IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ajagec/v105y2023i1p174-194.html

Markups and export behavior: Firm‐level evidence from the French food processing industry

Author

Listed:
  • Yaghoob Jafari
  • Maximilian Koppenberg
  • Stefan Hirsch
  • Thomas Heckelei

Abstract

The relationship between a firm's markups and its export behavior is highly relevant to individual firms' strategic decisions as well as to governments' policies regarding competition. We investigate the impact of markups on firms' decisions to export and resulting export intensity in the French food processing industry. Moreover, we assess the effect of entry into and remaining in the export market on firms' markups and evaluate differences in markups between exporters and non‐exporters. Our results suggest that higher markups lead to both increased participation in the export market and greater export intensity. In addition, we find that firms obtain higher markups by entering and remaining in the export market. Finally, our results suggest that exporters generate higher markups, on average, than non‐exporters. Similar results are found when controlling for differences in firms' productivity. Our findings suggest that trade policies designed to increase firms' participation in export markets, such as limits to border restrictions, may counteract domestic competition policies targeted at price–cost margins.

Suggested Citation

  • Yaghoob Jafari & Maximilian Koppenberg & Stefan Hirsch & Thomas Heckelei, 2023. "Markups and export behavior: Firm‐level evidence from the French food processing industry," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 174-194, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:105:y:2023:i:1:p:174-194
    DOI: 10.1111/ajae.12292
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12292
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ajae.12292?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Chaney, 2008. "Distorted Gravity: The Intensive and Extensive Margins of International Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(4), pages 1707-1721, September.
    2. Carl Gaigné & Karine Latouche & Stéphane Turolla, 2015. "Vertical ownership and export performance: firm-level evidence from France," Working Papers SMART 15-07, INRAE UMR SMART.
    3. Mertens, Matthias, 2020. "Labor market power and the distorting effects of international trade," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Jan De Loecker, 2013. "Detecting Learning by Exporting," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(3), pages 1-21, August.
    5. Giulio Cainelli & Andrea Fracasso & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2015. "Spatial agglomeration and productivity in Italy: A panel smooth transition regression approach," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94, pages 39-67, November.
    6. Sylvain Weber, 2010. "bacon: An effective way to detect outliers in multivariate data using Stata (and Mata)," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 10(3), pages 331-338, September.
    7. Céline Bonnet & Zohra Bouamra-Mechemache, 2016. "Organic Label, Bargaining Power, and Profit-sharing in the French Fluid Milk Market," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(1), pages 113-133.
    8. Hallak, Juan Carlos & Sivadasan, Jagadeesh, 2013. "Product and process productivity: Implications for quality choice and conditional exporter premia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 53-67.
    9. Elhanan Helpman & Marc Melitz & Yona Rubinstein, 2008. "Estimating Trade Flows: Trading Partners and Trading Volumes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(2), pages 441-487.
    10. Thomas Chaney, 2008. "Distorted Gravity: The Intensive and Extensive Margins of International Trade," SciencePo Working papers hal-03579844, HAL.
    11. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/6apm7lruv088iagm4rv2c33jtg is not listed on IDEAS
    12. David Schwartzman, 1959. "The Effect of Monopoly on Price," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 67(4), pages 352-352.
    13. Giannis Karagiannis & Magnus Kellermann & Simon Pröll & Klaus Salhofer, 2018. "Markups and product differentiation in the German brewing sector," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 61-76, December.
    14. Cragg, John G, 1971. "Some Statistical Models for Limited Dependent Variables with Application to the Demand for Durable Goods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 39(5), pages 829-844, September.
    15. Stefan Hirsch & Ashok Mishra & Niklas Möhring & Robert Finger, 2020. "Revisiting firm flexibility and efficiency: evidence from the EU dairy processing industry," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 47(3), pages 971-1008.
    16. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2009. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1403-1448.
    17. Jan De Loecker & Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, 2014. "Firm Performance in a Global Market," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 201-227, August.
    18. De Loecker, Jan, 2007. "Do exports generate higher productivity? Evidence from Slovenia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 69-98, September.
    19. Tarr, David G., 1979. "Cyclical dumping : The case of steel products," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 57-63, February.
    20. Daniele Curzi & Valentina Raimondi & Alessandro Olper, 2015. "Editor's choice Quality upgrading, competition and trade policy: evidence from the agri-food sector," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 42(2), pages 239-267.
    21. Richard J. Sexton & Tian Xia, 2018. "Increasing Concentration in the Agricultural Supply Chain: Implications for Market Power and Sector Performance," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 229-251, October.
    22. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    23. Jože P. Damijan & Črt Kostevc, 2006. "Learning-by-Exporting: Continuous Productivity Improvements or Capacity Utilization Effects? Evidence from Slovenian Firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 142(3), pages 599-614, October.
    24. Baldwin, John R. & Yan, Beiling, 2015. "Empirical Evidence from Canadian Firm-level Data on the Relationship Between Trade and Productivity Performance," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2015097e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    25. Hall, Robert E, 1988. "The Relation between Price and Marginal Cost in U.S. Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(5), pages 921-947, October.
    26. Antoniades, Alexis, 2015. "Heterogeneous Firms, Quality, and Trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 263-273.
    27. Emmanuelle Chevassus-Lozza & Karine Latouche, 2012. "Firms, markets and trade costs: access of French exporters to European agri-food markets," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 39(2), pages 257-288, April.
    28. John Sutton, 2007. "Quality, Trade and the Moving Window: The Globalisation Process," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(524), pages 469-498, November.
    29. McQuoid, Alexander & Rubini, Loris, 2019. "Markup Premia Of Exporters: Because Of Exporting, Or In Spite Of It?," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(7), pages 2959-3009, October.
    30. Eum, Jihyun & Sheldon, Ian & Thompson, Stanley R., 2021. "Product Quality in Food and Agricultural Trade: Firm Heterogeneity and the Impact of Trade Costs," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 46(01), January.
    31. Johnson, Robert C., 2012. "Trade and prices with heterogeneous firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 43-56.
    32. Jan De Loecker & Paul T. Scott, 2016. "Estimating market power Evidence from the US Brewing Industry," NBER Working Papers 22957, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    33. Zhang, Hongyong & Zhu, Lianming, 2017. "Markups and exporting behavior of foreign affiliates," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 445-455.
    34. Curzi, Daniele & Olper, Alessandro, 2012. "Export behavior of Italian food firms: Does product quality matter?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 493-503.
    35. Caves, Richard E., 1985. "International trade and industrial organization: Problems, solved and unsolved," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 377-395, August.
    36. Umut Kilinç, 2019. "Export Destination Characteristics and Markups: The Role of Country Size," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(341), pages 116-138, January.
    37. Wilhelmsson Fredrik, 2006. "Market Power and European Competition in the Swedish Food Industry," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-26, October.
    38. Caves, Richard E, 1980. "International Trade and Industrial Organization: Introduction," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 113-117, December.
    39. Richard Baldwin & James Harrigan, 2011. "Zeros, Quality, and Space: Trade Theory and Trade Evidence," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 60-88, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xin Wang & Yanping Song & Wei Huang, 2026. "The effects of agricultural machinery services and land fragmentation on farmers' straw returning behavior," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(1), pages 104-126, January.
    2. Lin Sun & Jiejing Huang & Huijie Yu & Michael Reed, 2026. "Trade Policy Uncertainty, Competition, and Markups of Chinese Agricultural Firms: Evidence From the China‐ASEAN Free Trade Agreement," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 57(2), March.
    3. Koppenberg, Maximilian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Hirsch, Stefan, 2023. "Food aid and violent conflict: A review and Empiricist’s companion," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    4. Dao T. H. Nguyen & Ari Kokko & Thong T. Nguyen, 2024. "Multinational enterprises and local firms’ export market entry: A panel data analysis of Vietnam's food processing industry," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(4), pages 975-1001, October.
    5. Koppenberg, Maximilian & Wimmer, Stefan & Hirsch, Stefan, 2025. "Has corporate greed driven inflation in the European Union? An analysis of the food and beverage industry," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    6. Dela‐Dem Doe Fiankor & Bernhard Dalheimer & Gabriele Mack, 2025. "Pesticide regulatory heterogeneity, foreign sourcing, and global agricultural value chains," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 107(2), pages 611-634, March.
    7. Arne Henningsen & Guy Low & David Wuepper & Tobias Dalhaus & Hugo Storm & Dagim Belay & Stefan Hirsch, 2026. "Estimating Causal Effects With Observational Data: Guidelines for Agricultural and Applied Economists," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(2), pages 356-382, June.
    8. Jafari, Yaghoob, . "Price Differences Between Organic and Conventional Products in E-Commerce," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 74.
    9. Marta Fernández‐Olmos & Ana F. Gargallo‐Castel & Ruimin Wang, 2024. "The effects of business associations in the export–survival relationship: An application to the DOC Rioja wine industry," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 31-45, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Flach, Lisandra & Unger, Florian, 2022. "Quality and gravity in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    2. Agbekponou, Kossi-Messanh & Cheptea, Angela & Latouche, Karine, 2022. "Quality upgrading and position in global value chains," 2022: Transforming Global Value Chains, December 11-13, Clearwater Beach, FL 339411, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    3. Bing Li & Linyue Li & Rou Li & Yunsong Yue, 2023. "Internet and firms’ exports and imports: Firm level evidence from China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 835-872, March.
    4. Brambilla, Irene & Porto, Guido G., 2016. "High-income export destinations, quality and wages," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 21-35.
    5. Nicholas Bloom & Kalina Manova & John Van Reenen & Stephen Teng Sun & Zhihong Yu, 2018. "Managing Trade: Evidence from China and the US," NBER Working Papers 24718, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Shen, Binchao, 2025. "Intermediated trade and innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    7. Kossi Messanh Agbekponou & Angela Cheptea & Karine Latouche, 2023. "Quality upgrading and position in global value chains: Firm-level evidence from the French agri-food industry," Post-Print hal-04321480, HAL.
    8. Carsten Eckel & Florian Unger, 2023. "Credit Constraints, Endogenous Innovations, And Price Setting In International Trade," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 64(4), pages 1715-1747, November.
    9. Maximilian Koppenberg & Stefan Hirsch, 2022. "Markup estimation: A comparison of contemporary methods at the example of European food retailers," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(1), pages 108-133, January.
    10. Ian M. Sheldon, 2021. "Reflections on a Career as an Industrial Organization and International Economist," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 468-499, June.
    11. Antoine Gervais, 2015. "Product quality, firm heterogeneity and trade liberalization," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 523-541, June.
    12. José Antonio Rodríguez-López, 2011. "Prices and Exchange Rates: A Theory of Disconnect," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 78(3), pages 1135-1177.
    13. Kossi Messanh Agbekponou & Ilaria Fusacchia, 2024. "Positioning and bargaining power in agri-food global value chains," Post-Print hal-04666067, HAL.
    14. Ge, Ying & Lai, Huiwen & Zhu, Susan Chun, 2015. "Multinational price premium," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 181-199.
    15. Ziran Ding, 2022. "Firm heterogeneity, variable markups, and multinational production: A review from trade policy perspective," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 1311-1357, December.
    16. Schetter, Ulrich, 2024. "Quality differentiation, comparative advantage, and international specialization across products," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    17. Crinò, Rosario & Ogliari, Laura, 2017. "Financial imperfections, product quality, and international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 63-84.
    18. Jamil, Nida & Chaudhry, Theresa Thompson & Chaudhry, Azam, 2022. "Trading textiles along the new silk route: The impact on Pakistani firms of gaining market access to China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    19. Hallak, Juan Carlos & Sivadasan, Jagadeesh, 2013. "Product and process productivity: Implications for quality choice and conditional exporter premia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 53-67.
    20. Xuefeng, Qian & Yaşar, Mahmut, 2016. "Export Market Diversification and Firm Productivity: Evidence from a Large Developing Country," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 28-47.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:105:y:2023:i:1:p:174-194. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8276 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.