'Dinkies' and Housewives: The Regulation of Shopping Hours

Thum, Marcel P.; Weichenrieder, Alfons J.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.40950

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'Dinkies' and Housewives: The Regulation of Shopping Hours

21 Pages Posted: 13 Nov 1997

See all articles by Marcel P. Thum

Marcel P. Thum

Dresden University of Technology - Faculty of Economics and Business Management; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute; Institute for Corruption Studies

Alfons J. Weichenrieder

Goethe University Frankfurt - Department of Applied Econometrics and International Economic Policy; Vienna University of Economics and Business; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Date Written: March 1997

Abstract

The idea of deregulating shopping hours brings strong opposition from many groups in the society. Surprisingly, even many consumers oppose deregulation. The paper rationalizes this behavior by considering heterogeneous consumers who differ in their earnings abilities. If a majority of families has two income earners, long opening hours become essential and the regulation of shopping hours tends to be eliminated. If most families are single income households, the regulation may be imposed in order to keep prices low. Taking the repercussions on the labor supply decision into account, multiple equilibria can be explained.

JEL Classification: L51, L81

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Thum, Marcel and Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 'Dinkies' and Housewives: The Regulation of Shopping Hours (March 1997). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=40950 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.40950