IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mos/moswps/2022-23.html

Importer Dispersion and Exchange Rate Pass-Through

Author

Listed:
  • Qingyuan Du

    (Department of Economics, Monash University)

  • Yalin Liu

    (Central University of Finance and Economics)

  • Jianwei Xu

    (Beijing Normal University)

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of importer dispersion on exchange rate pass-through. We show theoretically that greater importer dispersion leads to lower exporter markup, thereby causing a higher exchange rate pass-through. Empirically, we use Colombia’s transaction-level customs data to provide strong evidence supporting the theoretical prediction. The quantitative effect of importer dispersion on exchange rate pass-through is significant: the importer dispersion channel is at least as important as the traditional exporter heterogeneity channel. Our results are robust to various empirical specifications and become even stronger in the context of the dominant currency paradigm.

Suggested Citation

  • Qingyuan Du & Yalin Liu & Jianwei Xu, 2022. "Importer Dispersion and Exchange Rate Pass-Through," Monash Economics Working Papers 2022-23, Monash University, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:mos:moswps:2022-23
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://monash-econ-wps.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/RePEc/mos/moswps/2022-23.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Gita Gopinath & Emine Boz & Camila Casas & Federico J. Díez & Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas & Mikkel Plagborg-Møller, 2020. "Dominant Currency Paradigm," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(3), pages 677-719, March.
    3. Andrew B. Bernard & Andreas Moxnes & Karen Helene Ulltveit-Moe, 2018. "Two-Sided Heterogeneity and Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(3), pages 424-439, July.
    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. Burstein, Ariel T. & Neves, Joao C. & Rebelo, Sergio, 2003. "Distribution costs and real exchange rate dynamics during exchange-rate-based stabilizations," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(6), pages 1189-1214, September.
    6. repec:bla:scandj:v:91:y:1989:i:2:p:401-32 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Bernini, Michele & Tomasi, Chiara, 2015. "Exchange rate pass-through and product heterogeneity: Does quality matter on the import side?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 117-138.
    8. Arpita Chatterjee & Rafael Dix-Carneiro & Jade Vichyanond, 2013. "Multi-product Firms and Exchange Rate Fluctuations," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 77-110, May.
    9. 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.
    10. Xu, Jianwei & Du, Qingyuan & Wang, Yaqi, 2019. "Two-sided heterogeneity and exchange rate pass-through," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1-1.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    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. Natalie Chen & Wanyu Chung & Dennis Novy, 2022. "Vehicle Currency Pricing and Exchange Rate Pass-Through," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 312-351.
    2. Bolatto, Stefano & Grazzi, Marco & Tomasi, Chiara, 2022. "Export modes and firms’ adjustments to exchange rate movements," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Fracasso, Andrea & Secchi, Angelo & Tomasi, Chiara, 2022. "Export pricing and exchange rate expectations under uncertainty," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 135-152.
    4. 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.
    5. Natalie Chen & Wanyu Chung & Dennis Novy, 2022. "Vehicle Currency Pricing and Exchange Rate Pass-Through," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 312-351.
    6. 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).
    7. Apaitan, Tosapol & Manopimoke, Pym & Nookhwun, Nuwat & Pattararangrong, Jettawat, 2024. "Heterogeneity in exchange rate pass-through to import prices in Thailand: Evidence from micro data," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    8. Freitag, Andreas & Lein, Sarah M., 2023. "Endogenous product adjustment and exchange rate pass-through," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    9. Chen, Natalie & Juvenal, Luciana, 2016. "Quality, trade, and exchange rate pass-through," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 61-80.
    10. Malik Curuk & Jérôme Héricourt & Gonzague Vannoorenberghe, 2025. "Labor Market Power, Export Prices and Pass-through," Working Papers 2025-15, CEPII research center.
    11. Zou, Zongsen & Zhang, Yu & Wang, Meng & Wang, Xiuling, 2022. "Do export quality and destination income matter for exchange rate pass-through? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    12. Shah, Sayar Ahmad & Garg, Bhavesh, 2026. "Dynamics of exchange rate pass-through: The role of pricing strategies and economic shocks," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    13. Firanchuk, Alexander, 2018. "Imported Intermediate Goods and Incomplete Exchange Rate Pass-Through into Export Prices," EconStor Preprints 182400, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    14. Garetto, Stefania, 2016. "Firms' heterogeneity, incomplete information, and pass-through," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 168-179.
    15. Stefania Garetto, 2016. "Firms’ Heterogeneity, Incomplete Information, and Pass-Through," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series wp2016-004, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    16. 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.
    17. Wang, Yaqi & Yu, Miaojie, 2021. "Imports and RMB exchange rate pass-through: The role of quality sorting," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 470-487.
    18. Md Deluair Hossen, 2023. "Exchange Rate Pass-Through and Data Frequency: Firm-Level Evidence from Bangladesh," Papers 2303.04101, arXiv.org.
    19. 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.
    20. Li, Hongbin & Ma, Hong & Xu, Yuan, 2015. "How do exchange rate movements affect Chinese exports? — A firm-level investigation," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 148-161.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade

    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:mos:moswps:2022-23. 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: Simon Angus (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dxmonau.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.