Demand for gasoline is more price-inelastic than it is commonly thought

Arbeitspapier

One of the most frequently examined statistical relationships in energy economics has been the price elasticity of gasoline demand. We conduct a quantitative survey of the estimates of elasticity reported for various countries around the world. Our meta-analysis indicates that the literature suffers from publication selection bias: insignificant and positive estimates of the price elasticity are rarely reported, although implausibly large negative estimates are reported regularly. In consequence, the average published estimates of both short- and long-run elasticities are exaggerated twofold. Using mixed-effects multilevel meta-regression, we show that after correction for publication bias the average long-run elasticity reaches -0.31 and the average short-run elasticity only -0.09

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IES Working Paper ; No. 10/2011

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Survey Methods; Sampling Methods ; Energy: Demand and Supply; Prices ; Energy: Government Policy
• Subject: Gasoline demand ; Price elasticity ; Meta-analysis ; Publication selection bias

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Havránek, Tomáš ; Iršová, Zuzana ; Janda, Karel
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Charles University in Prague, Institute of Economic Studies (IES)
• (where): Prague
• (when): 2011

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/83317
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET