Cross-border competition in the gasoline retail market: Impact of proximity at the German-Polish border
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In: Energy Economics, Vol. 140, 107961, 12.2024.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Cross-border competition in the gasoline retail market
T2 - Impact of proximity at the German-Polish border
AU - Kahl, Mats Petter
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author
PY - 2024/12
Y1 - 2024/12
N2 - In this article, I analyze how persistently lower gasoline prices in Poland affect the prices set in the German border region. Based on a complete dataset of German gasoline prices and an assessment of driving distances between gasoline stations, I estimate the impact of one additional kilometer of distance to the nearest Polish competitor on the price charged by German gasoline stations. Following the fixed effects filtered estimator approach proposed by Pesaran and Zhou (2018) and controlling for various station characteristics, I find no evidence that German gasoline stations enter price competition with their Polish counterparts. My descriptive analysis of gasoline station infrastructure in the German border region reveals increasingly sparse gasoline station density when approaching the Polish border, along with an increasing share of premium brands. These results may reflect the effect of substantially lower taxes in Poland, discouraging German gasoline stations from locating near the border and effectively ruling out cross-border price competition. Although indirect, my findings suggest the presence of fuel tourism.
AB - In this article, I analyze how persistently lower gasoline prices in Poland affect the prices set in the German border region. Based on a complete dataset of German gasoline prices and an assessment of driving distances between gasoline stations, I estimate the impact of one additional kilometer of distance to the nearest Polish competitor on the price charged by German gasoline stations. Following the fixed effects filtered estimator approach proposed by Pesaran and Zhou (2018) and controlling for various station characteristics, I find no evidence that German gasoline stations enter price competition with their Polish counterparts. My descriptive analysis of gasoline station infrastructure in the German border region reveals increasingly sparse gasoline station density when approaching the Polish border, along with an increasing share of premium brands. These results may reflect the effect of substantially lower taxes in Poland, discouraging German gasoline stations from locating near the border and effectively ruling out cross-border price competition. Although indirect, my findings suggest the presence of fuel tourism.
KW - Fuel tourism
KW - Gas price differentials
KW - Gasoline taxes
KW - Market transparency
KW - Economics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85206938925&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107961
DO - 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107961
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:85206938925
VL - 140
JO - Energy Economics
JF - Energy Economics
SN - 0140-9883
M1 - 107961
ER -