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Inside the White Box: Unpacking the Determinants of Quality and Vertical Specialization

Author

Listed:
  • Esteban Jaimovich

    (University of Surrey)

  • Boryana Madzharova

    (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

  • Vincenzo Merella

    (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)

Abstract

This paper explores patterns of quality differentiation and specialization relying on model-level panel data of retail sales and prices of refrigerators across 23 countries in the European Union. Unlike customs data aggregated at the product category, typically used in the literature, model-level data allow us to test for the presence of nonhomotheticities by comparing market shares of identical models across different markets. We measure quality at the model level, account for varying willingness-to- pay for quality at different levels of income, and link quality measures to objective model attributes. Using originally assembled data on the country of manufacture of each model, we study patterns of quality specialization by brands with plants in multiple countries. We find that _rms locate the production of their higher-quality models in richer countries, and argue that such patterns of quality specialization are driven mainly by a home-market effect linked to nonhomothetic preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Esteban Jaimovich & Boryana Madzharova & Vincenzo Merella, 2020. "Inside the White Box: Unpacking the Determinants of Quality and Vertical Specialization," School of Economics Discussion Papers 0620, School of Economics, University of Surrey.
    • Handle: RePEc:sur:surrec:0620
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    File URL: https://repec.som.surrey.ac.uk/2020/DP06-20.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Picard, P.M. & Tampieri, A., 2024. "Quality and trade with many countries and industries," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    3. Esteban Jaimovich & Boryana Madzharova & Vincenzo Merella, 2024. "Spreading the Good Apples Out: Market Entry Dynamics of Quality-Differentiated Products," CESifo Working Paper Series 11529, CESifo.
    4. Vincenzo Merella & Josef Tauser, 2022. "Import Quality in Former Centrally Planned EU Countries," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 684 JEL Classification: F, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    5. Dorothee Hillrichs, 2025. "Foreign Market Access’ Role for Export Quality," CESifo Working Paper Series 11906, CESifo.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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