An alternative semiparametric approach to the modelling of asymmetric gasoline price adjustment

In this paper we revisit the wholesale and retail gasoline price adjustments to fluctuations in the input cost prices for a monthly panel dataset of 48 US states over the period 1994 to 2011. In doing so, we employ for the first time in the empirical literature nonlinear semiparametric models with local Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimators. Our findings indicate that wholesale and retail gasoline prices adjust more rapidly in an upward than a downward direction, confirming the “rockets and feathers” hypothesis.