THE UNEQUAL GAINS FROM PRODUCT INNOVATIONS: EVIDENCE FROM THE US RETAIL SECTOR
THE UNEQUAL GAINS FROM PRODUCT INNOVATIONS: EVIDENCE FROM THE US RETAIL SECTOR
复制标题
DOI：
10.1093/qje/qjy031
复制
发表时间：
2019-05-01
影响因子：
13.7
通讯作者：
Jaravel, Xavier
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Jaravel, Xavier
本文研究了2004年至2015年美国产品创新如何导致通货膨胀不平等。使用零售业的扫描数据，我发现零售产品的年通胀率为0.661（标准差）。呃。收入最低的五分之一人口比收入最高的五分之一人口高出0.0535个百分点。当包括产品品种随时间的变化时，这一差异增加到0.8846（标准差）。呃。0.0739）个百分点。在涵盖全部消费篮子的CEX-CPI数据中，年度通胀差异为0.368（标准差）。呃。0.0502）个百分点。我研究了以下假设：（1）高收入家庭消费的产品的相对需求增加，因为增长和不平等的加剧;（2）作为回应，企业推出了更多的新产品，迎合这些家庭;（3）因此，在这些细分市场的持续产品的价格下降，由于竞争压力的增加。使用转移-份额研究设计，我发现因果关系的证据表明，增加相对需求导致增加产品种类和降低持续产品的通货膨胀。校准表明，假设的渠道占了很大一部分（超过50%）观察到的通货膨胀不平等。
This article examines how product innovations led to inflation inequality in the United States from 2004 to 2015. Using scanner data from the retail sector, I find that annual inflation for retail products was 0.661 (std. err. 0.0535) percentage points higher for the bottom income quintile relative to the top income quintile. When including changes in product variety over time, this difference increases to 0.8846 (std. err. 0.0739) percentage points a year. In CEX-CPI data covering the full consumption basket, the annual inflation difference is 0.368 (std. err. 0.0502) percentage points. I investigate the following hypothesis: (i) the relative demand for products consumed by high-income households increased because of growth and rising inequality; (ii) in response, firms introduced more new products catering to such households; (iii) as a result, the prices of continuing products in these market segments fell due to increased competitive pressure. Using a shift-share research design, I find causal evidence that increasing relative demand leads to increasing product variety and lower inflation for continuing products. A calibration indicates that the hypothesized channel accounts for a large fraction (over 50%) of observed inflation inequality.