The Rigidity of Prices
The Rigidity of Prices
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价格的刚性
DOI：
10.3386/w1813
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发表时间：
1986
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
D. Carlton
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
D. Carlton
本文提出了证据的价格刚性存在于个别交易价格。使用Stigler-Kindahi数据，我研究了制造业中使用的某些产品的单个购买者的价格行为。我最重要的发现是：1.许多行业的价格刚性程度是显著的。在某些行业，对个人买家的价格几年不变并不罕见。2.即使是看起来同质的商品，不同买家之间价格变化的相关性也很低。3.没有证据表明价格刚性存在不对称性。特别是，价格不是刚性向下。4.价格变动的固定成本至少对一些买家来说似乎微不足道。有很多情况下，价格会发生微小的变化。5.行业集中度与刚性价格密切相关。产业越集中，价格刚性的平均持续时间就越长。6.价格刚性、价格变动的幅度和买卖双方交易的时间长短之间似乎存在着某种关系。我认为，把注意力集中在价格作为资源配置的唯一机制上是错误的。非价格配给不是虚构的，它是商业的现实，可能是对经济不确定性的有效反应。
This paper presents evidence on the amount of price rigidity that exists in individual transaction prices. Using the Stigler-Kindahi data, I examine the behavior of individual buyers' prices for certain products used in manufacturing. My most important findings are: 1.The degree of price rigidity in many industries is significant. It is not unusual in some industries for prices to individual buyers to remain unchanged for several years. 2.Even for what appear to be homogeneous commodities, the correlation of price changes across buyers is very low. 3.There is no evidence that there is an asymmetry in price rigidity. In particular, prices are not rigid down-ward. 4.The fixed costs of changing price at least to some buyers seem trivial. There are plenty of instances where small price changes occur. 5.The level of industry concentration is strongly correlated with rigid prices. The more concentrated the industry, the longer is the average spell of price rigidity. 6.There appears to be a relationship between price rigidity, size of price change, and the length of time a buyer and seller deal with each other.I interpret the findings as evidence that it is erroneous to focus attention on price as the exclusive mechanism to allocate resources. Nonprice rationing is not a fiction, it is a reality of business and may be the efficient response to economic uncertainty.