Many studies have examined the asymmetric effect of US dollar-denominated crude oil prices on petroleum product prices. The ‘rockets and feathers’ argument suggests that a crude price increase raises petroleum product prices more than a corresponding decrease in crude prices lowers product prices. However, for the countries that do not use the US dollar as a medium of exchange, petroleum product prices are also affected by the exchange rates. This paper analysed the asymmetric effects of both US dollar-denominated crude oil prices and exchange rates on local currency-denominated diesel prices for 27 European countries in the short run as well as long run. The overall empirical evidence suggests that, in the short run, diesel prices react more to crude oil price increases than to a decrease, parallel to the ‘rockets and feathers’ argument. However, contrary to that argument, the long-run adjustment is the opposite. As for exchange rate shocks, again the ‘rockets and feathers’ argument holds and diesel prices respond more to exchange rate depreciation than appreciation in the short and long run.

许多研究已经检验了以美元计价的原油价格对石油产品价格的不对称影响。“火箭和羽毛”的论点表明，原油价格上涨使石油产品价格上涨的幅度大于相应的原油价格下跌使产品价格下跌的幅度。但是，对于不使用美元作为交换媒介的国家，石油产品价格也受到汇率的影响。本文分析了短期和长期而言，美元计价的原油价格和汇率对27个欧洲国家的本地货币计价的柴油价格的不对称影响。整体的经验证据表明，在短期内，柴油价格对原油价格上涨的反应要大于对价格下跌的反应，这与“火箭和羽毛”的说法相似。然而，与该论点相反，长期调整是相反的。至于汇率冲击，短期和长期而言，“火箭和羽毛”的论点再次成立，柴油价格对汇率贬值的反应更多，而不是对升值的反应。