Automotive fuel prices at branded and unbranded service stations: differences in the impact of seller density, brand concentration and search costs
Fecha
2023Versión
Acceso abierto / Sarbide irekia
Tipo
Artículo / Artikulua
Versión
Versión publicada / Argitaratu den bertsioa
Identificador del proyecto
Impacto
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10.1080/15567249.2023.2189330
Resumen
This paper analyses the impact of local competition on gasoline and diesel pricing at branded and unbranded independent service stations. Based on our theory-driven discussion we derive a number of hypotheses, which are empirically tested on a sample of service stations in Spain. In Spain, retail prices of motor fuels have been under the spotlight since the dismantling of the state monopoly in th ...
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This paper analyses the impact of local competition on gasoline and diesel pricing at branded and unbranded independent service stations. Based on our theory-driven discussion we derive a number of hypotheses, which are empirically tested on a sample of service stations in Spain. In Spain, retail prices of motor fuels have been under the spotlight since the dismantling of the state monopoly in the 1990s. The concentration of the retail market and the behavior of the main oil operators are of constant concern to the competition authorities. Our empirical analysis provides evidence for the existence of different competitive dynamics between branded and unbranded stations, and between gasoline and diesel retail pricing. Specifically, the results show that (i) fuel prices at branded (unbranded) service station are positively (negatively) associated with the number of stations operating in the same local market, (ii) prices of both motor fuels at a branded station are higher the larger the share of stations carrying the same brand in its local market, (iii) diesel price at an unbranded station is lower the larger the share of unbranded stations in its local market, and (iv) unbranded service stations undercut the price of diesel more than that of gasoline compared with prices at branded stations. [--]
Materias
Diesel,
Gasoline,
Retail pricing,
Search costs,
Seller density,
Unbranded stations
Editor
Taylor and Francis Group
Publicado en
Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning and Policy, 2023, 18 (1), 2189330
Departamento
Universidad Pública de Navarra. Departamento de Gestión de Empresas /
Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Enpresen Kudeaketa Saila /
Universidad Pública de Navarra/Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE
Versión del editor
Entidades Financiadoras
The authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Grant PID2020-114460GB-C32 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and Grant 2021/00064/001. Open access funding provided by Universidad Pública de Navarra.