Estimating the distribution of welfare effects using quantiles
提出一个框架来建模价格变化对异质性消费者群体的福利效应分布，通过非参数方法识别个体需求，并用美国汽油价格数据展示了不同分位数上福利效应的巨大差异。
Summary This paper proposes a framework to model welfare effects that are associated with a price change in a population of heterogeneous consumers. The framework is similar to that of Hausman and Newey ( Econometrica , 1995, 63 , 1445–1476), but allows for more general forms of heterogeneity. Individual demands are characterized by a general model that is nonparametric in the regressors, as well as monotonic in unobserved heterogeneity, allowing us to identify the distribution of welfare effects. We first argue why a decision maker should care about this distribution. Then we establish constructive identification, propose a sample counterparts estimator, and analyze its large‐sample properties. Finally, we apply all concepts to measuring the heterogeneous effect of a change of gasoline price using US consumer data and find very substantial differences in individual effects across quantiles.