Shopping Time

Nicolas Petrosky-Nadeau, Etienne Wasmer and Shutian Zeng

No 2014-24, Working Paper Series from Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Abstract: The renewal of interest in macroeconomic theories of search frictions in the goods market requires a deeper understanding of the cyclical properties of the intensive margins in this market. We review the theoretical mechanisms that promote either procyclical or countercyclical movements in time spent searching for consumer goods and services, and then use the American Time Use Survey to measure shopping time through the Great Recession. Average time spent searching declined in the aggregate over the period 2008-2010 compared to 2005-2007, and the decline was largest for the unemployed who went from spending more to less time searching for goods than the employed. Cross-state regressions point towards a procyclicality of consumer search in the goods market. At the individual level, time allocated to different shopping activities is increasing in individual and household income. Overall, this body of evidence supports procyclical consumer search effort in the goods market and a conclusion that price comparisons cannot be a driver of business cycles.

Keywords: Goods market search; time allocation; American Time Use Survey; business cycles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 E32 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2014-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma and nep-mac
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Shopping time (2016)
Working Paper: Shopping Time (2016)
Working Paper: Shopping Time (2016)
Working Paper: Shopping Time (2015)
Working Paper: Shopping Time (2015)
Working Paper: Shopping Time (2014)
Working Paper: Shopping Time (2014)
Working Paper: Shopping Time (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedfwp:2014-24

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DOI: 10.24148/wp2014-24

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