Modest and incomplete incentives may work: pricing plastic bags in Uruguay

Cabrera, José María - Caffera, Marcelo - Cid, Alejandro

Resumen:

We study the impact of voluntary prices on the demand for plastic bags, using two years of administrative data from a national supermarket chain in Uruguay. We find that prices of US$ 0.07 and US$ 0.10 per unit decreased the number of bags used by its customers in the range of 70% to 85%. We also find that in anticipation of the price, customers increased the use of bags by up to 38% in some branches before its implementation. This result has strong implications for future studies, regarding the need to use long pre-periods. According to our data, short pre periods could bias upward the estimation of the effect of the prices by up to 41%. Finally, we do not find evidence consistent with the supermarket suffering a loss of sales, due to clients moving to stores not pricing the bags. The fact that the supermarket is a discount chain (clients are more price sensitive) and that it seems to have chosen the cities and towns in which it had more market share to rollout the prices, may inform policy makers about the conditions under which incomplete and moderate incentives may work.


Detalles Bibliográficos
2021
Plastic bags
Price
Consumer behavior
Difference in difference
Synthetic controls
Anticipation effects
Inglés
Universidad de Montevideo
REDUM
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12806/2442
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102525
Acceso abierto
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
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author Cabrera, José María
author2 Caffera, Marcelo
Cid, Alejandro
author2_role author
author
author_facet Cabrera, José María
Caffera, Marcelo
Cid, Alejandro
author_role author
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dc.contributor.filiacion.es.fl_str_mv Cabrera, José María. Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
Caffera, Marcelo. Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
Cid, Alejandro. Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Cabrera, José María
Caffera, Marcelo
Cid, Alejandro
dc.date.accessioned.none.fl_str_mv 2024-06-12T18:31:19Z
dc.date.available.none.fl_str_mv 2024-06-12T18:31:19Z
dc.date.issued.es.fl_str_mv 2021
dc.description.abstract.none.fl_txt_mv We study the impact of voluntary prices on the demand for plastic bags, using two years of administrative data from a national supermarket chain in Uruguay. We find that prices of US$ 0.07 and US$ 0.10 per unit decreased the number of bags used by its customers in the range of 70% to 85%. We also find that in anticipation of the price, customers increased the use of bags by up to 38% in some branches before its implementation. This result has strong implications for future studies, regarding the need to use long pre-periods. According to our data, short pre periods could bias upward the estimation of the effect of the prices by up to 41%. Finally, we do not find evidence consistent with the supermarket suffering a loss of sales, due to clients moving to stores not pricing the bags. The fact that the supermarket is a discount chain (clients are more price sensitive) and that it seems to have chosen the cities and towns in which it had more market share to rollout the prices, may inform policy makers about the conditions under which incomplete and moderate incentives may work.
dc.format.mimetype.es.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.identifier.doi.es.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102525
dc.identifier.uri.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12806/2442
dc.language.iso.none.fl_str_mv eng
dc.publisher.es.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.relation.ispartof.es.fl_str_mv Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 110, 102525
dc.rights.es.fl_str_mv Abierto
dc.rights.license.none.fl_str_mv Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights.uri.*.fl_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:REDUM
instname:Universidad de Montevideo
instacron:Universidad de Montevideo
dc.subject.keyword.es.fl_str_mv Plastic bags
Price
Consumer behavior
Difference in difference
Synthetic controls
Anticipation effects
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Modest and incomplete incentives may work: pricing plastic bags in Uruguay
dc.type.es.fl_str_mv Artículo
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.type.version.es.fl_str_mv Aceptada
dc.type.version.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion
description We study the impact of voluntary prices on the demand for plastic bags, using two years of administrative data from a national supermarket chain in Uruguay. We find that prices of US$ 0.07 and US$ 0.10 per unit decreased the number of bags used by its customers in the range of 70% to 85%. We also find that in anticipation of the price, customers increased the use of bags by up to 38% in some branches before its implementation. This result has strong implications for future studies, regarding the need to use long pre-periods. According to our data, short pre periods could bias upward the estimation of the effect of the prices by up to 41%. Finally, we do not find evidence consistent with the supermarket suffering a loss of sales, due to clients moving to stores not pricing the bags. The fact that the supermarket is a discount chain (clients are more price sensitive) and that it seems to have chosen the cities and towns in which it had more market share to rollout the prices, may inform policy makers about the conditions under which incomplete and moderate incentives may work.
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
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publishDate 2021
reponame_str REDUM
repository.mail.fl_str_mv nolascoaga@um.edu.uy
repository.name.fl_str_mv REDUM - Universidad de Montevideo
repository_id_str 10501
rights_invalid_str_mv Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
Abierto
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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We find that prices of US$ 0.07 and US$ 0.10 per unit decreased the number of bags used by its customers in the range of 70% to 85%. We also find that in anticipation of the price, customers increased the use of bags by up to 38% in some branches before its implementation. This result has strong implications for future studies, regarding the need to use long pre-periods. According to our data, short pre periods could bias upward the estimation of the effect of the prices by up to 41%. Finally, we do not find evidence consistent with the supermarket suffering a loss of sales, due to clients moving to stores not pricing the bags. 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spellingShingle Modest and incomplete incentives may work: pricing plastic bags in Uruguay
Cabrera, José María
Plastic bags
Price
Consumer behavior
Difference in difference
Synthetic controls
Anticipation effects
status_str acceptedVersion
title Modest and incomplete incentives may work: pricing plastic bags in Uruguay
title_full Modest and incomplete incentives may work: pricing plastic bags in Uruguay
title_fullStr Modest and incomplete incentives may work: pricing plastic bags in Uruguay
title_full_unstemmed Modest and incomplete incentives may work: pricing plastic bags in Uruguay
title_short Modest and incomplete incentives may work: pricing plastic bags in Uruguay
title_sort Modest and incomplete incentives may work: pricing plastic bags in Uruguay
topic Plastic bags
Price
Consumer behavior
Difference in difference
Synthetic controls
Anticipation effects
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12806/2442
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102525