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Cross-border shopping: Evidence and welfare implications for Switzerland

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  • Burstein, Ariel
  • Lein, Sarah
  • Vogel, Jonathan

Abstract

Consumers access foreign goods by purchasing them domestically or shopping abroad. We present new facts on cross-border shopping by Swiss households showing, for example, that prices of identical products are lower in neighboring countries, cross-border shopping shares fall with distance to the border, and price gaps and cross-border shopping shares rose following the 2015 Swiss Franc appreciation. We use a simple model of cross-border shopping to quantify how variation across space in cross-border shopping results in heterogeneous changes in cost-of-living in response to changes in international prices such as the 2015 Swiss Franc Appreciation and the 2020 Covid-19-related closing of the border.

Suggested Citation

  • Burstein, Ariel & Lein, Sarah & Vogel, Jonathan, 2024. "Cross-border shopping: Evidence and welfare implications for Switzerland," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:inecon:v:152:y:2024:i:c:s0022199624001429
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2024.104015
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cross-border shopping; Exchange rates; Gains from trade;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
    • F60 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - General

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