Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/129051 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
WIFO Working Papers No. 502
Publisher: 
Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO), Vienna
Abstract: 
We examine the relationship between information and price dispersion in the retail gasoline market. We first show that the clearinghouse models in the spirit of Stahl (1989) generate an inverted-U relationship between information and price dispersion. We construct a new measure of information based on precise commuter data from Austria. Regular commuters can freely sample gasoline prices on their commuting route, providing us with spatial variation in the share of informed consumers. We use detailed information on gas station level price to construct various measures of price dispersion. Our empirical estimates of the relationship are in line with the theoretical predictions.
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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