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Price Discrimination within and across EMU Markets: Evidence from French Exporters

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  • François Fontaine
  • Julien Martin
  • Isabelle Mejean

Abstract

We study the cross-sectional dispersion of prices paid by EMU importers for French products. We document a significant level of price dispersion both within product categories across exporters, and within exporters across buyers. This latter source of price discrepancies, sellers' price discrimination across buyers, is indicative of deviations from the law-of-one price. Price discrimination (i) is substantial within the EU, within the euro area, and within EMU countries; (ii) has not decreased over the last two decades; (iii) is more prevalent among the largest firms and for more differentiated products; (iv) is lower among retailers and wholesalers; (v) is also observed within almost perfectly homogenous product categories, which suggests that a non-negligible share of price discrimination is triggered by heterogeneous markups rather than quality or composition effects. We then estimate a rich statistical decomposition of the variance of prices to shed light on exporters' pricing strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • François Fontaine & Julien Martin & Isabelle Mejean, 2019. "Price Discrimination within and across EMU Markets: Evidence from French Exporters," NBER Working Papers 26246, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26246
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Goldberg, Pinelopi K. & Verboven, Frank, 2005. "Market integration and convergence to the Law of One Price: evidence from the European car market," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 49-73, January.
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    4. Doireann Fitzgerald & Stefanie Haller, 2014. "Pricing-to-Market: Evidence From Plant-Level Prices," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 81(2), pages 761-786.
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    6. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716.
    7. Hausmann, Ricardo & Hidalgo, Cesar, 2014. "The Atlas of Economic Complexity: Mapping Paths to Prosperity," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262525429.
    8. Alberto Cavallo, 2018. "More Amazon Effects: Online Competition and Pricing Behaviors," NBER Working Papers 25138, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F4 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance

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