DP5300 Heterogeneity in Consumer Price Stickiness: A Microeconometric Investigation

Author(s):	Denis Fougère, Hervé Le Bihan, Patrick Sevestre
Publication Date:	October 2005
Keyword(s):	duration models, hazard function, heterogeneity, sticky prices
JEL(s):	C41, E31
Programme Areas:	International Macroeconomics
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=5300

This paper examines heterogeneity in price stickiness using a large, original, set of individual price data collected at the retail level for the computation of the French CPI. For that purpose, we estimate at a very high level of disaggregation competing-risks duration models that distinguish between price increases, price decreases and product replacements. The main findings are the following: i) cross-product and cross-outlet-type heterogeneity is pervasive, both in the shape of the hazard function and in the impact of covariates; ii) at the product-outlet type level, the baseline hazard function of a price spell is non-decreasing; iii) there is strong evidence of state dependence, especially for price increases.