Historique
Article de Périodique
A structural model of the retail market for illicit drugs (2017)
Auteur(s) :
GALENIANOS, M. ;
GAVAZZA, A.
Année
2017
Page(s) :
858-896
Langue(s) :
Anglais
Domaine :
Drogues illicites / Illicit drugs
Discipline :
MAR (Marchés / Markets)
Thésaurus mots-clés
MODELE STATISTIQUE
;
MARCHE DE LA DROGUE
;
PRODUIT ILLICITE
;
ECONOMIE
;
PURETE
;
QUALITE
;
ACHAT
;
CRACK
Thésaurus géographique
ETATS-UNIS
Résumé :
We estimate a model of illicit drugs markets using data on purchases of crack cocaine. Buyers are searching for high-quality drugs, but they determine drugs' quality (i.e., their purity) only after consuming them. Hence, sellers can rip off first-time buyers or can offer-higher-quality drugs to induce buyers to purchase from them again. In equilibrium, a distribution of qualities persists. The estimated model implies that if drugs were legalized, in which case purity could be regulated and hence observable, the average purity of drugs would increase by approximately 20 percent and the dispersion would decrease by approximately 80 percent. Moreover, increasing penalties may raise the purity and affordability of the drugs traded by increasing sellers' relative profitability of targeting loyal buyers versus first-time buyers.
Affiliation :
Department of Economics, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
Autre(s) lien(s) :
Additional Materials: https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20150540