A Quantitative Analysis of the Used-Car Market

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gavazza, Alessandro; Lizzeri, Alessandro; Roketskiy, Nikita
• 署名单位: University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; New York University; University of London; University College London
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.11.3668
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 3668-3700
• 关键词: secondary markets; stationary equilibrium; price-discrimination; AUTOMOBILE PURCHASES; COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT; GOODS; Durables; INEQUALITY; oligopoly; industry

摘要

Quantitatively, we investigate the allocative and welfare effects of secondary markets for cars. An important source of gains from trade in these markets is the heterogeneity in the willingness to pay for higher-quality (newer) goods, but transaction costs are an impediment to instantaneous trade. Calibration of the model successfully matches several aggregate features of the US and French used-car markets. Counterfactual analyses show that transaction costs have a large effect on volume of trade, allocations, and the primary market. Aggregate effects on consumer surplus and welfare are relatively small, but the effect on lower-valuation households can be large.