Arbeitspapier
Consumer myopia in vehicle purchases: Evidence from a natural experiment
A central question in the analysis of fuel-economy policy is whether consumers are myopic with regards to future fuel costs. We provide the first evidence on consumer valuation of fuel economy from a natural experiment. We examine the short-run equilibrium effects of an exogenous restatement of fuel-economy ratings that affected 1.6 million vehicles. Using the implied changes in willingness-to-pay, we find that consumers act myopically: consumers are indifferent between $1 in discounted fuel costs and 15-38 cents in the vehicle purchase price when discounting at 4%. This myopia persists under a wide range of assumptions.
- Sprache
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Englisch
- Erschienen in
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Series: Economics Working Paper Series ; No. 19/321
- Klassifikation
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Wirtschaft
Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
Business Taxes and Subsidies including sales and value-added (VAT)
Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
Automobiles; Other Transportation Equipment; Related Parts and Equipment
Mining, Extraction, and Refining: Hydrocarbon Fuels
- Thema
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fuel economy
vehicles
myopia
undervaluation
regulation
- Ereignis
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Geistige Schöpfung
- (wer)
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Gillingham, Kenneth
Houde, Sébastien
- Ereignis
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Veröffentlichung
- (wer)
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ETH Zurich, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research
- (wo)
-
Zurich
- (wann)
-
2019
- DOI
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doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000342759
- Handle
- Letzte Aktualisierung
-
10.03.2025, 11:44 MEZ
Datenpartner
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Objekttyp
- Arbeitspapier
Beteiligte
- Gillingham, Kenneth
- Houde, Sébastien
- ETH Zurich, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research
Entstanden
- 2019