The Law of One Price - A Case Study

Jonathan Haskel (j.haskel@ic.ac.uk) and Holger Wolf

No 8112, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We use retail transaction prices for a multinational retailer to examine the extent and permanence of violations of the law of one price (LOOP). For identical products, we find typical deviations of twenty to fifty percent, though there is muted evidence for convergence over time. Such differences might be due to differences in local costs. If so, relative prices of similar products (round versus square mirrors) should be equal across countries. In fact, relative prices vary significantly across very similar goods within a product group; indeed, the ordering of common currency prices often differs for similar products. The finding suggests that differences in local distribution costs, local taxes, and probably tariffs do not explain the price pattern, leaving strategic pricing or other factors resulting in varying markups as alternative explanations for the observed divergences.

JEL-codes: F2 F3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ifn
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (122)

Published as Haskel, J. and H. Wolf. "The Law Of One Price - A Case Study," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2001, v103(4,Dec), 545-558.

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Journal Article: The Law of One Price—A Case Study (2001)
Working Paper: The Law of One Price - A Case Study (2001)
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