Why do shops sometimes end up with empty shelves?

submitted by Lastrevio from self.EconomicsTheory

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[–]rdh2121 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

This is because we have laws against profiteering during an emergency, with severe repercussions. The answer we usually see, and which we saw during the Coronavirus, is instead limiting purchases to a certain number per person, which is effectively a means of artificially influencing supply to help ensure that there's more to go around.

[–]Lastrevio[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

In my country there were no such laws IIRC. Also we see shops with empty shelves all the time in other non-crisis scenarios.

[–]rdh2121 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I don't want to out you if you don't want to say what country you're from, but I bet you do have some sort of law like this on the books.

If you really don't have them, it's possible that store owners chose not to gouge customers who may be in need, which could also encourage theft or even robbery, which would work against the owners. Holes in supply chains due to the coronavirus situation could be playing a part as well.