Revisiting the Price Elasticity of Gasoline Demand

In this document, we investigate the evolution of the income elasticity and the price elasticity of the demand for gasoline over the period 1975-2006. By using the Probabilistic Reduction Approach, we were able to model changes in mean heterogeneity and variance heterogeneity directly into the model. This method allowed us to determine the timing and the size of shifts in the elasticities. Our estimates are consistent with the current literature: there has been a shift in the price elasticity of gasoline demand. This shift, not present in the income elasticity, occurred almost at the beginning of the period of study. We use these estimates to compute several welfare measures. We also present a sketch of the relationship between a Monthly Fixed Effect panel data model and a Time Series Model with Monthly Dummy Variables.