Im Juli 2007 wurden die Milchpreise in Deutschland um 7 Cent je Liter angehoben, und für andere Molkereiprodukte wurden drastische Steigerungen angekündigt. Inzwischen ist auch bei Brot und Backwaren sowie bei Fleisch von deutlichen Preiserhöhungen die Rede. Verschiedentlich wird bereits...

We study item-pricing laws (which require that each item in a store be individually marked with a price sticker) and examine and quantify their costs and benefits. On the cost side, we argue that item-pricing laws increase the retailers’ costs, forcing them to raise prices. We test this...

We use store-level data to document the exact process of changing prices and to directly measure menu costs at five multi-store supermarket chains. We show that changing prices in these establishments is a complex process, requiring dozens of steps and a nontrivial amount of resources. The menu...

We combine two data sets to study price rigidity. The first consists of weekly time series of retail, wholesale, and spot prices for twelve products. These time series contain two exogenous cost shocks. We find that prices exhibit more rigidity in response to the second shock than the first. The...

We empirically study the price adjustment process at multiproduct retail stores. We use a unique store level data set for five large supermarket and one drugstore chains in the U.S., to document the exact process required to change prices. Our data set allows us to study this process in great...

Persistent increase in food prices and its impact on society and economy have been of prime concern for the government and its policy makers in India since 2005-06. Though these rates have eased to some extent in the recent months; with expected recovery of the economy and inherent supply bottle...

U.S. retail food price increases in recent years may seem large in nominal terms, but after adjusting for inflation have been quite modest even after the change in U.S. biofuel policies in 2006. In contrast, increases in the real prices of corn, soybeans, wheat and rice received by U.S. farmers...

Persistently high food inflation has been one of the major concerns facing India over the last few years. With nearly a quarter of the population living below the poverty line, the persistence of food inflation at high levels is extremely undesirable. In this paper, we analyse the behaviour and...

Periodically, the global economy experiences great commodity booms and busts, characterized by a broad and sharp comovement of commodity prices. There have been two such episodes since the Korean War. The first event peaked in 1974 and the second in 2008, 34 years apart. Both created major...

U.S. retail food price increases in recent years may seem large in nominal terms, but after adjusting for inflation have been quite modest even after the change in U.S. biofuel policies in 2006. In contrast, increases in the real prices of corn, soybeans, wheat and rice received by U.S. farmers...