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Location Costs, Product Quality, and Implicit Franchise Contracts

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Author Info
Justus Haucap
Christian Wey
Jens Barmbold

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Abstract

In the literature on international trade, very little attention has been given to informational asymmetries between firms and consumers with respect to product quality. The few economic models that analyze the question of how asymmetric information about product quality might affect trade flows treat product quality as exogenous. In contrast, our model takes product quality as an endogenous variable, i.e. firms can choose the quality they wish to produce. In this case, location costs can signal product quality under certain conditions and thereby affect international trade flows. More specifically, intra-industry trade in vertical differentiated experience goods can be determined by information asymmetries about product quality.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG - (Standortkosten, Produktqualität und implizite Franchiseverträge)
In der internationalen Handelstheorie ist der Tatsache, daß die Konsumenten in vielen Fällen nur unvollständige Information über die Produktqualität besitzen, kaum Rechnung getragen worden. Die wenigen Arbeiten, die die Wirkungen asymmetrischer Information zwischen Herstellern und Konsumenten auf den internationalen Handel untersuchen, behandeln die Produktqualität als exogene Variable. Im Gegensatz hierzu wird in diesem Beitrag Produktqualität als eine endogene Variable angesehen, die von den Unternehmen gewählt werden kann. Es wird argumentiert, daß in diesem Fall die Standortkosten zur Signalisierung der Produktqualität eines Unternehmens herangezogen werden können. Es zeigt sich, daß unter bestimmten Bedingungen die geeignete Wahl von standortspezifischen variable Kosten in Verbindung mit Standortaustrittskosten zu einem Trenngleichgewicht führen kann, in dem an einem relativ teuren Standort Hochqualitätsprodukte und an einem relativ billigen Standort Niedrigqualitätsprodukte hergestellt werden. Aus diesen Überlegungen folgt, daß intra-industrieller Handel in vertikal differenzierten Erfahrungsgütern durch Informationsasymmetrien über die Produktqualität und internationalen Unterschieden in den spezifischen Standortkosten erklärt werden kann. Aufgrund der Anreizwirkungen der Standortkostenstrukur auf die Wahl der Produktqualität wird das Verhältnis zwischen Landesregierung und Unternehmen als ein implizites Franchiseverhältnis interpretiert.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG) in its series CIG Working Papers with number FS IV 98-08.

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Length: 34 pages
Date of creation: Sep 1998
Date of revision:
Publication status: Published in the Journal of International Economics, Vol. 52, October 2000, pp. 69-87.
Handle: RePEc:wzb:wzebiv:fsiv98-8

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Related research
Keywords: country-of-origin effects; location costs; product quality; intra-industry trade;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Raff, Horst & Srinivasan, Krishna, 1998. "Tax incentives for import-substituting foreign investment:: Does signaling play a role?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 167-193, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Chisik, Richard, 2003. "Export industry policy and reputational comparative advantage," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 423-451, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Birger Wernerfelt, 1988. "Umbrella Branding as a Signal of New Product Quality: An Example of Signalling by Posting a Bond," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(3), pages 458-466, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Milgrom, Paul & Roberts, John, 1982. "Limit Pricing and Entry under Incomplete Information: An Equilibrium Analysis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(2), pages 443-59, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Kyle Bagwell & Garey Ramey, 1988. "Advertising and Limit Pricing," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(1), pages 59-71, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Mayer, Colin, 1988. "New issues in corporate finance," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 1167-1183, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Qui, Larry D., 1994. "Optimal strategic trade policy under asymmetric information," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3-4), pages 333-354, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Rogerson, William P, 1987. "The Dissipation of Profits by Brand Name Investment and Entry when Price Guarantees Quality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(4), pages 797-809, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Justus Haucap & Christian Wey & Jens F. Barmbold, 1997. "Location Choice as a Signal for Product Quality: The Economics of 'Made in Germany'," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 153(3), pages 510-, September.
  13. Kyle Bagwell & Robert W. Staiger, 1988. "Private Cost Information and the Multinational Enterprise," NBER Working Papers 2657, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Collie, David & Hviid, Morten, 1993. " Export Subsidies as Signals of Competitiveness," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 95(3), pages 327-39.
  15. Tan, Chin Tiong & Farley, John U, 1987. " The Impact of Cultural Patterns on Cognition and Intention in Singapore," Journal of Consumer Research: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(4), pages 540-44, March.
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  18. Bagwell, Kyle & Staiger, Robert W., 1989. "The role of export subsidies when product quality is unknown," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1-2), pages 69-89, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Nelson, Phillip, 1970. "Information and Consumer Behavior," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(2), pages 311-29, March-Apr. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Telser, L G, 1980. "A Theory of Self-enforcing Agreements," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(1), pages 27-44, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Klein, Benjamin & Leffler, Keith B, 1981. "The Role of Market Forces in Assuring Contractual Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(4), pages 615-41, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Akerlof, George A, 1970. "The Market for 'Lemons': Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Jones, Ronald W. & Peter Neary, J., 1984. "The positive theory of international trade," Handbook of International Economics, in: R. W. Jones & P. B. Kenen (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 1-62 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Jean-Christophe Bureau & Estelle Gozlan & Stephan Marette, 2001. "Quality Signaling and International Trade in Food Products," Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) Publications 01-wp283, Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at Iowa State University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Eric Rasmusen, 2007. "A Reputation Model of Quality in North-South Trade," Working Papers 2007-06, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy. [Downloadable!]
  3. Justus Haucap & Christian Wey, 1999. "Standortwahl als Franchisingproblem," CIG Working Papers FS IV 99-08, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG). [Downloadable!]
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