Published:
Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research, September 2008
Published in:NBER working paper series ; no. w14315
Extent:
1 Online-Ressource
Language:
English
DOI:
10.3386/w14315
Identifier:
Reproduction note:
Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers
Origination:
Footnote:
Mode of access: World Wide Web
System requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files
Description:
Incomplete product availability is an important feature of many markets; ignoring changes in availability may bias demand estimates. We study a new dataset from a wireless inventory system installed on 54 vending machines to track product availability every four hours. The data allow us to account for product availability when estimating demand, and provides a valuable source of variation for identifying substitution patterns. We develop a procedure that allows for changes in product availability even when availability is only observed periodically. We find significant differences in demand estimates, with the corrected model predicting significantly larger impacts of stock-outs on profitability