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    <title>EconStor Community: Department of Economics, Bar-Ilan University</title>
    <link>https://hdl.handle.net/10419/95984</link>
    <description>Department of Economics, Bar-Ilan University</description>
    <pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:00:04 GMT</pubDate>
    <dc:date>2026-04-22T17:00:04Z</dc:date>
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      <title>0.001% and counting: Revisiting the price rounding tax</title>
      <link>https://hdl.handle.net/10419/339278</link>
      <description>Title: 0.001% and counting: Revisiting the price rounding tax
Authors: Sayag, Doron; Snir, Avichai; Levy, Daniel C.
Abstract: In 1991 and 2008, Israel abolished the equivalents of 1¢ and 5¢ coins, respectively, effectively eliminating low-denomination coins and introducing rounding in cash transactions. When totals were rounded up, shoppers incurred a small rounding tax. Using detailed data on price endings and basket sizes across supermarkets, drugstores, small groceries, and convenience stores, we estimate that the magnitude of the rounding tax borne by Israeli consumers averaged only 0.001%-0.002% of revenues in the fast-moving consumer goods markets. These findings have implications for the ongoing debate regarding the desirability and viability of abolishing the 1¢ and 5¢ coins in the US.</description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <dc:date>2026-01-01T00:00:00Z</dc:date>
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      <title>Sticky information and price controls: Evidence from a natural experiment</title>
      <link>https://hdl.handle.net/10419/315165</link>
      <description>Title: Sticky information and price controls: Evidence from a natural experiment
Authors: Sayag, Doron; Snir, Avichai; Levy, Daniel C.
Abstract: We test the predictions of the sticky information model using a survey dataset by comparing shoppers' accuracy in recalling the prices of regulated and comparable unregulated products. Because regulated product prices are capped, they are sold more than comparable unregulated products, while their prices change less frequently and vary less across stores and between brands, than the prices of comparable unregulated products. Therefore, shoppers would be expected to recall the regulated product prices more accurately. However, we find that shoppers are better at recalling the prices of unregulated products, in line with the sticky information model which predicts that shoppers will be more attentive to prices that change more frequently.</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://hdl.handle.net/10419/315165</guid>
      <dc:date>2025-01-01T00:00:00Z</dc:date>
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      <title>Price gouging or market forces? Fairness perceptions of price hikes during the pandemic</title>
      <link>https://hdl.handle.net/10419/315164</link>
      <description>Title: Price gouging or market forces? Fairness perceptions of price hikes during the pandemic
Authors: Snir, Avichai; Levy, Daniel C.; Levy, Dudi; Chen, Haipeng
Abstract: When and under what circumstances might people interpret a price increase as fair and acceptable is an important question in behavioral economics. We report the results of surveys we conducted in the US and Israel in 2020, a time when many prices increased following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. To assess respondents' fairness perceptions of price increases, we focus on goods whose prices have increased during the pandemic, including some essential goods. Consistent with the principle of dual entitlement, we find that respondents perceive price increases as fairer if they are due to cost shocks than if they are due to demand shocks. However, we also find large differences across the two populations, as well as across goods.</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <dc:date>2025-01-01T00:00:00Z</dc:date>
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      <title>Asymmetric price adjustment over the business cycle</title>
      <link>https://hdl.handle.net/10419/322215</link>
      <description>Title: Asymmetric price adjustment over the business cycle
Authors: Levy, Daniel C.; Chen, Haipeng; Ray, Sourav; Charette, Elliot; Ling, Xiao; Zhao, Weihong; Bergen, Mark; Snir, Avichai
Abstract: Studies of micro-level price datasets find more frequent small price increases than decreases, which can be explained by consumer inattention because time-constrained shoppers might ignore small price changes. Recent empirical studies of the link between shopping behavior and price attention over the business cycle find that consumers are more (less) attentive to prices during economic downturns (booms). These two sets of findings have a testable implication: the asymmetry in small price changesshould vary over the business cycle-it should diminish during recessions and strengthen during expansions. We test this prediction using a large US store-level dataset with more than 98 million weekly price observations for the years 1989-1997, which includes an 8-month recession period, as defined by the NBER. We compare price adjustments between periods of recession (high unemployment) and expansion (low unemployment). Focusing on small price changes, we find, consistent with our hypothesis, that there is a greater asymmetry in small price changes during periods of low unemployment compared to the periods of high unemployment, implying that firms' price-setting behavior varies over the business cycle</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <dc:date>2025-01-01T00:00:00Z</dc:date>
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