Project Title: Poverty and Inflation - Differential Effects Across Package Sizes

This project is intended to analyze differences in inflation rates across package sizes. Low-income households have been shown to more frequently purchase small packages and less frequently purchase large packages than households with higher incomes. Preliminary evidence suggests that prices for small packages have been increasing significantly faster than those for bulk items in recent years, a difference the official inflation rate published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not necessarily consider. Yet, as the inflation rate is used to adjust the poverty line and welfare payments, the question of its accuracy for products frequently purchased by low-income households is vital. This project aims to analyze how widespread differential price increases by package size are and how they affect welfare recipients.

Selected Publication:

• Bauner, Christoph and Nathalie Lavoie. 2022. The Cost of Eating Gluten-Free. Applied Economics Letters. DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2022.2139799
• Bauner, Christoph and Zexuan Liu. 2022. Incumbents' Pricing and Nonpricing Responses to Entry in Vertically Differentiated Markets. Journal of Air Transport Management, 105:102279, 2022.
• Bauner, Christoph and Emily Wang. 2019. The Effect of Competition on Pricing and Product Positioning: Evidence from Wholesale Club Entry. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 67, 2019.
• Bauner, Christoph, Edward Jaenicke, Emily Wang, and Ping-Chao Wu. 2019. Couponing Strategies in Competition Between a National Brand and a Private Label Product. Journal of Retailing, 95(1), 2019, pp. 57-66.
• Bauner, Christoph, Nathalie Lavoie, and Christian Rojas. 2017. Effects of Technological Progress on Vertical Product Differentiation and Welfare. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 44(1), 2017, pp. 67-97.
• Bauner, Christoph and Christine Crago. 2015. Adoption of Residential Solar Power under Uncertainty: Implications for Renewable Energy Incentives. Energy Policy, 86, 2015, pp. 27-35.
• Wang, Emily, Christian Rojas, and Christoph Bauner. 2015. Evolution of Nutritional Quality in the US: Evidence from the Ready-to-Eat Cereal Industry," Economics Letters, 133, 2015, pp. 105-108.
• Bauner, Christoph. 2013. Mechanism Choice and the Buy-It-Now Auction: A Structural Model of Competing Buyers and Sellers. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 38, 2015, pp. 19-31.