Hidden “junk” fees have the potential to distort competition, creating high costs to consumers. However, regulating them can lead to adverse effects, especially in complex markets with intermediaries where they are most prevalent. To explore the equilibrium adjustments of regulating hidden...

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...

We test the predictions of the sticky information model using a survey dataset by comparing the shoppers’ accuracy in recalling the prices of regulated and comparable unregulated products. Regulated product prices change less frequently, vary less across stores and between brands, and are sold...

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...

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...

This study examines price transmission dynamics in the Hungarian pork market from 2017 to 2023, focusing on the effects of price controls implemented to combat inflation. Inflation and price control policies have been central topics in economic research due to their significant impacts on market...

An imperfectly-informed regulator needs to procure multiple units of some good (e.g., green energy, market liquidity, pollution reduction, land conservation) that can be produced with heterogeneous technologies at various costs. How should she optimally procure these units? Should she run...

I study the transmission of pharmacy mark-ups to retail prices and the policy between retail markups and Value Added Tax (VAT) rates in Finland. My reduced form evidence demonstrates that pharmaceutical manufacturers respond to a decrease in the regulated pharmacy mark-ups by increasing their...

The balancing market for power is designed to account for the difference between predicted supply/demand of electricity and the realised supply/demand. However, increased electrification of society changes the consumption patterns, and increased production from renewable sources leads to larger...

In the wake of the global energy crisis, many European countries used energy price controls to fight inflation and to stabilize the economy. Despite its wide adoption, many economists remained skeptical. In this paper, we argue that price controls should be part of the policy toolbox to respond...

Health care markets often lack a market force because the presence of health insurance undermines price signals. Patients have little incentive to shop for low-priced alternatives because they do not bear the full cost of their health care consumption. In turn, producers lack incentives to...

In the wake of the global energy crisis, many European countries used energy price controls to fight inflation and to stabilize the economy. Despite its wide adoption, many economists remained skeptical. In this paper, we argue that price controls should be part of the policy toolbox to respond...

In the wake of the global energy crisis, many European countries used energy price controls to fight inflation and to stabilize the economy. Despite its wide adoption, many economists remained skeptical. In this paper, we argue that price controls should be part of the policy toolbox to respond...

Government regulators often establish maximum prices for regulated services. This paper explains the proper economic principles for establishing such constraints. The principles imply a range - an upper limit and a lower limit - that constrain the regulator's discretion. Principles emerging from...

In the aftermath of the Russian invasion in Ukraine and rising gas prices, the "gas Price brake" was implemented in Germany. We employ a difference-in-differences Approach and analyze data on offered gas contracts from two countries with comparable gas markets, where one country (Germany) has...

The literature on the Indian pharmaceutical industry has examined the importance of product patents and the attempts policy has made to regulate them. However, it has not done the same for the question of brands. Our study addresses this gap. The Tariff Commission Report of 1968, a turning point...

In 2022, energy prices in the European Union reached record highs, accompanied by a significant increase in fuel prices. In response, the Hungarian government imposed a price cap on retail fuel prices from November 15, 2021 to December 6, 2022. This study empirically examines the effect of the...

Consumer consent regulation is the cornerstone of modern data privacy regulation such as the European GDPR and the Californian CCPA. By ensuring that consumers can reject any harmful data collection, the regulation seems an effective tool for protecting consumers against price discrimination. By...

Background Introducing more generics has been a successful strategy for lowering pharmaceutical prices and expenditure. However, the effect of the strategy depends on the pricing schemes for generics. We aimed to update the South Korean generic markets in terms of effective competition, and to...

In this essay, I argue that the explosion of inflation during the Salvador Allende administration in Chile (above 1,500% on a six-month annualized measure) was predictable. The government's use of massive and strict price controls generated acute macroeconomic imbalances. I postulate that the...

Background Medicine pricing in the community pharmacy sector in Zimbabwe significantly influences accessibility to health care. In this pilot survey, we investigated how community pharmacies in Zimbabwe apply various mark-up strategies to essential and non-essential medicines, and gathered...

The recent unprecedented global inflation has focussed attention on the supply side inflation dynamics, The Indian inflation episodes, however, have been largely associated with supply shortages and, on average, remained elevated through the last four decades, with different policy phases...

A non-trivial fraction of people cannot afford to buy pharmaceutical products at unregulated market prices. This paper analyses the public insurance of a patent-protected pharmaceutical product in terms of price controls and socially optimal third-degree price discrimination. First, the paper...

This paper studies regulatory policy interventions aimed at protecting sticky consumers who are exposed to exploitation. We model heterogeneous consumer switching costs alongside asymmetric market shares. This setting encompasses many markets in which established firms are challenged by new...

Fuel prices are commonly perceived to be excessively high, which regularly triggers political discussions about fuel price regulations. Consumers demand stricter fuel price regulations to provide transparency about the current price level and to protect them from sudden price fluctuations. Such...

The gas price shock has been a major contributor to inflation in Germany. In this context, Dullien and Weber (2022a, b, c) proposed a two-tier pricing scheme for natural gas in the spring of 2022 that lowers the price for a base quota through a subsidy while maintaining high market prices on the...

This paper compares the distributional effects of price cap and lump sum transfer policies to aid the affordability of subsistence electricity consumption. A lump sum transfer is more progressive than a comparable price cap on all units of electricity. We identify conditions under which these...

Financing through the sales of land, commonly known as land finance, is a major source of revenue for local governments in China. We use a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to analyze the macroeconomic impacts of China's reliance on land finance. Our results indicate that excessive...