Stockpiling and Shortages

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Klumpp, Tilman; Su, Xuejuan
• 署名单位: University of Alberta
• 刊物名称: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0020-6598
• DOI: 10.1111/iere.70029
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: price-competition; storage; inventories; volatility; sales; money; MODEL; spot

摘要

We examine the feedback loop between shortages and consumer stockpiling. The expectation of shortages induces consumers to stockpile, which amplifies the shortages they experience, which further encourages stockpiling. We show that, when aggregate supply is insufficient to meet aggregate demand and prices cannot adjust to clear the market, multiple equilibria exist which feature stockpiling to different degrees. Even when the fundamental supply shortfall is small, significant stockpiling can arise in equilibrium. Stockpiling reduces welfare, and this welfare loss is particularly severe in the transitional phase following the supply shock, during which consumers accumulate inventories.