Article ID: | iaor20101495 |
Volume: | 173 |
Issue: | 1 |
Start Page Number: | 145 |
End Page Number: | 161 |
Publication Date: | Jan 2010 |
Journal: | Annals of Operations Research |
Authors: | Kerstens Kristiaan, Staat Matthias, Chumpitaz Ruben, Paparoidamis Nicholas |
Keywords: | marketing, economics |
Following Lancaster's (1966 and 1979) interpretation of his characteristics approach to consumer theory, this contribution focuses on theoretical and empirical arguments questioning the smoothness of traditional hedonic price estimation techniques. Lancaster argued strongly against ‘combinability’, i.e., that any efficient combination of characteristics is feasible and sensible. We therefore explicitly test the impact of convexity using a set of recent non-parametric estimators. The test is carried out on a sample of 114 digital cameras whose price evolution is followed over 6 months. The hypothesis of convexity is rejected using the Li (1996) test. The conclusions point out implications for economics and marketing.