Aitor Lacuesta, member of Sectorial Analysis and Structural Policies Manager Unit at Banco de España, presents the paper titled “Price strategies of independent and branded dealers in retail gas market. The case of a contract reform in Spain”at  AQR seminars.

This paper, coauthored with Pilar Cuadrado, María de los Llanos Matea and Javier Palencia-González, analyses how the contract structure between gas stations and the wholesale operator affects price strategies. Using daily data on prices of different gas stations the paper finds that independent dealers charge lower margins than other dealers with different contracts.