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Winter 2020

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 35, Number 4

Anti-Gouging Laws, Shortages, and COVID-19: Insights from Consumer Searches

Rik Chakraborti, Christopher Newport University

Gavin Roberts, Weber State University

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise35(4),2020,1–20Anti-GougingLaws,Shortages,andCOVID-19:InsightsfromConsumerSearchesRikChakraborti∗ChristopherNewportUniversityGavinRobertsWeberStateUniversity__________________________________________________________AbstractExistinganti-gouginglawsinseveralUSstatesprohibitlargepriceincreasesinthewakeofemergencies.StatewideemergencydeclarationsfollowingtheCOVID-19pandemic’srapidonsetactivatedtheselaws,creatinganaturalexperimentthatweexploit.WecomparethechangesinsearchbehaviorbeforeandafteractivationacrossstateswithandwithouttheselawsusingdatafromGoogleShoppingTrendsduringtheearlystagesofthepandemic.Wefocusonhandsanitizerandtoiletpaper,twostaplespredominantlyboughtinstoresinregulartimesthatexperiencedsubstantialin-storeshortagesduringthepandemic.Wefindrobustevidencethatantigouginglawsincreasedsearchesforhandsanitizer,andsomeevidenceofsimilarimpactsontoiletpaper.Theseresultscorroboratepredictionsregardingtheshortage-inducingor-aggravatingtendenciesofanti-gouginglaws,andtheyinformtheongoingpublicdebateonanti-gouginglawsandtheirpotentialeffectsduringpublichealthemergencieslikeCOVID-19.__________________________________________________________JELCodes:D02,D12,D61Keywords:COVID-19,pricegouging,shortages,pricecontrols,panicbuying,consumersearch,pandemicsI.IntroductionTheonsetoftheglobalCOVID-19pandemicandassociatedemergencysituationdisruptedtheavailabilityofstapleconsumergoodssuchastoiletpaperandhandsanitizer.Frequentmediareportsofhoardingandshortagesofthesegoodshaverenewedinterestinconsumerbehaviorduringpublic-healthemergenciesandrekindledthepublicdebateaboutanti-gouginglaws(Fabrizio2020;Dunklin∗RikChakrabortigratefullyacknowledgesthevaluableresearchassistanceprovidedbyMs.CamerinLockeyandMr.ShivamDuttaupadhyay.

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Metadata [hide]

Title	Anti-Gouging Laws, Shortages, and COVID-19: Insights from Consumer Searches
Authors/Creators:	Rik Chakraborti, Christopher Newport University Gavin Roberts, Weber State University
Year:	2020
Volume:	35
Number:	4
Pages:	1 - 20
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	COVID-19, price gouging, shortages, price controls, panic buying, consumer search, pandemics

Citation:
Chakraborti, Rik; Roberts, Gavin / 2020. "Anti-Gouging Laws, Shortages, and COVID-19: Insights from Consumer Searches." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 35(4): 1-20.