Quality, variable markups, and welfare: A quantitative general equilibrium analysis of export prices

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fan, Haichao; Li, Yao Amber; Xu, Sichuang; Yeaple, Stephen R.
• 署名单位: Fudan University; Hong Kong University of Science & Technology; Hong Kong University of Science & Technology; The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen; The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen; Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania State University - University Park; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2020.103327
• 发表日期: 2020
• 关键词: quality; Variable markups; Export price; Washington apples effect; Specific trade costs

摘要

Modern trademodels attribute the dispersion of international prices to physical andman-made barriers to trade, to the pricing-to-market by heterogeneous producers and to differences in the quality of output offered by firms. This paper presents a tractable general equilibrium model that incorporates all three of these mechanisms. Our model allows us to confront Chinese firm-level data on the prices charged and revenues earnedwithin and across markets. We show that all three mechanisms are necessary to fit the distribution of prices and revenues across firms and markets. Accounting for endogenous quality heterogeneity across firms and markets is shown to be critical for the response of prices to trade and tariff shocks. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.