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Carl Hase

Publications and source records attributed to Carl Hase.

2 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2024

The Pass-through of Retail Crime

This paper shows that retailers increase prices in response to organized retail crime. We match store-level crime data to scanner data from the universe of transactions for cannabis retailers in Washington state. Using quasi-experimental variation from robberies and burglaries, we find a 1.5-1.8% price increase at victimized stores and nearby competitors. This rise is not driven by short-to-medium-term demand changes but is consistent with an own-cost shock. Effects are larger for independent stores and less concentrated markets. We estimate that crime imposes a 1% "hidden" unit tax on affected stores, implying $33.9 million additional social costs, primarily borne by consumers.

econ.GN↗
arXiv2023

Minimum Wage Pass-through to Wholesale and Retail Prices: Evidence from Cannabis Scanner Data

A growing empirical literature finds that firms pass the cost of minimum wage hikes onto consumers via higher retail prices. Yet, little is known about minimum wage effects on wholesale prices and whether retailers face a wholesale cost shock in addition to the labor cost shock. I exploit the vertically disintegrated market structure of Washington state's legal recreational cannabis industry to investigate minimum wage pass-through to wholesale and retail prices. In a difference-in-differences with continuous treatment framework, I utilize scanner data on $6 billion of transactions across the supply chain and leverage geographic variation in firms' minimum wage exposure across six minimum wage hikes between 2018 and 2021. When ignoring wholesale cost effects, I find retail pass-through elasticities consistent with existing literature -- yet retail pass-through elasticities more than double once wholesale cost effects are accounted for. Retail markups do not adjust to the wholesale cost shock, indicating a full pass-through of the wholesale cost shock to retail prices. The results highlight the importance of analyzing the entire supply chain when evaluating the product market effects of minimum wage hikes.

econ.GN↗