IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/spmain/hal-03795736.html

Two-Sided Market Power in Firm-to-Firm Trade

Author

Listed:
  • Vanessa Alvariez

    (IDB - Inter-American Development Bank - Inter-American Development Bank)

  • Michele Fioretti

    (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Ayumu Ken Kikkawa

    (UBC - University of British Columbia [Canada])

  • Monica Morlacco

    (USC - University of Southern California)

Abstract

We develop a quantitative theory of prices in firm-to-firm trade with bilateral negotiations and two-sided market power. Markups reflect oligopoly and oligopsony forces, with relative bargaining power as weight. Cost pass-through elasticities into import prices can be incomplete or complete, depending on the exporter's and importer's bargaining power and market shares. In U.S. import data, we find that U.S. importers have substantial market power and disproportionate leverage in price negotiations. The estimated model produces accurate predictions of the impact of Trump tariffs on pair-level prices. At the aggregate level, ignoring two-sided market power could exaggerate tariff pass-through by about 60%.

Suggested Citation

  • Vanessa Alvariez & Michele Fioretti & Ayumu Ken Kikkawa & Monica Morlacco, 2022. "Two-Sided Market Power in Firm-to-Firm Trade," Sciences Po Economics Publications (main) hal-03795736, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-03795736
    DOI: 10.3386/w31253
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-03795736v2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-03795736v2/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3386/w31253?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman & Stephen J. Redding, 2024. "When Tariffs Disrupt Global Supply Chains," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(4), pages 988-1029, April.
    2. Goldberg, Linda & Tille, Cédric, 2013. "A bargaining theory of trade invoicing and pricing," Kiel Working Papers 1839, Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
    3. Rodrigo Adão & Arnaud Costinot & Dave Donaldson, 2023. "Putting Quantitative Models to the Test: An Application to Trump’s Trade War," NBER Working Papers 31321, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Auer, Raphael A. & Schoenle, Raphael S., 2016. "Market structure and exchange rate pass-through," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 60-77.
    5. Daron Acemoglu & Alireza Tahbaz-Salehi, 2025. "The Macroeconomics of Supply Chain Disruptions," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 92(2), pages 656-695.
    6. Nicolas Berman & Philippe Martin & Thierry Mayer, 2012. "How do Different Exporters React to Exchange Rate Changes?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(1), pages 437-492.
    7. Muthoo,Abhinay, 1999. "Bargaining Theory with Applications," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521576475, November.
    8. Cajal-Grossi, Julia & Macchiavello, Rocco & Noguera, Guillermo, 2019. "International buyers' sourcing and suppliers' markups in Bangladeshi garments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102612, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Fontagné, Lionel & Martin, Philippe & Orefice, Gianluca, 2018. "The international elasticity puzzle is worse than you think," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 115-129.
    10. Vasco M Carvalho & Makoto Nirei & Yukiko U Saito & Alireza Tahbaz-Salehi, 2021. "Supply Chain Disruptions: Evidence from the Great East Japan Earthquake," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(2), pages 1255-1321.
    11. Burstein, Ariel & Gopinath, Gita, 2014. "International Prices and Exchange Rates," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 391-451, Elsevier.
    12. Chris Edmond & Virgiliu Midrigan & Daniel Yi Xu, 2023. "How Costly Are Markups?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(7), pages 1619-1675.
    13. Feenstra, Robert C, 1994. "New Product Varieties and the Measurement of International Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(1), pages 157-177, March.
    14. Andrew B. Bernard & Emmanuel Dhyne & Glenn Magerman & Kalina Manova & Andreas Moxnes, 2022. "The Origins of Firm Heterogeneity: A Production Network Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(7), pages 1765-1804.
    15. Fariha Kamal & Ryan Monarch, 2018. "Identifying foreign suppliers in U.S. import data," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 117-139, February.
    16. Andrew Atkeson & Ariel Burstein, 2008. "Pricing-to-Market, Trade Costs, and International Relative Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1998-2031, December.
    17. Rocco Macchiavello & Ameet Morjaria, 2015. "The Value of Relationships: Evidence from a Supply Shock to Kenyan Rose Exports," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(9), pages 2911-2945, September.
    18. Antrà s, Pol, 2019. "Conceptual Aspects of Global Value Chains," CEPR Discussion Papers 14191, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Aaron Flaaen & Ali Hortaçsu & Felix Tintelnot, 2020. "The Production Relocation and Price Effects of US Trade Policy: The Case of Washing Machines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(7), pages 2103-2127, July.
    20. Henrick Horn & Asher Wolinsky, 1988. "Bilateral Monopolies and Incentives for Merger," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(3), pages 408-419, Autumn.
    21. Mary Amiti & Oleg Itskhoki & Jozef Konings, 2014. "Importers, Exporters, and Exchange Rate Disconnect," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(7), pages 1942-1978, July.
    22. Jean-Noël Barrot & Julien Sauvagnat, 2016. "Input Specificity and the Propagation of Idiosyncratic Shocks in Production Networks," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(3), pages 1543-1592.
    23. Mert Demirer & Michael Rubens, 2025. "Welfare Effects of Buyer and Seller Power," NBER Working Papers 33371, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Soderbery, Anson, 2018. "Trade elasticities, heterogeneity, and optimal tariffs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 44-62.
    25. Gita Gopinath & Oleg Itskhoki, 2011. "In Search of Real Rigidities," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2010, volume 25, pages 261-309, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Lars A. Stole & Jeffrey Zwiebel, 1996. "Intra-firm Bargaining under Non-binding Contracts," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 63(3), pages 375-410.
    27. Justin Pierce & Peter Schott, 2009. "A Concordance Between Ten-Digit U.S. Harmonized System Codes and SIC/NAICS Product Classes and Industries," Working Papers 09-41, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    28. Christian Broda & David E. Weinstein, 2006. "Globalization and the Gains From Variety," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(2), pages 541-585.
    29. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/3lmdaefcr886ao8sahjmam30ke is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Nicolas Berman & Philippe Martin & Thierry Mayer, 2012. "How do Different Exporters React to Exchange Rate Changes?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 127(1), pages 437-492.
    31. Julia Cajal-Grossi & Rocco Macchiavello & Guillermo Noguera, 2023. "Buyers’ Sourcing Strategies and Suppliers’ Markups in Bangladeshi Garments," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(4), pages 2391-2450.
    32. Antoine Berthou & Lionel Fontagné, 2016. "Variable Trade Costs, Composition Effects and the Intensive Margin of Trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 54-71, January.
    33. Emmanuel Dhyne & Ayumu Ken Kikkawa & Magne Mogstad & Felix Tintelnot, 2021. "Trade and Domestic Production Networks," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(2), pages 643-668.
    34. Joaquin Blaum & Claire Lelarge & Michael Peters, 2018. "The Gains from Input Trade with Heterogeneous Importers," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 77-127, October.
    35. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen & Peter K. Schott, 2006. "Transfer Pricing by U.S.-Based Multinational Firms," NBER Working Papers 12493, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Pol Antràs & Davin Chor, 2013. "Organizing the Global Value Chain," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(6), pages 2127-2204, November.
    37. Fitzgerald, Doireann & Haller, Stefanie, 2018. "Exporters and shocks," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 154-171.
    38. Daron Acemoglu & Alireza Tahbaz-Salehi, 2019. "Firms, Failures, and Fluctuations," 2019 Meeting Papers 1148, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    39. Fontaine, François & Martin, Julien & Mejean, Isabelle, 2020. "Price discrimination within and across EMU markets: Evidence from French exporters," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    40. Sanderson, Eleanor & Windmeijer, Frank, 2016. "A weak instrument F-test in linear IV models with multiple endogenous variables," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 190(2), pages 212-221.
    41. Allan Collard-Wexler & Gautam Gowrisankaran & Robin S. Lee, 2019. ""Nash-in-Nash" Bargaining: A Microfoundation for Applied Work," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(1), pages 163-195.
    42. Kim J. Ruhl, 2015. "How Well Is US Intrafirm Trade Measured?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 524-529, May.
    43. Bresnahan, Timothy F., 1989. "Empirical studies of industries with market power," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 17, pages 1011-1057, Elsevier.
    44. Roger G. Noll, 2005. ""Buyer Power" and Economic Policy," Discussion Papers 04-008, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    45. Pablo D Fajgelbaum & Pinelopi K Goldberg & Patrick J Kennedy & Amit K Khandelwal, 2020. "The Return to Protectionism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(1), pages 1-55.
    46. Pol Antràs, 2015. "Global Production: Firms, Contracts, and Trade Structure," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10613, December.
    47. Emmanuel Dhyne & Ayumu Ken Kikkawa & Glenn Magerman, 2022. "Imperfect Competition in Firm-to-Firm Trade," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(5), pages 1933-1970.
    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. Malik Curuk & Jérôme Héricourt & Gonzague Vannoorenberghe, 2025. "Labor Market Power, Export Prices and Pass-through," Working Papers 2025-15, CEPII research center.
    2. Eaton, Jonathan & Eslava, Marcela & Jinkins, David & Krizan, C.J. & Tybout, James, 2025. "A search and learning model of export dynamics," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    3. Dhyne, Emmanuel & Kikkawa, Ayumu Ken & Kong, Xianglong & Mogstad, Magne & Tintelnot, Felix, 2023. "Endogenous production networks with fixed costs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    4. Felipe Brugués, 2026. "Take the Goods and Run: Contracting Frictions and Market Power in Supply Chains," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 116(2), pages 582-626, February.
    5. Huang, Hanwei & Manova, Kalina & Perello, Oscar & Pisch, Frank, 2024. "Firm heterogeneity and imperfect competition in global production networks," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 126808, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Michele Fioretti & Junnan He & Jorge Tamayo, 2024. "Prices and Concentration: A U-Shape? Theory and Evidence from Renewables," Working Papers hal-04631762, HAL.
    7. Vanessa Alviarez & Michele Fioretti & Ken Kikkawa & Monica Morlacco, 2025. "Concentration and Markups in International Trade," CESifo Working Paper Series 12046, CESifo.
    8. Li, Yao Amber & Lu, Lingfei & Zhao, Tengyu, 2025. "Exchange rate pass-through and importers’ credit constraints: Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    9. Alessandro Ferrari & Andreas Freitag & Eric Kammerlander & Sarah Lein & Frank Pisch, 2026. "Exchange-rate pass-through and invoicing currency choice in international production networks," CEP Discussion Papers dp2154, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    10. Fujiy,Brian C. & Ghose,Devaki & Khanna,Gaurav, 2024. "Production Networks and Firm-level Elasticities of Substitution," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10782, The World Bank.
    11. Kossi Messanh Agbekponou & Ilaria Fusacchia, 2024. "Positioning and bargaining power in agri-food global value chains," Post-Print hal-04666067, HAL.
    12. Kossi Messanh Agbekponou & Ilaria Fusacchia, 2024. "Positioning and bargaining power in agri-food global value chains," Post-Print hal-04666053, HAL.
    13. Conteduca, Francesco Paolo & Panon, Ludovic, 2024. "Natural Disasters and Markups," MPRA Paper 125324, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Kossi Messanh Agbekponou & Ilaria Fusacchia, 2023. "Global value chains' position and value capture: Firm evidence in agri-food industry," Post-Print hal-04321612, HAL.
    15. Toraubally, Waseem A., 2023. "Comparative advantage with many goods: New treatment and results," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 311(3), pages 1188-1201.
    16. Kossi Messanh Agbekponou & Ilaria Fusacchia, 2023. "Global value chains' position and value capture: Firm evidence in agri-food industry," Post-Print hal-04321670, HAL.

    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. Yusuf Emre Akgündüz & Salih Fendoğlu, 2022. "Export Prices, Imported Inputs, and Domestic Supply Networks," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 70(3), pages 383-419, September.
    2. Nagengast, Arne J. & Bursian, Dirk & Menz, Jan-Oliver, 2021. "Dynamic pricing and exchange rate pass-through: Evidence from transaction-level data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    3. Zhang, Wenqian & Wei, Hao, 2025. "The impact of RMB exchange rate changes on the prices of imported products by Chinese firms," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 464-478.
    4. Huang, Hanwei & Manova, Kalina & Perello, Oscar & Pisch, Frank, 2024. "Firm heterogeneity and imperfect competition in global production networks," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 126808, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Devereux, Michael B. & Dong, Wei & Tomlin, Ben, 2017. "Importers and exporters in exchange rate pass-through and currency invoicing," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 187-204.
    6. Bolatto, Stefano & Grazzi, Marco & Tomasi, Chiara, 2022. "Export modes and firms’ adjustments to exchange rate movements," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    7. Berthou, Antoine & Mayer, Thierry & Mésonnier, Jean-Stéphane, 2024. "Good connections : Bank specialization and the tariff elasticity of exports," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    8. Gimenez-Perales, Victor, 2024. "The dynamics of importer–exporter connections," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Conteduca, Francesco Paolo & Panon, Ludovic, 2024. "Natural Disasters and Markups," MPRA Paper 123008, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/3lmdaefcr886ao8sahjmam30ke is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Sebastian Heise, 2019. "Firm-to-Firm Relationships and the Pass-Through of Shocks: Theory and Evidence," Staff Reports 896, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    12. Piveteau, Paul & Smagghue, Gabriel, 2019. "Estimating firm product quality using trade data," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 217-232.
    13. Pol Antràs & Davin Chor, 2021. "Global Value Chains," NBER Working Papers 28549, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Gimenez-Perales, Victor, 2024. "The dynamics of importer–exporter connections," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 302106, Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
    15. Sebastian Heise, 2016. "Firm-to-Firm Relationships and Price Rigidity - Theory and Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 6226, CESifo.
    16. Fontagné, Lionel & Martin, Philippe & Orefice, Gianluca, 2018. "The international elasticity puzzle is worse than you think," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 115-129.
    17. Mary Amiti & Oleg Itskhoki & Jozef Konings, 2022. "Dominant Currencies: How Firms Choose Currency Invoicing and Why it Matters," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 137(3), pages 1435-1493.
    18. Rodnyansky, A., 2018. "(Un)Competitive Devaluations and Firm Dynamics," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1888, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    19. Emmanuel Dhyne & Ayumu Ken Kikkawa & Glenn Magerman, 2022. "Imperfect Competition in Firm-to-Firm Trade," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(5), pages 1933-1970.
    20. Bas, Maria & Fontagné, Lionel & Iodice, Irene & Orefice, Gianluca, 2025. "Heterogeneous trade elasticity and managerial skills," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    21. Gadenne, Lucie & Nandi, Tushar K. & Rathelot, Roland, 2019. "Taxation and Supplier Networks : Evidence from India," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1208, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F62 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Macroeconomic Impacts

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hal:spmain:hal-03795736. 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: Contact - Sciences Po Department of Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.