Price Dynamics in Food Retailing in Great Britain
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: Economics
Abstract
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Organisations
Publications
Chakraborty R
(2015)
Pricing in inflationary times: The penny drops
in Journal of Monetary Economics
Chakraborty R
(2014)
The Analysis of Competition Policy and Sectoral Regulation
Dixon, H.
(2014)
Price Flexibility in British Supermarkets: Moderation and Recession
Sam Fankhauser (Author)
(2012)
Identifying and characterising price leadership in British supermarkets
Seaton J
(2013)
Identifying and characterising price leadership in British supermarkets
in International Journal of Industrial Organization
| Description | We have developed a precise, falsifiable definition of price leadership, something missing from the literature so far. It defines leadership in a new way, as occurring when one firm makes a change in price that is followed precisely by the other within a short predefined period of time. This is then tested for a major case, the two leading players in the UK supermarket industry, with simultaneous pricing as the alternative. Thus we are the first to provide a precise characterisation of price leadership in this industry. We have also shown an unusual but important composition issue in supermarket pricing practices that has not previously been revealed. This is that regularly more prices go down than go up, whilst "basket" prices rise. It happens because price falls are much smaller in magnitude than price rises, something not previously noted but characteristic of British supermarkets. This has impact on macroeconomic phenomena. Our contributions in this area are empirical. Macroeconomists have become very interested in micro price movements: A key question examined in major papers is whether prices are "flexible" at micro level. We make a significant contribution to this debate, by providing evidence from Britain of significant flexibility at individual product level that has wider ramifications. Our evidence, based on data that one journal referee has described as "very exciting" is based on actual prices, rather than prices inferred from scanner data, and covers a long period including what has become known as the Great Recession, so clearly of interest to macroeconomists. Thus our evidence is of relative flexibility during different macroeconomic circumstances, where we show the data exhibits higher flexibility in more inflationary times. |
| Exploitation Route | In discussing inflationary pressures and transmission mechanisms. In examining pricing behaviour and advising consumers |
| Sectors | Government, Democracy and Justice,Retail |
| Description | Discussions in news media Discussions in policy circles |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Retail |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Title | Pricing Data deposit |
| Description | Underlying data gathered for the purposes of the project |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None to date |
| Description | Price check |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A discussion of research findings written in a style for the general educated reader Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Pricing behaviour in British supermarkets: obfuscation and leadership? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A talk given to an audience including people from ONS (Newport) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |