The study looked at how prices vary within specific markets by analyzing product data from U.S. manufacturing plants. They found that when input costs for a product go up, the prices for that product also tend to spread out more. This effect is similar to what happens when overall prices in the economy increase. They also discovered that when unexpected events affect costs, prices for products can become more spread out as well. Overall, the more costs change for a product, the more its price tends to vary.