Understanding Gasoline Price Dispersion

This paper models and estimates the gasoline price dispersion across time and space by using a unique data set at the gas station level within the USA. Nationwide effects (measured by time fixed effects or crude oil prices) explain up to about 51 % of the gasoline price dispersion across stations. Refinery-specific costs, which have been ignored in the literature due to using local data sets within the USA, contribute up to another 33 % to the price dispersion. While state taxes explain about 12 % of the price dispersion, spatial factors such as local agglomeration externalities, land prices, and distribution costs of gasoline explain up to about 4 %. The contribution of brand-specific factors is relatively minor.