Severin Borenstein’s Research in The Los Angeles Times

Blame Gas Stations — And Yourself — For The Rise And Fall Of Gas Prices

May 7, 2026

The Los Angeles Times

Severin Borenstein‘s, Energy Institute Faculty Director, research is used in The Los Angeles Times to explain why gasoline prices tend to rise quickly but fall more slowly, highlighting how retail gas stations and consumer behavior influence price changes at the pump.

“The academic bookshelf groans with the weight of studies of the phenomenon, but the seminal analysis of the topic remains a 1997 paper by economist Severin Borenstein of UC Berkeley and his colleagues.

They looked at how crude oil prices affected profit margins at several points in the crude-to-pump voyage of oil to gas, including crude supplies to the wholesale market and wholesale to retail. They found signs of rocket-and-feather price changes at all points, but for the layperson their general conclusion was this: It’s not your imagination.

‘The evidence … supports the common belief that retail gasoline prices respond more quickly to increases in crude oil prices than to decreases,’ Borenstein and his colleagues wrote in 1997.”

Photo: latimes.com