Year: 2019
Type: report
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of e-commerce on pricing behavior and welfare.Using Japanese data, we find that the entry of e-commerce firms significantly raised the rate of intercity price convergence for goods sold intensively online, but not for other goods.E-commerce also lowered relative inflation rates for goods sold intensively online.We overcome data challenges using long data series and historical catalog sales as an instrument for e-commerce sales intensity.We estimate that reductions in price dispersion raised welfare by 0.3 percent.E-commerce also lowered variety-adjusted prices on average by 0.9 percent, and more in cities with highly educated populations.
DOI: 10.3386/w26506
Authors: Yoon Jo, Misaki Matsumura, David Weinstein
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2990778593