Dear colleagues,

On behalf of Prof. Dr. Werner Reinartz of the Seminar for Retailing and Customer Management, I would like to draw your attention to the third event of our Research Seminar Series in the Winter semester 2025:

Prof. Dr. Johannes Kasinger, Tilburg School of Economics and Management on Thursday, December, 4th 2025, from 2:00 – 3.30 p.m.

The talk will take place in room -1.501 (Sibille-Hartmann-Straße 2-8) in presence. The title is “The Pass-Through of Retail Crime”

Abstract
This paper shows that retailers increase prices in response to organized retail crime. We match store-level crime data to scanner data from the universe of transactions for cannabis retailers in Washington state. Using quasi-experimental variation from robberies and burglaries, we find a 1.7-1.8% price increase at victimized stores and nearby competitors. This rise is not driven by short-to-medium-term demand changes but is consistent with crime-related cost shocks. Effects are larger for independent stores and less concentrated markets. We estimate that crime imposes a 1% ‘hidden’ unit tax on affected stores, implying $30.7 million additional social costs, primarily borne by consumers.

We hope to see you there!

Kind regards

Andrea Humpe
Secretary

Prof. Werner Reinartz, Ph. D.
Professor of Marketing | Vice-Rector for ‘Transfer to Society’