Staggering and Synchronisation of Prices in a Low Inflation Environment: Evidence from German Food Stores

Jens-Peter Loy and Christoph Weiss

No 203, FE Working Papers from Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Department of Food Economics and Consumption Studies

Abstract: Only a few studies have analysed staggering and synchronisation in pricing behaviour of multi-product firms. These studies used low-frequency data in an environment of high rates of inflation. This paper investigates staggering and synchronisation of weekly prices for ten food products in 131 grocery stores in Germany over the period from May 1995 to December 2000 (296 weeks). Different forms of staggering and synchronisation (across-store synchronisation, within type-of-store synchronisation, within retailer synchronisation or across-product synchronisation) have been analysed. None of these forms of synchronisation is supported empirically however. In contrast, perfect staggering can only be rejected in very few cases indicating that fixed or firm specific menu costs are not major causes for price stickiness.

Keywords: Food Retail Market; Germany; Pricing Behaviour; Menu Costs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D40 L11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Staggering and synchronisation of prices in a low-inflation environment: Evidence from German food stores (2002)
Working Paper: STAGGERING AND SYNCHRONIZATION OF PRICES IN A LOW INFLATION ENVIRONMENT: EVIDENCE FROM GERMAN FOOD STORES (2002)
Working Paper: Staggering and Synchronisation of Prices in a Low Inflation Environment: Evidence from German Food Stores (2002)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:caufew:0203

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