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Asymmetric Pass-Through of Wholesale Price Shocks to Retail Prices: The Case of the Greek Fruits and Vegetables Market

  • Athanasios Dimas ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: November 17, 2025

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the dynamic adjustment of retail prices following changes in input prices within an oligopolistic and vertically non-integrated market. Data are weekly retail and wholesale prices between February 2010 and August 2013. The methodology employed is the Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) model, which captures both short- and long-run price dynamics. The empirical findings reveal evidence of the “rockets and feathers” hypothesis for more than half of the products examined, indicating an inflationary impact on retail prices, thus a temporal or permanent decrease in consumer welfare. This result is in contrast with the perishable nature of fruits and vegetables.

JEL Classification: L11; L22; L66; C20

Corresponding author: Athanasios Dimas, Department of Research and Industry Mapping, Economist, Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC), Kotsika 1A, Athens, 10434, Greece, E-mail:

Appendix

This Appendix presents the wholesale-retail prices dynamic multipliers for each product.

Wholesale-Retail Prices Dynamic Multipliers

See Figures A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10, A11, A12, A13, and A14.

Figure A1: 
Apple. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A1:

Apple. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A2: 
Cucumber. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A2:

Cucumber. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A3: 
Eggplant. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A3:

Eggplant. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A4: 
Fresh onion. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A4:

Fresh onion. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A5: 
Greens. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A5:

Greens. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A6: 
Lemon. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A6:

Lemon. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A7: 
Lettuce. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A7:

Lettuce. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A8: 
Onion. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A8:

Onion. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A9: 
Orange. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A9:

Orange. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A10: 
Pepper. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A10:

Pepper. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A11: 
Potato. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A11:

Potato. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A12: 
Spinach. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A12:

Spinach. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A13: 
Tomato. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A13:

Tomato. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Figure A14: 
Zucchini. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.
Figure A14:

Zucchini. Notes: 90 % bootstrap Confidence Interval is based on 200 replications. Source: Author’s calculations based on data from the Greek Ministry of Development and the Central Market.

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on Chapter 2 of my Ph.D. thesis at the Department of Economics of the Athens University of Economics and Business. I am indebted to Christos Genakos for helpful discussions and constructive criticism. I am also grateful to colleagues at the Hellenic Competition Commission, and especially to Ioannis Lianos and Ioannis Kalozymis for fruitful discussions and valuable comments. All errors are mine.

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Received: 2025-05-19
Accepted: 2025-11-03
Published Online: 2025-11-17

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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