TY  - JOUR
AU  - Li,Shanjun
AU  - Haefen,Roger von
AU  - Timmins,Christopher
TI  - How Do Gasoline Prices Affect Fleet Fuel Economy?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14450
PY  - 2008
Y2  - October 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14450
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14450.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Shanjun Li
Cornell University
E-Mail: sl2448@cornell.edu

Roger H. von Haefen
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
4338 Nelson Hall
North Carolina State University Box 8109
Raleigh, NC 27695-8109
Tel: 919/515-8946
Fax: 919/515-1824
E-Mail: roger_von_haefen@ncsu.edu

Christopher Timmins
Department of Economics
Duke University
209 Social Sciences Building
P.O. Box 90097
Durham, NC 27708-0097
Tel: 919/660-1809
Fax: 919/684-8974
E-Mail: christopher.timmins@duke.edu
AB  - Exploiting a rich data set of passenger vehicle registrations in twenty U.S. metropolitan statistical areas from 1997 to 2005, we examine the effects of gasoline prices on the automotive fleet's composition.  We find that high gasoline prices affect fleet fuel economy through two channels: (1) shifting new auto purchases towards more fuel-efficient vehicles, and (2) speeding the scrappage of older, less fuel-efficient used vehicles.  Policy simulations based on our econometric estimates suggest that a 10% increase in gasoline prices from 2005 levels will generate a 0.22% increase in fleet fuel economy in the short run and a 2.04% increase in the long run.
ER  -