Symmetric or asymmetric oil prices? A meta-analysis approach

The analysis of price asymmetries in the gasoline market is one of the most widely studied in energy economics. However, the great variation in the outcomes reported makes the drawing of any definitive conclusions difficult. Given this situation, a meta-analysis serves as an excellent tool to discover which characteristics of the various markets analyzed, and which specific features of these studies, might account for these differences. In adopting such an approach, this paper shows how the particular segment of the industry analyzed, the characteristics of the data, the years under review, the type of publication and the introduction of control variables might explain this heterogeneity in results. The paper concludes on these grounds that increased competition may significantly reduce the possibility of occurrence of asymmetric behavior. These results should be taken into consideration therefore in future studies of asymmetries in the oil industry.

► I study asymmetries in the price gasoline industry through a meta-analysis regression.
► The asymmetries are produced mainly in the retail market.
► The asymmetries are less frequent when we analyze recent cases.
► There may be some degree of publication bias.
► The level of competition may explain the patterns of asymmetry.