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Estimation of a Heterogeneous Demand Function with Berkson Errors

Richard Blundell, Joel Horowitz, Matthias Parey

arXiv 26 Nov 2018 · Econometrics · publishedThe Review of Economics and Statistics (2021) · 3 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:1811.10690 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

Berkson errors are commonplace in empirical microeconomics. In consumer demand this form of measurement error occurs when the price an individual pays is measured by the (weighted) average price paid by individuals in a specified group (e.g., a county), rather than the true transaction price. We show the importance of such measurement errors for the estimation of demand in a setting with nonseparable unobserved heterogeneity. We develop a consistent estimator using external information on the true distribution of prices. Examining the demand for gasoline in the U.S., we document substantial within-market price variability, and show that there are significant spatial differences in the magnitude of Berkson errors across regions of the U.S. Accounting for Berkson errors is found to be quantitatively important for estimating price effects and for welfare calculations. Imposing the Slutsky shape constraint greatly reduces the sensitivity to Berkson errors.

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Most heavily cited references

The works this paper leans on most, across its whole bibliography — not restricted to papers in our corpus. Ranked by composite intensity, which combines how often a work is mentioned, how many sections mention it, and how much of that falls in the main text rather than the appendix.

ReferenceIntensityMentionsSectionsMain text
1Blundell, Richard, Joel Horowitz, and Matthias Parey, Nonparametric… (2017) 291–304 self1.00084100%
2Blundell, Richard, Joel L. Horowitz, and Matthias Parey, Measuring t… (2012) 29–51 self1.00074100%
3Delaigle, Aurore, Peter Hall, and Peihua Qiu, Nonparametric methods… (2006) 201–2200.84333100%
4Yilmazkuday, Hakan, Geographical dispersion of consumer search behav… (2017) 5740–57520.73732100%
5Schennach, Susanne M, Regressions with Berkson errors in covariates… (2013) 1642–16680.64422100%
6EIA, Supplemental Energy-related Data for the (2003) Appendix K - Documentation on estimation methodologies for fuel economy and fuel cost0.51121100%
7Browning, Martin and Jesus Carro, Heterogeneity and Microeconometric… (2007) pp0.40511100%
8Cameron, A. Colin and Pravin K. Trivedi, Microeconometrics. Methods… (2005)0.40511100%
9Newey, Whitney K. and James L. Powell, Instrumental Variable Estimat… (2003) 1565–15780.40511100%
10Berkson, Joseph, Are There Two Regressions? Journal of the American… (1950) 164–1800.40511100%

Showing the top 10 of 25 scored citations.