Price Ceilings and Queuing Externalities: Evidence from Egypt’s 2022 Cooking-Oil Crisis

Abstract

Difference-in-differences estimates using high-frequency supermarket scanner data show that price ceilings increased queuing time by 9.4 minutes per purchase, disproportionately affecting female shoppers. Structural modeling suggests welfare losses equivalent to 0.7 % of GDP, highlighting the regressive impact of ostensibly pro-poor policies.