Skip to main content
Article
Optimal pricing strategies for a cluster of goods: own- and cross-price effects with correlated tastes
Applied Economics
  • Francisco Rosas, Universidad ORT Uruguay and Centro de Investigaciones Económicas
  • Santiago Acerenza, Iowa State University
  • Peter F. Orazem, Iowa State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Submitted Manuscript
Publication Date
1-1-2020
DOI
10.1080/00036846.2019.1659502
Abstract

Contingent valuation methods are used to identify observed and unobserved preferences of goods and services. We apply these methods, in the context of multivariate probit analysis, to compute willingness to pay for each product of a cluster of goods conditional on having purchased another offered good of the cluster. We also provide a derivation of compensated cross-price elasticities based on unobservable factors, proving to be convenient in situations where cross-prices are not part of the demand equations. As goods belonging to a cluster typically embed correlated taste, their pricing strategy should consider all offered goods simultaneously rather than individually. Therefore, we solve for the set of optimal prices of a social planner whose objective function weights both the producer’s revenues and the consumer’s joint latent utility. We show an application to collegiate sports events, but these methods can be extended in a straightforward fashion to other goods and services. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

Comments

This is a working paper of an article published as Rosas, Francisco, Santiago Acerenza, and Peter F. Orazem. "Optimal pricing strategies for a cluster of goods: own-and cross-price effects with correlated tastes." Applied Economics 52, no. 7 (2020): 742-755. doi: 10.1080/00036846.2019.1659502. Posted with permission.

Copyright Owner
Informa UK Limited
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Francisco Rosas, Santiago Acerenza and Peter F. Orazem. "Optimal pricing strategies for a cluster of goods: own- and cross-price effects with correlated tastes" Applied Economics Vol. 52 Iss. 7 (2020) p. 742 - 755
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/peter-orazem/135/