Estimating the Distaste for Price Gouging with Incentivized Consumer Reportst

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Holz, Justin; Jimenez-Duran, Rafael; Laguna-Muggenburg, Eduardo
• 署名单位: University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; Bocconi University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.20210428
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 33-59
• 关键词: randomized survey; PUNISHMENT; redistribution; ENFORCEMENT; repugnance; constraint

摘要

Thirty-four states prohibit price increases during emergencies, and individuals take costly actions to report violators. We measure experimentally the willingness to pay to report sellers who increase prices of personal protective equipment. Over 75 percent of subjects pay to report, even if others are willing to buy at those prices. We argue that reports contain information about a desire to prevent or punish third -party transactions at unfair or illicit prices. Reports are partially driven by a distaste for firm profits or markups, implying that the distribution of surplus between producers and consumers matters for welfare. (JEL C93, D22, D63, D91, H12, K22)