Data and Code for: "Startup Search Costs"

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) David Byrne, University of Melbourne; Nicolas de Roos, University of Sydney

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  startup15_code 11/16/2020 10:27:PM
README.pdf application/pdf 84.6 KB 11/16/2020 02:12:PM

Project Citation: 

Byrne, David, and de Roos, Nicolas. Data and Code for: “Startup Search Costs.” Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2022. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-04-14. https://doi.org/10.3886/E122821V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary Workhorse economic models used for studying the market impacts of search frictions assume constant search costs: individuals pay the same cost to obtain price information each time they search. This paper provides evidence on a new form of search costs: startup costs. Exploiting a natural experiment in retail gasoline, we document how a temporary, large exogenous shock to consumers' search incentives leads to a substantial, permanent increase in price search. A standard search model fails to explain such history-dependence in search, while it follows directly from a model with a one-time up-front cost to start searching.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources Samuel and June Hordern Endowment

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Search; Price Dispersion; Price War; Retail Gasoline
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
      L81 Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Perth, Australia
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 7/1/2014 – 7/1/2016

Methodology

Data Source:  View help for Data Source Pricing and Search Data: Fuelwatch
https://www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au/fuelwatch/pages/public/historicalFileDownloadRetail.jspx

SA1, DZN Mapping Data: Australian Bureau of Statistics
https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/home/digital+boundaries


Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation Calendar date
Geographic Unit:  View help for Geographic Unit Urban area

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Published Versions

V1 [2022-04-14]

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