Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • March 2021
  • Article
  • Review of Economics and Statistics

Targeted Price Controls on Supermarket Products

By: Alberto Cavallo and Diego Aparicio
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

We study the impact of targeted price controls for supermarket products in Argentina from 2007 to 2015. Using web scraping, we collected daily prices for controlled and non-controlled goods and measured the differential effects on inflation, product availability, and price dispersion. We first show that, although price controls are imposed on goods with significant CPI weight, they have a temporary effect on aggregate inflation and no downward effect on other goods. Second, contrary to common beliefs, we find that controlled goods are consistently available for sale. Third, firms compensate for price controls by introducing new product varieties at higher prices. This behavior, which increases price dispersion within narrow categories, is consistent with a standard vertical differentiation model in the presence of price controls.

Keywords

Prices; Controls; Price Dispersion; Economics; Price; Cost Management; Goods and Commodities; Retail Industry; Argentina

Citation

Cavallo, Alberto, and Diego Aparicio. "Targeted Price Controls on Supermarket Products." Review of Economics and Statistics 103, no. 1 (March 2021): 60–71.

Supplemental Information

Data and Replication Files
The data and code needed to replicate the results in this paper are available on Harvard University's Dataverse
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Author

Alberto F. Cavallo

Business, Government and the International Economy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • June 2022
    • Faculty Research

    FIELD Immersion 2022: Albuquerque, New Mexico

    By: Alberto Cavallo and Stacy Straaberg
    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    International Macroeconomics with Global Crises

    By: Alberto Cavallo
    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    The Global Great Depression, 1929-1939

    By: Alberto Cavallo and Sophus A. Reinert
More from the Authors
  • FIELD Immersion 2022: Albuquerque, New Mexico By: Alberto Cavallo and Stacy Straaberg
  • International Macroeconomics with Global Crises By: Alberto Cavallo
  • The Global Great Depression, 1929-1939 By: Alberto Cavallo and Sophus A. Reinert
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College