An Experimental Investigation of Price Dispersion and Cycles

S-Tier
Journal: Journal of Political Economy
Year: 2021
Volume: 129
Issue: 3
Pages: 789 - 841

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We report a continuous-time experiment studying the Burdett-Judd model, whose unique Nash equilibrium (NE) features dispersed prices. Adaptive dynamics predict that the NE is stable for one of our parameter sets and unstable for another. The empirical price distribution is close to the NE distribution for the stable parameter set, but for the unstable parameter set it skews toward higher prices in its NE support interval. We offer an empirical definition of price cycles in terms of changes over time in robust measures of central tendency and dispersion, by which the data exhibit persistent cycles in both treatments but larger cycles for the unstable parameters. Results are roughly similar for professional and student sellers and for limited-information treatments.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/712445
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25