Reduction In Markups Research Articles

Import Competition and Firm Markups in the Food Industry

This paper assesses the relationship between import competition and firm‐level markups by examining the imports of intermediate and final goods. Using a rich firm‐level dataset of French food companies from 2001 to 2013, we find that, on average, increased final goods import competition (intermediate inputs) is negatively (positively) associated with firm‐level markups. These results are consistent with the trade models that predict the pro‐competitive effects of trade and the incomplete cost pass‐through to prices. Importantly, the reduction in markups due to the pro‐competitive effect of trade tends to be counterbalanced by the increase in markups induced by incomplete pass‐through. Our empirical analysis uncovers considerable heterogeneity in the effects of output and input import competition on markups. Our results particularly reveal that firm size and industry market structure (i.e. concentration) are key determinants of how firm‐level markups respond to import competition.

The Darwinian Returns to Scale

How does an increase in the size of the market, say due to fertility, immigration, or globalization, affect welfare? We study this question using a model with heterogeneous firms, Kimball preferences, fixed costs, and monopolistic competition. We decompose changes in welfare from increased scale into changes in technical efficiency and changes in allocative efficiency due to reallocation. We non-parametrically identify residual demand curves with firm-level data from Belgian manufacturing firms and, using these estimates, quantify our theoretical results. We find that around 80% of the aggregate returns to scale are due to changes in allocative efficiency. As markets get bigger, competition intensifies and triggers Darwinian reallocations: socially-valuable firms expand, small firms shrink and exit, and new firms enter. However, important as they are, improvements in allocative efficiency are not driven by reductions in markups or deaths of unproductive firms. Instead, they are caused by a composition effect that reallocates resources from low- to high-markup firms.

Price Strategies of Independent and Branded Dealers in Retail Gas Market. The Case of a Contract Reform in Spain

This paper analyses how the contract structure between gas stations and the wholesale operator affects price strategies. Using daily data on prices of different gas stations the paper finds that independent dealers charge lower margins than other dealers with different contracts. One potential hypothesis is that this is the case because independent stations react more to the number of competitors. We use the introduction of a discretional regional excise duty (IVMDH) on gas stations to check the reaction of markups to changes in marginal costs of the actual number of competitors. Results are consistent with the idea that regardless the type of contract all dealers react notably to the increases in relative marginal costs by decreasing average markups. We use those results to interpret the inexistent reduction in markups that followed a change in the Spanish regulation that took place in 2013 fostering competition in the retail sector. One potential interpretation is that the big increase in independent stations following the reform was not considered an increase in actual competition for most of the incumbent stations.

Fiscal consequences of structural reform under constrained monetary policy

Structural reforms, in particular reductions in mark-ups in product and labour markets, can entail short run output costs unless offset by a demand expansion. When monetary policy is constrained and cannot carry out this short run expansion, there is a potential role for fiscal policy. Although this idea has received a lot of attention in the policy debate, there has been little formal study of the fiscal consequences of reforms under constrained monetary policy. This paper uses a model to quantify the short run fiscal costs and long run fiscal benefits of reforms, in order to see to what extent the latter justify the former. The fiscal costs and benefits of reforms are both generally found to be small, although larger reforms entail larger rises in deficit-to-GDP in the short run. Results suggest that reforms in labour markets have little effect on public finances in the long run, but their short run costs can be ameliorated if combined with product market reforms.

Restoring the product variety and pro-competitive gains from trade with heterogeneous firms and bounded productivity

The monopolistic competition model in international trade offers three sources of gains from trade beyond that of traditional comparative advantage: an endogenous expansion in product variety; a pro-competitive reduction in the markups charged by firms; and the self-selection of more efficient firms into exporting. Recent literature on trade with heterogeneous firms has emphasized the third of these effects, while the first two effects are ruled out when using a Pareto distribution for productivity with a support that is unbounded above, and no fixed costs. The goal of this paper is to restore a theoretical role for product variety and pro-competitive gains from trade by using a bounded Pareto distribution for productivity, and to demonstrate their empirical importance. For the U.S. economy over 1992–2005, we find that product variety and the reduction in markups jointly contribute about 75% to the increase in welfare resulting from trade expansion, whereas an upper bound to the selection effect is that it contributes the remaining 25% to the increase in U.S. welfare.

Macroeconomic Estimates of Italy's Mark-Ups in the Long-Run, 1861-2012

We explore three alternative methodologies drawn from economic history literature to compute macroeconomic total-economy estimates of Italyi?½s mark-ups since 1861, based on the new historical national accounts presented in Baffigi (2013) and Giordano and Zollino (2015). Two key features of Italyi?½s history stand out: a) the increase in market power under the Fascist regime and b) the strengthening of competition since 1993. We then focus on a more limited time span (1970-2012) in order to estimate sectorial mark-ups using the model developed in Bassanetti, Torrini and Zollino (2010). Employing Istat and EU-KLEMs data, we find evidence of a reduction in mark-ups after the completion of the Single Market, with an acceleration after the inception of the European Monetary Union, owing mostly to the decrease in workersi?½ bargaining power rather than in firmsi?½ margins. Moreover, we find large heterogeneity in mark-ups across sectors, with regulated services displaying weaker competition than manufacturing and market services.

Supply-Side Policies and the Zero Lower Bound

Supply-side policies can play a role in fighting a low aggregate demand that traps an economy at the zero lower bound (ZLB) of nominal interest rates. Reductions in mark-ups or future increases in productivity triggered by supply-side policies generate a wealth effect that pulls current consumption and output up. Since the economy is at the ZLB, increases in interest rates do not undo this wealth effect. The paper illustrates this mechanism with a New Keynesian model.

Market penetration analysis of electric vehicles in the German passenger car market towards 2030

There is currently intensive public discussion of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) and other electric powertrains, such as battery electric vehicles (BEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and hybridized combustion engine vehicles (HEV). In this context, the German government has set the target of one million electric vehicles on the road by 2020, and six million by 2030 [1]. The goal of this paper is to identify the possible market share of electric vehicles in the German new car fleet in three scenarios in the timeframe from 2010 to 2030. The VECTOR21 vehicle technology scenario model is used to model the fleet in three scenarios. In the reference scenario with business-as-usual parameters, 189,000 electric vehicles will be sold in Germany by 2020. Scenario two with purchase price incentives from 5000 EUR, high oil prices, and low prices for hydrogen and electricity will result in 727,000 vehicles. In the last scenario with substantial OEM mark-up reductions and external conditions as in the business-as-usual scenario, 3.28 million vehicles will be sold.Analysis shows that the market success of alternative powertrain vehicles depends to a great extent on external conditions. Without purchase price incentives, rising oil prices, and low energy costs for hydrogen and electricity, alternative powertrains will not enter the market. However, OEMs could stimulate the market if they accept negative mark-ups in the first 10 years after market introduction.

Chinese Exports and U.S. Import Prices

This paper develops a technique to decompose price distributions into contributions from markups and marginal cost. The estimators are then used as a laboratory to measure the relationship between increasing Chinese competition and the components of U.S. import prices. The estimates suggest that the intensification of Chinese exports in the 2000s corresponded to substantial changes in the distributions of both the markups and marginal cost of U.S. imports. The entry of a Chinese exporter in an industry corresponded to rest-of-world exporters shrinking their markup (lowering prices by up to 30 percent) and increasing their marginal cost (raising prices by up to 50 percent). The fact that marginal cost increased as competition stiffened strongly suggests that the composition of non-Chinese exports shifted toward higher-quality varieties. The estimates also imply a pattern in the acquisition of market share by Chinese exporters: They enter at relatively low cost/quality and then subsequently undertake quality improvements and markup reductions. These results provide some of the first measures of the dual nature of trade’s procompetitive effects; exporters respond to tougher competition by simultaneously adjusting both markups and quality.

How is real convergence driving nominal convergence in the new EU Member States?

We evaluate the empirical relevance of real convergence on the process of nominal convergence for the new EU Member States. We focus our discussion on two main channels: productivity growth and increased trade openness. Productivity growth can have a positive effect on price levels via the Balassa–Samuelson effect, whereas increased openness leads to reductions in mark-ups and costs and therefore can have a negative impact on prices. We empirically assess their relevance using a Structural VAR model to which we applied a model reduction algorithm. Our findings show that, in general, openness has had a negative impact and productivity growth a positive one on price level convergence with respect to the euro area.

How is Real Convergence Driving Nominal Convergence in the New EU Member States?

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the empirical relevance of real convergence on the process of nominal convergence for the new EU Member States. We discuss two of the main channels through which real convergence could affect relative prices with respect to the euro area: productivity growth and increased trade openness. Productivity growth can have a positive effect on price levels via the Balassa-Samuelson effect, whereas increased openness leads to reductions in mark-ups and costs and therefore can have a negative impact on prices. In order to assess their empirical relevance, we used a Structural VAR model to which we applied a model reduction algorithm. This method accounts for endogeneity and simultaneity and circumvents the problem of limited data availability. Our findings show that, in general, openness has had a negative impact and productivity growth a positive one on price level convergence with respect to the euro area.

Closed and Open Economy Models of Business Cycles with Marked Up and Sticky Prices

Shifts in the extent of competition, which affect markups, are possible sources of aggregate fluctuations. Markups are countercyclical; during booms the economy operates more efficiently. In our benchmark model, markups correspond to the prices of differentiated inputs relative to that of undifferentiated final product. If nominal prices of differentiated goods are relatively sticky, unexpected inflation reduces markups, mimicking the effects of increased competition. Similar effects stem from reductions in markups of foreign intermediates and unexpected inflation abroad. The models imply that prices of less competitive goods are more countercyclical. We find support for this hypothesis using data of four-digit manufacturing industries.

Has Austria’s Accession to the EU Triggered an Increase in Competition? A Sectoral Markup Study

We estimate the pro-competitive effects of Austria’s participation in the Single Market after its European Union (EU) accession in 1995 in terms of firms’ market power as measured by the Lerner index, using a sample of 46 industries and 7 industry groups, covering the period 1978–2001. In the framework of the markup estimation method suggested by Roeger (1995), we test for both an instantaneous structural break between 1993 and 1998 and also estimate logistic smooth transition models to take up the proposition that the regime shift is likely to have occurred gradually rather than as a big bang. In sum, the results provide no reason for being euphoric: Pronounced markup reductions were only found in three industry groups (mining and quarrying, wholesale and retail trade; financial services and real estate). At the more disaggregate level, the picture is mixed: Both increases and reductions in market power have been found.

Import Competition and Market Power: Canadian Evidence

This paper estimates price-marginal cost mark-ups for Canadian manufacturing industries in order to assess the impact of import competition on domestic market power. The results are mixed. Although the overall relationship between mark-ups and imports is positive across industries for the early 1970s and insignificant for the late 1970s, there is some weak cross-sectional evidence to suggest that imports reduce market power in domestically concentrated industries. Changes in imports between the two periods, however, have a positive impact on mark-ups in concentrated industries. Thus, there is no consistent evidence for Canada that imports have had the beneficial impact on competition that has been emphasized in much of the literature. In contrast, an interesting result of the paper is that increases in exports are associated with reductions in mark-ups, suggesting that exports may have a stronger pro-competitive impact on domestic firms than imports. This paper reflects the views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Statistics Canada or the Federal Trade Commission.

Aggressive pricing as a source of funding

The role of aggressive pricing as a source of internal funding is studied. We find that during recessions, excepting the 1990–1 recession, smaller-firm industries reduce markups more than large-firm industries, moreover, markup reductions increase in inventory intensity.