Author(s)

John Pippenger

Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.

A general consensus rejects effective commodity arbitrage and the law of one price. But this consensus is mistaken because it is based on research using retail prices where price differentials do not represent risk-free profits. Using commodity auction prices, a few articles support effective arbitrage and the LOP. Using longer intervals and a wider variety of commodities than ever before, this paper provides even stronger support for effective commodity arbitrage and the Law of One Price. In addition, for the first time, it uses commodity auction prices rather than retail prices to look for border effects and rejects them.

Exchange Rates, Arbitrage, Law of One Price, Borders, Half Lives, Auction Markets

Pippenger, J. (2016) Commodity Arbitrage and the Law of One Price: Setting the Record Straight. Theoretical Economics Letters, 6, 1017-1033. doi: 10.4236/tel.2016.65101.