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Retailers and Consumers: The pass-through of import price changes

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Listed:
  • Berner, Eike
  • Birg, Laura
  • Boddin, Dominik

Abstract

In this paper, we estimate pass-through rates of import price changes to retail prices across retailers and consumers for apparel purchases in Germany for the period of 2000 to 2007. We find that high-price retailers do not pass through changes in the import price. Pass-through rates for low-price retailers are 53% within 3 months. Consequently, pass-through rates for low-income households are 58%, significantly larger than those for high-income households. We then present one possible explanation for these observations in a theoretical model with endogenous vertical product differentiation due to bundling an ex-ante homogeneous import good with services. Following an import price change, retailers who sell a cheaper unbundled product change prices to a greater extent than retailers who sell a higher-priced bundle of product and service.

Suggested Citation

  • Berner, Eike & Birg, Laura & Boddin, Dominik, 2016. "Retailers and Consumers: The pass-through of import price changes," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 133 [rev.], University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cegedp:133r
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    2. Matthew T. Cole & Carsten Eckel, 2014. "Tariffs Passing Through Retailers: Do Tariffs Actually Protect Domestic Manufacturers?," Working Papers 1404, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
    3. Cole, Matthew T. & Eckel, Carsten, 2018. "Tariffs and markups in retailing," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 139-153.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    import prices; pass-through; retailers; households;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General

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