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Author:Trachter, Nicholas 

Working Paper
Relative price dispersion: evidence and theory

REVISED: 8/1/18: We use a large data set on retail pricing to document that a sizable portion of the cross-sectional variation in the price at which the same good trades in the same period and in the same market is due to the fact that stores that are, on average, equally expensive set persistently different prices for the same good. We refer to this phenomenon as relative price dispersion. We argue that relative price dispersion stems from sellers? attempts to discriminate between high-valuation buyers who need to make all of their purchases in the same store and low-valuation buyers who are ...
Working Papers , Paper 16-6

Working Paper
Commodity money with frequent search

A prominent feature of the Kiyotaki and Wright (1989) model of commodity money is the multiplicity of dynamic equilibria. We show that the frequency of search is strongly related to the extent of multiplicity. To isolate the role of frequency of search in generating multiplicity, we (i) vary the frequency of search without changing the frequency of finding a trading partner and (ii) focus on symmetric dynamic equilibria, a class for which we can sharply characterize several features of the set of equilibria. For any finite frequency of search this class retains much of the multiplicity. For ...
Working Paper Series , Paper WP-2010-22

Briefing
Why Don't Low-Income Countries Adopt More Productive Technologies?

Researchers at UCLA, the Richmond Fed and Washington University in St. Louis have developed a theory of economic development in which complementarity in firms' technology-adoption decisions can substantially amplify the negative impacts of distortions in the economy and play an important role in explaining income differences across countries. By integrating theories that separately emphasize the roles of coordination failures and distortions, their unified framework shows that reducing distortions within "big push" regions could unleash massive economic growth.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 21 , Issue 11

Working Paper
Large and Small Sellers: A Theory of Equilibrium Price Dispersion with Sequential Search

The paper studies equilibrium pricing in a product market for an indivisible good where buyers search for sellers. Buyers search sequentially for sellers but do not meet every seller with the same probability. Specifically, a fraction of the buyers' meetings lead to one particular large seller, while the remaining meetings lead to one of a continuum of small sellers. In this environment, the small sellers would like to set a price that makes the buyers indifferent between purchasing the good and searching for another seller. The large seller would like to price the small sellers out of the ...
Working Paper , Paper 14-8

Working Paper
Diverging Trends in National and Local Concentration

Using U.S. NETS data, we present evidence that the positive trend observed in national product-market concentration between 1990 and 2014 becomes a negative trend when we focus on measures of local concentration. We document diverging trends for several geographic definitions of local markets. SIC 8 industries with diverging trends are pervasive across sectors. In these industries, top firms have contributed to the amplification of both trends. When a top firm opens a plant, local concentration declines and remains lower for at least seven years. Our findings, therefore, reconcile the ...
Working Paper , Paper 18-15

Briefing
How Do Firms Choose Where to Place Establishments?

Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 21 , Issue 34

Working Paper
Banks in Space

We study the spatial expansion of banks in response to the banking deregulation of the 1980s and 90s in order to develop a spatial theory of banking. During this period, large banks expanded rapidly, mostly by adding new branches in new locations, while many small banks exited. We document that large banks sorted into the densest markets, but that sorting weakened over time as large banks expanded to more marginal markets in search of locations with a relative abundance of retail deposits. This allowed large banks to reduce their dependence on expensive wholesale funding and grow further. To ...
Working Paper , Paper 25-03

Briefing
Are Markets Becoming Less Competitive?

National markets in many U.S. industries seem to be increasingly dominated by large companies. Some policymakers have argued that this growing market concentration is a sign of weakening competition, but concentration by itself does not necessarily translate into market power. It may be too soon to reach a decisive conclusion about whether market power, not simply market concentration, is on the rise.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Issue June

Briefing
Sectoral Multipliers and Technology Adoption as Insight Into Growth

In a multisector model with technology adoption and rich network structures, what policy instruments best reduce distortions and promote economic development? This article discusses a framework showing that technology adoption has important effects on both the magnitude and relative effectiveness of sectoral industrial policies. After applying the framework to data on the Indian economy, adoption subsidies prove the most cost-effective instrument with high sectoral multipliers and relatively lower fiscal costs of implementation. Particularly promising sectors emerge that stand to foster the ...
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 24 , Issue 27

Working Paper
Equilibrium Price Dispersion Across and Within Stores

We develop a search-theoretic model of the product market that generates price dispersion across and within stores. Buyers differ with respect to their ability to shop around, both at different stores and at different times. The fact that some buyers can shop from only one seller while others can shop from multiple sellers causes price dispersion across stores. The fact that the buyers who can shop from multiple sellers are more likely to be able to shop at inconvenient times induces price dispersion within stores. Specifically, it causes sellers to post different prices for the same good at ...
Working Paper , Paper 15-1

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