This article uses a discrete choice, random coefficients logit model for analyzing consumer behavior and retail price competition in the Boston fluid milk market. The problems of product dimensionality and consumer heterogeneity implied by imperfect substitution in markets with differentiated...

This study was provided to the staff at the Federal Trade Commission in October, 1999. It expands the analysis of divestitures that was presented in an April 1999 report to the FTC (An Antitrust Economic Analysis of the Proposed Acquisition of Supermarkets General Holdings Corporation by Ahold...

A quantity surcharge exists when the unit cost of a given brand is higher for a large-size package than for a smaller one. This paper examines some product and household characteristics that influence observed quantity surcharging practices. Results indicate that the propensity to buy a...

This study develops a two-stage market channel model to analyze pricing in the Boston milk market where retailers are differentiated sellers. A nonlinear model of demand and costs, including firm specific and industry cost shift variables is estimated for each of the four leading supermarkets....

This paper presents a comparative analysis of three different economic studies that played major roles in the policy debate over the Compact. It draws an important distinction between before-after and counterfactual impact analysis and highlights constraining assumptions in models. Over time the...

Formulating theoretical models inevitably requires various simplifications that assist in making analysis tractable and that facilitate deriving closed form solutions. While the strategic insights gained from theoretical models of market phenomena are often quite valuable, testing the...

This article explores the issue of price and expenditure endogeneity in empirical demand analysis. The analysis focuses on the US carbonated soft drink market. We test the null hypothesis that price and expenditures are exogenous in the demand for carbonated soft drinks. Using an Almost Ideal...

This paper investigates the impacts of store brands (i.e., private labels) and retail characteristics (scanners, deli, bakery, and pharmacy departments, ATMs, restaurant and store size) on fluid milk prices using 1,740 supermarket-level observations from four cities. Non-parametric results...