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Michael D. Noel
Assistant Professor
University of California at San Diego |
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Take a look at Prof. Noel's research articles
Working paper versions of many of Noel's published research articles can be found here.
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See non-technical summaries of Prof. Noel's work
For media, industry, and economics students, a few summary paragraphs with links to working paper versions of the relevant publications can be found here.
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Prof. Noel's Curriculum Vitae
A complete list of Noel's publications, professional positions, education, and other professional work can be found here.
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University of California at San Diego
9500 Gilman Dr. 0508,
La Jolla, CA 92093-0508
mdnoel@ucsd.edu
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Michael D. Noel is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of California at San Diego. He conducts research in the field of Industrial Organization and Antitrust and is an internationally known expert on retail gasoline pricing and retail gasoline price cycles. Professor Noel holds a Ph.D. from MIT.
Professor Noel has published extensively in leading professional journals including the RAND Journal of Economics, the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Journal of Industrial Economics, and the Journal of Economics and Management Strategy. In addition to researching gasoline pricing behavior, Professor Noel has conducted research in big-box retail pricing, the antitrust of two-sided markets, and patents.
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Industrial Organization is the study of firm strategic behavior, including pricing behavior, contracting behavior, patenting and regulatory behavior, and evaluates the social welfare consequences of such strategic behavior. Below are a few recent questions that Professor Noel has addressed in his research. The links point to non-technical summaries of Noel's recent research work, accessible to students, media, and business alike, while links are provided to the complete technical research paper for interested readers.
What causes high-frequency asymmetric retail gasoline price cycles?
In many retail gasoline markets in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia, prices rise and fall in a rapid asymmetric price cycle. Price increases can sweep across a market 10-15% almost overnight, and then gradually and quietly fall for the next week or two before another round of quick price increases occur. What causes these cycles? Prof. Noel explains.
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Are retail gasoline price cycles anti-competitive?
When a retail gasoline market experiences price cycles, periodic large price increases are the norm, even when there are no changes in the wholesale market that would seem to trigger it. Many fear it is a form of collusion and an indication that prices are anti-competitively high. However, Prof. Noel's research suggest the opposite - that cycles are indicative of a competitive market.
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How do supermarket chains react to the arrival of Wal-Mart Supercenters?
Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer, and in the past few decades has taken the groceries business by storm as well. How do traditional supermarket chains respond in the face of Wal-Mart entry? Professors Noel and Basker take on this question and find some interesting price responses by Wal-Mart's competitors.
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Copyright 2010, Michael D. Noel
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