IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/kdijep/330701.html

Contract type selection in Korea's large-scale retail sector

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Jinkook
  • Seo, Myoungshik

Abstract

Using firm-level data on 7,000 suppliers transacting with 26 major South Korean retailers, this study analyzes how contract types, referring to direct purchase, special contract, consignment, and store lease types, are determined and how they affect supplier performance. Contract choice varies systematically by retail format and product category, shaped by transaction costs and asset specificity. Regression results show that direct purchases are positively associated with advanced retailer procurement systems, high supplier trust in the retailer, and stronger supplier bargaining power, while special contracts are more prevalent when supplier-specific investments are required. Instrumental variable estimates indicate that a 1 percentage point increase in the special contract share reduces supplier revenue by approximately KRW 259 million. Regulatory enforcement data reveal that over 75% of unfair trade practices occur in direct and special contract transactions, with special contracts showing the highest violation rate per transaction. These findings suggest that contract type is a key channel through which bargaining asymmetries affect economic outcomes. Policy implications include enhancing supplier bargaining power and improving the oversight of contract-specific risks.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Jinkook & Seo, Myoungshik, 2025. "Contract type selection in Korea's large-scale retail sector," KDI Journal of Economic Policy, Korea Development Institute (KDI), vol. 47(3), pages 1-29.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:kdijep:330701
    DOI: 10.23895/kdijep.2025.47.3.1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/330701/1/193966957X.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.23895/kdijep.2025.47.3.1?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. Ru, Jun & Wang, Yunzeng, 2010. "Consignment contracting: Who should control inventory in the supply chain?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 201(3), pages 760-769, March.
    2. Li, Jia & Moul, Charles C., 2015. "Who should handle retail? Vertical contracts, customer service, and social welfare in a Chinese mobile phone market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 29-43.
    3. Berry, Steven & Levinsohn, James & Pakes, Ariel, 1995. "Automobile Prices in Market Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(4), pages 841-890, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Qizhong Yang & Keiichiro Honda & Tsunehiro Otsuki, 2019. "Structural demand estimation of the response to food safety regulations in the Japanese poultry market," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(3), pages 367-385, September.
    2. Ariel Pakes & Jack Porter, 2024. "Moment inequalities for multinomial choice with fixed effects," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 15(1), pages 1-25, January.
    3. Zhang, Yuxiang & Liu, Yizao, 2023. "Reducing Added Sugar Intake: The Impact of Updated Nutrition Facts Panel," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335813, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Michael Cohen & Rui Huang, 2012. "Corporate Social Responsibility for Kids’ Sake: A Dynamic Model of Firm Participation," Working Papers 12, University of Connecticut, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy.
    5. Tin Cheuk Leung, 2013. "What Is the True Loss Due to Piracy? Evidence from Microsoft Office in Hong Kong," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(3), pages 1018-1029, July.
    6. Ensar Yılmaz & Zeynep Kaplan, 2022. "Heterogeneity of market power: firm-level evidence," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 1207-1228, May.
    7. Donna, Javier D. & Pereira, Pedro & Trindade, Andre & Yoshida, Renan C., 2020. "Direct-to-Consumer Sales by Manufacturers and Bargaining," MPRA Paper 105773, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Kaplow, Louis & Shapiro, Carl, 2007. "Antitrust," Handbook of Law and Economics, in: A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell (ed.), Handbook of Law and Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 15, pages 1073-1225, Elsevier.
    9. Ho, Chun-Yu, 2012. "Market structure, welfare, and banking reform in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 291-313.
    10. Jeremy T. Fox, 2010. "Estimating the Employer Switching Costs and Wage Responses of Forward-Looking Engineers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(2), pages 357-412, April.
    11. Haerang Park, 2021. "Testing for Pricing Behavior in the Mortgage Loan Market," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 270-293, September.
    12. Tovar, Jorge, 2012. "Consumers’ Welfare and Trade Liberalization: Evidence from the Car Industry in Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 808-820.
    13. Patrick Bajari & Jeremy Fox & Stephen Ryan, 2008. "Evaluating wireless carrier consolidation using semiparametric demand estimation," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 6(4), pages 299-338, December.
    14. Brissimis, Sophocles N. & Delis, Manthos D., 2011. "Bank-level estimates of market power," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 212(3), pages 508-517, August.
    15. Pereira, Pedro & Ribeiro, Tiago, 2011. "The impact on broadband access to the Internet of the dual ownership of telephone and cable networks," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 283-293, March.
    16. Putsis, William Jr. & Dhar, Ravi, 2001. "An empirical analysis of the determinants of category expenditure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 277-291, June.
    17. Hovhannisyan, Vardges & Stiegert, Kyle W. & Bozic, Marin, 2013. "On Endogeneity Of Retail Market Power In An Equilibrium Analysis: A Control Function Approach," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 149830, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. Mogens Fosgerau & André de Palma, 2016. "Generalized entropy models," Working Papers hal-01291347, HAL.
    19. Xiaohong Chen & Andres Santos, 2018. "Overidentification in Regular Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 86(5), pages 1771-1817, September.
    20. Julie Holland Mortimer, 2007. "Price Discrimination, Copyright Law, and Technological Innovation: Evidence from the Introduction of DVDs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 1307-1350.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law

    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:zbw:kdijep:330701. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/kdiiikr.html .

    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.