Nonlinear Pricing and Misallocation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bornstein, Gideon; Peter, Alessandra
• 署名单位: University of Pennsylvania; National Bureau of Economic Research; New York University; Center for Economic & Policy Research (CEPR)
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282; 1944-7981
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.20230168
• 发表日期: 2025-11
• 页码: 3853-3908
• 关键词: Adverse selection; MARKET; monopoly; TRADE; rise

摘要

This paper studies the effect of nonlinear pricing on markups and misallocation. In a general equilibrium model in which firms are allowed to set a quantity-dependent pricing schedule, markup heterogeneity is not a sign of misallocation. Instead, we point to a new source of misallocation: high-taste consumers are allocated too much of each good, low-taste consumers too little. Using micro data from the retail sector, we show that nonlinear pricing is prevalent and quantify the model. Welfare losses from misallocation across consumers are substantially larger than those from misallocation across firms under linear pricing. (JEL D21, D24, D43, H25, J22, L13, L81)