Graduation Year

Fall 2013

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Reader 1

Mitch Warachka

Reader 2

Sean Flynn

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© 2013 Laura A. Renfroe

Abstract

The goal of this research was to determine which population factors were associated with iPad pricing differences across countries. Specifically, this paper measured the relationship between iPad prices in a given country and its U.S. dollar exchange rate, amount of income inequality, Gross Domestic Product per capita, luxury good sales growth, Individualism Index score, and population density. Panel data was collected for the iPad 2, the iPad Retina, and the iPad Mini tablets from 38 countries of varying geographic locations, economic paradigms, and political structures. The pooled data set yielded 114 observations in total. Regressing iPad price as a percent of national average income revealed a positive relationship between price and status consciousness as well as cultural individualism. There existed a negative relationship between iPad price and luxury sales growth. These results indicated that the iPad served as a status symbol with higher demand in countries that promoted individualism and exhibited higher degrees of income inequality.

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