Abstract
Policymakers often assert that consumers undervalue future gasoline costs when they buy automobiles. We test this by measuring whether relative prices of vehicles with different fuel economy ratings fully adjust to variation in gasoline prices. Vehicle pricesmove as if consumers are indifferent between $1.00 in discounted future gas cost and $0.76 in vehicle purchase price. We showhowcorrections for endogenous market shares and utilization, measurement error, and different gasoline price forecasts affect the results. We also provide unique evidence of sticky information: vehicle markets respond to changes in gasoline prices with up to a six-month delay.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 779-795 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Review of Economics and Statistics |
Volume | 96 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2014 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Economics and Econometrics