. Implicit prices for each and every attribute of extra-virgin olive oil with a focus on sensory characteristics were investigated using a hedonic price model. Although confirming the importance of origin and terroir for extra-virgin olive oil, the results of the present study strongly confirm the discrepancy between what is currently valued on the market and what novel supply trends are trying to achieve in terms of the sensory properties of such products. Increasing consumer awareness about the direct link between the health quality of oils and their sensory profile appears to be necessary to make quality enhancement programs more successful on the market and hence more effective for companies. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

An empirical test of reference price theories using a semiparametric approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boztug, Yasemin; Hildebrandt, Lutz

  In this paper we estimate and empirically test different behavioral theories of consumer reference price formation. Two major theories are proposed to model the reference price reaction: assimilation contrast theory and prospect theory. We assume that different consumer segments will use...

Trade linkages and macroeconomic effects of the price of oil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korhonen, Iikka; Ledyaeva, Svetlana

2010-01-01

In this paper we assess the impact of oil price shocks on oil-producer and oil-consuming economies. VAR models for different countries are linked together via a trade matrix, as in Abeysinghe (2001). As expected, we find that oil producers (here, Russia and Canada) benefit from oil price shocks. For example, a large oil shock leading to a price increase of 50% boosts Russian GDP by about 6%. However, oil producers are hurt by indirect effects of positive oil price shocks, as economic activity in their exporter countries suffers. For oil consumers, the effects are more diverse. In some countries, output falls in response to an oil price shock, while other countries seem to be relatively immune to oil price changes. Finally, indirect effects are also detected for oil-consumer countries. Those countries, which trade more with oil producers, gain indirect benefits via higher demand from oil-producing countries. In general, the largest negative total effects from positive oil price shocks are found for Japan, China, the USA, Finland and Switzerland, while other countries in our sample seem to have fared quite well during recent positive oil price shocks. The indirect effects are negative for Russia, Finland, Germany and Netherlands. (author)

A Marketing Strategy in a Closed-Loop Supply Chain with Loss-Averse Consumers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bi-feng Liao

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The importance of remanufacturing system has been extensively investigated in recent years. Taking into account the consumer valuation uncertainty and the demand uncertainty, this paper addresses the issue of closed-loop supply chain with remanufacturing by game theory. We consider two types of consumers in the market: loss-neutral consumers and loss-averse consumers. The loss-neutral consumers are completely rational. The loss-averse consumers, on the other hand, are with losses being more painful than equal-sized gains being pleasant. When multichannel structure can be chosen, the manufacturer has three pricing strategies in direct market: (1 keeping the price high with a small discount, no customers choose the online store; (2 keeping the price high with a moderate discount, only the loss-neutral customers choose the online store; (3 keeping the price low with a big discount, all customers choose the online store. Consumers make up their decisive selections through comparing the price and channel attributes. We introduce utility function for analyzing the market demand and then identify the optimal pricing and channel strategy to maximize the manufacturer’s profit. Finally, the rationality and validities of the proposed model are illustrated by numerical examples, and sensitivity analyses of the parameters are also presented.

The long-run price sensitivity dynamics of industrial and residential electricity demand: The impact of deregulating electricity prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adom, Philip Kofi

2017-01-01

This study examines the demand-side of Ghana's electricity sector. We test two important related hypotheses: (1) deregulation of electricity price does not promote energy conservation, and (2) demand-price relationship is not an inverted U-shaped. The Stock and Watson dynamic OLS is used to address the so-called second-order bias. The result showed that, deregulation of electricity price in Ghana has induced behaviours that are more consistent with energy conservation improvements. The demand-price relationship is an inverted U, which suggests that there is a price range that end-users can tolerate further price rise and still increase their consumption of electricity. However, the degree of price tolerability is higher for residential consumers than industrial consumers. The simulation results showed that, further economic growth is likely to compromise energy conservation but more in the industrial sector than the residential sector. On the other hand, future crude oil price is likely to deteriorate energy conservation in the initial years after 2016, but this trend is likely to reverse after the year 2020. Pricing mechanisms are potent to induce energy conservation but inadequate. The results suggest that they should be complemented with other stringent policies such as a mandatory energy reduction policy, investment in renewables, and personalization of energy efficiency programs. - Highlights: • Studies the demand-side of the electricity sector • Deregulating electricity price promotes energy conservation • Demand-price relationship is an inverted U-shaped • Pricing policies should be combined with other energy mandatory reduction policies

Does PPP hold for Big Mac price or consumer price index? Evidence from panel cointegration

OpenAIRE

Chien-Fu Chen; Chung-Hua Shen; Chien-An Wang

2007-01-01

This paper examines the validity of purchasing power parity (PPP) using CPI and Big Mac prices. The benchmark model, i.e., the OLS method, which does not take nonstationarity into account, rejects the hypothesis of PPP regardless of prices used. We next use the panel cointegration method to consider the nonstationary nature of variables. Estimated results for CPI are mixed. The PPP is rejected when the nominal exchange rate is employed as the dependent variable but is not rejected when the pr...

Crisis of prices in electrical sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

This presentation shows the evolution of the electrical sector in Guatemala including prices, covering, market and current situation with the recent privatization of public enterprises with advantages to the consumers. Also discuss the effect of the new legislation with fiscal proposals that could produce prices distortion

Prospects for oil prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caddy, P.

1992-01-01

It is argued that the wave in oil prices which occurred in 1991, although appearing to suggest price instability, in fact shows the opposite. Steady oscillation between a low price level that leads to new customers and a high price that encourages customers to switch to alternatives is a sign of a stable market. This relative stability was achieved against the background of the political upheaval in the USSR and Eastern Europe and its unpredictable consequences. Such political uncertainties to one side, the difficulties of assessing demand trends in the light of the imponderables of the state of the world economy and the weather are stressed. Despite these problems, the view is expressed that correct reading of signals up the supply chain by producers should ensure continued relative price stability. This is not to say that prices will stay exactly the same, just that they will be bound within a trading range set by anticipated consumer and producer responses to the fluctuating prices. (UK)

How is perceived inflation related to actual price changes in the European Union?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Antonides, G.

2008-01-01

We analyze for which types of consumer expenditures the rate of price change influences consumer perception of inflation. We use both harmonized consumer price indices (HCPI) and series of perceived inflation from Eurostat in the 1996¿2006 time period for 13 European countries. After removing

What are the economic and social effects from the electric power beneficiary price of the largest consumers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogov, Dimitar

2003-01-01

In the last few years the two largest consumers of electricity 'Feni' and 'Jugohrom', were sold to the foreign strategic investor. The key issue in the negotiations with the investor was the price of electricity for these companies. The final outcome is known, they got beneficiary price. Now two questions emerge: (1) what is the exact size of the under pricing? (2) what are the economic and social effects of their activity and whether the social gain for the country is higher than the loss for the country from the under pricing of electricity. The paper is trying to give an answer on the second question. Therewith, the analyze is focused on two issues: (1) how much is the contribution of these two companies on production, export and economic growth of the Republic of Macedonia; (2) what is their impact on the living standard and social costs. Macedonian industry has very unfavorable structure with only a few export products. Restructuring of industry and widening of the array of products is a slow process. Until new products and new industries are developed, the only generator of larger export and higher economic growth is the increase of the export of existing products. 'Feni industry' and 'Silmak' are some of rare Macedonian companies that have foreign strategic investor who provide stable and unlimited market (having in mind that Macedonian production is relatively small compared to the world demand for nickel and ferro silicium). Thus, the growth of export of metals produced by 'Feni industry' and 'Silmak' could be the principal generators of the growth of Macedonian economy in the period of restructuring of the industry and development of new competitive products. (Original)

Energy pricing under uncertain supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serra, P.J.

1997-01-01

This paper introduces a new pricing system - based on the Chilean tariff regulations - to deal with an uncertain energy supply. It consists of a basic rate for each unit actually consumed and a compensation that the utilities pay their customers for each unit of energy that they voluntarily reduce below their normal consumption during an energy shortage. Within the framework of a model that portrays the stylized facts of the Chilean electric system, and assumes risk-neutral agents, this paper shows the equivalency of the new pricing system with both contingent pricing and priority pricing. (Author)

The Hybrid Consumer: Exploring the Drivers of a New Consumer Behaviour Type

OpenAIRE

Grönroos, Christian; Leppänen, Hanna

2009-01-01

A dramatically different consumption pattern seems to be emerging among a vast group of consumers. This may mean that conventional consumer stereotypes and segmentation theory are becoming outdated. The so called hybrid consumers seem to increasingly opt for both premium and budget alternatives in various product and service categories while mid-priced alternatives are losing share in their consumption basket. Although this type of polarisation, or dispersion, is already recognized as an impo...

INCOME AND PRICE AS A BARRIER TO ORGANIC FOOD CHOICE

OpenAIRE

Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; Zielke, Stephan; Thøgersen, John

2014-01-01

From the barriers said to potentially hamper the further development of the sector, the consumer demand side and herein the high prices are handled as crucial. We reviewed the literature since 2000 regarding the role of perceived price and income. We find that self-report based studies nearly unequivocally find price is the primary barrier to choice, deviations from this appear to occur when researching organic consumers and developed organic markets. There are mixed findings regarding income...

Pricing in the International Takeoff of New Products

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chandrasekaran, D.; Arts, J.W.C.; Tellis, G.J.; Frambach, R.T.

2013-01-01

This study focuses on the effect of two dimensions of price (relative price and price volatility) on the international takeoff of new products. The study examines these drivers of takeoff using a novel data set of bimonthly observations of 7 new consumer electronic products in 8 countries. The

If deregulation is so great, why are prices higher than before?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wellenius, K.; Adamson, S.

2001-01-01

For the past three months or so, Alberta has been in a situation where electricity prices are determined by market forces not regulation. The expected benefits of deregulation have not yet materialized as high power poll prices are the norm. Comparisons between Alberta and other jurisdictions operating under a regulated market should not be made. The authors argued that Alberta must act to develop significant additional generating resources to allow the growing needs to be met. Policymakers must work toward attracting private investment in new capacity using market means. The free market process cannot be perceived to be undermined by government. The development of forward markets and a market for ancillary services should be the priority in the coming months. The authors discussed investment under regulation, touching on depreciation and inflation, and the manner in which rates are affected by new investment. The next section covered the market since deregulation, explaining how the rise in prices is a reflection of the changing market conditions, the strong fundamentals and consumer protection. Some recommendations were made and the authors concluded that overall a very attractive market has been developed for Alberta. It involves a transparent design, relevant institutions and a large volume of information on the functioning of the market. 2 tabs., 2 figs

A study of the improvement of the district heat price cap system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoo, S.J. [Korea Energy Economics Institute, Euiwang (Korea)

2001-11-01

This study proposes revision of the price cap mechanism applied to the district heating company, which was introduced in 1999. The revision aims at the provision of the incentives to lower the production cost to the heat producers and preventing the monopoly price from being charged to the consumer. It is proposed to extend the application period of the price cap to 3 or 5 years. 3 year application period is recommended because of lack of the experiences of the price cap mechanism and information of its performance in the public utility industries in Korea. The calculation of the price cap is better to be set based upon the minimum of the full cost of heat production in the last year of the previous application periods or the prices actually charged to the consumer during the previous application period. As the opportunity cost of the equity capital, the interest rate of the 5 year government bond or the actual interest cost of the debt financed capital is recommended to increase the share of the equity capital and to reflect the investment risk of the district heating industry. Production efficiency index applicable to the district heating company is estimated with 3 different methods. Among three different results, 3% is the first choice from a conservative perspective. It is also recommended to adjust production efficiency index as the data are accumulated and to be implemented with a profit sharing mechanism between the consumer and the monopoly supplier. In application of the price index, producer price index is applicable if the price cap is calculated from the full production cost. consumer price index is applicable if the price cap is set from the previous year's actual district heat prices (tariffs). Transfer of the ownership either by transferring stocks or by asset selling could affect the price cap determined by the full cost of the district heat production. In order to keep the consumer's welfare from being decreased, it is necessary to set

Entropy correlation distance method. The Euro introduction effect on the Consumer Price Index

Science.gov (United States)

Miśkiewicz, Janusz

2010-04-01

The idea of entropy was introduced in thermodynamics, but it can be used in time series analysis. There are various ways to define and measure the entropy of a system. Here the so called Theil index, which is often used in economy and finance, is applied as it were an entropy measure. In this study the time series are remapped through the Theil index. Then the linear correlation coefficient between the remapped time series is evaluated as a function of time and time window size and the corresponding statistical distance is defined. The results are compared with the the usual correlation distance measure for the time series themselves. As an example this entropy correlation distance method (ECDM) is applied to several series, as those of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in order to test some so called globalisation processes. Distance matrices are calculated in order to construct two network structures which are next analysed. The role of two different time scales introduced by the Theil index and a correlation coefficient is also discussed. The evolution of the mean distance between the most developed countries is presented and the globalisation periods of the prices discussed. It is finally shown that the evolution of mean distance between the most developed countries on several networks follows the process of introducing the European currency - the Euro. It is contrasted to the GDP based analysis. It is stressed that the entropy correlation distance measure is more suitable in detecting significant changes, like a globalisation process than the usual statistical (correlation based) measure.

The Impact of Price upon Online Customer Shopping Behaviour

OpenAIRE

張,巧韵

2010-01-01

This research aims to understand how price influences online consumer decision-making when purchasing tourism products through websites in Taiwan. In-depth company and consumer interviews were carried out to gain insights into customer perceptions of price. Companies such as travel agencies，computer reservation systems, hotel reservation systems and academics are embedded in this study in order to capture a holistic picture.

Ethical aspect price decision making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grubor Aleksandar

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Price decision making in a marketing program framework creatings is a complicated and delicated part of marketing management, especially to keep in sight culminating of mass external factors. In a market economies price policy as a marketing mix instrument rarely is regulated by the law, which opening the ethical aspect questions of price decision making process. The ethics in the price decision making means consideration of the inner law of the individual (marketing managers and/or consumers, whose irreverence does not entail any juridical sanctions, rather its application is sanctioned by the self - awareness. The acception and stability of the ethical aspect price decision making are determined by the characteristic of selected marketing environment.

Resale Price Maintenance and Manufacturer Competition for Exclusive Dealerships.

OpenAIRE

Perry, Martin K; Besanko, David

1991-01-01

Two manufacturers distribute their brands through exclusive retail dealers and must compete for consumers indirectly by inducing retailers to carry their brands. The authors compare equilibrium outcomes with and without resale price maintenance. Maximum resale price maintenance lowers the retail price if manufacturers cannot employ franchise fees. Minimum retail price maintenance raises the retail price if manufacturers cannot set a wholesale price above marginal cost and must employ only a f...

Spatial behavior of prices in the Russian Federation in 2003–2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Vladimirovna Stupnikova

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The heterogeneity of economic development and specifics of the spatial position of regions implies that the regional markets in the country are characterized by varying degrees and trends of price dynamics. The multidirectional and disproportionate changes in the prices in the regional markets, in turn, show that integration in the national market is poor. The work presents the results of research into the spatial behavior of prices in the Russian Federation in 2003–2012, carried out mainly using the descriptive analysis of consumer prices based on the identification of the measures of dispersion of price indicators – standard deviation and the range of variation. The analysis of consumer price indices dynamics shows that the year 2008 is a period of greatest price growth, and also proves that the prices for services and foodstuffs are subject to the highest fluctuations. The analysis of the prices for the fixed set of goods and services shows that consumer prices in the Russian Federation subjects during the analyzed period changed unevenly; however, beginning from 2009 there is a positive trend of reducing fluctuations in their growth rates. The assessment of the spatial dynamics of consumer prices in Russia in 2003–2012 reveals the regions that deviate from the general trend of price behavior to the greatest extent. Judging by the results of the assessment, the greatest differences in prices were observed in the subjects of the Far Eastern Federal District (FEFD. Another important fact is as follows: the high volatility of food prices was observed not only in the remote regions, but also in the neighboring subjects of the Far Eastern Federal District; it allows us to assume that the integration of the food market of the border regions of the district at the national level is poor