Price transparency initiatives are typically undertaken by third parties to ensure that consumers can compare the prices of competing offers in markets where obtaining such information is costly. Such practices have recently become widespread, yet it is unclear whether the increased price...

Price transparency initiatives are typically undertaken by third parties to ensure that consumers have access to price information in markets where obtaining such information is costly. Since providing information is not a strategic decision by the firms in the market, what is the effect of such...

We quantify the effect of consumers' price uncertainty on gasoline prices and margins on an Italian highway. We observe the change in prices triggered by a longitudinal policy-based change in consumers' price information from one in which drivers on the highway had no information on the prices...

Temporary price reductions (sales) are common for many goods and naturally result in large increase in the quantity sold. We explore whether the data support the hypothesis that these increases are, at least partly, due to dynamic consumer behavior: at low prices consumers stockpile for future...

Temporary price reductions (sales) are quite common for many goods and usually result in an increase in the quantity sold. We explore whether the data support the hypothesis that these increases are, at least partly, due to dynamic consumer behavior: at low prices consumers stockpile for future...

We estimate a bargaining model of competition between hospitals and managed care organizations (MCOs) and use the estimates to evaluate the effects of hospital mergers. We find that MCO bargaining restrains hospital prices significantly. The model demonstrates the potential impact of coinsurance...