Germany's market transparency unit for fuels: Fostering collusion or competition?

Marco Horvath

No 836, Ruhr Economic Papers from RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract: To increase competition in the retail market for gasoline, Germany's Federal Cartel Office established the so-called Market Transparency Unit for Fuels (MTU). Drawing on a panel data set covering 6,834 stations in Germany and employing both fixed effect methods and a difference-in-difference approach, this study investigates the impact of the MTU on the price margins of gas stations. We find that the MTU fostered a more intense competition, with a reduction in price margins of 1-2 cents per liter.

Keywords: retail gasoline; market transparency; price margin; competition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D43 D83 L13 Q41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-ene and nep-ind
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:rwirep:836

DOI: 10.4419/86788969

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