Free parking for all in shopping malls

Official URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291468-2354/

We show why a mall provides parking for free and embed the parking costs in the prices of the goods. Essentially, charging a parking fee to risk-averse customers means penalizing them for not finding their desired good. This result holds whether the mall has monopoly power or prices competitively; if there is parking validation; if there is a trade-off between shopping and parking spaces. It is also the attainable social optimum. The equilibrium lot size is too small, yielding a rationale for minimum parking requirements. However, parking fees may be positive and lots may be too large in urban malls.