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Social responses to commodity shortages: The 1973–1974 gasoline crisis

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Abstract

This paper examines social responses to the 1973–1974 gasoline crisis in the United States, using newspaper reports of automobile driver behavior in two metropolitan areas and American Automobile Association data on the adoption of rationing plans and the availability of gasoline in 48 states. From these data it is possible to identify two types of responses: individual responses by automobile drivers, which occurred in every region affected by the shortages, and collective responses in the form of rationing plans adopted by governments and gas station operators in the regions with the most severe shortages. In the latter regions the responses occurred in sequence, with individual responses emerging first and collective responses developing later.

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Rudel, T.K. Social responses to commodity shortages: The 1973–1974 gasoline crisis. Hum Ecol 8, 193–212 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01561024

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