KCG Journal Articles

International Trade and Retail Market Performance and Structure: Theory and Empirical Evidence

30th August 2018
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Authors: Philipp Meinen and Horst Raff (Forthcoming, Journal of International Economics)

Based on a theoretical model featuring heterogeneous retailers that may source globally and operate as chains, we derive a number of hypotheses that link trade integration to retail firm performance and to the structure of retail markets. We empirically test these predictions using Danish microdata for the period 1999 to 2008. We find that importing retailers are larger, more profitable, and have a higher propensity to have multiple shops than domestically sourcing[…]

Incentives through Inventory Control in Supply Chains

19th June 2018
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Authors: Zhan Qu, Horst Raff and Nicolas Schmitt (International Journal of Industrial Organization 59, 2018, 486-513, International Journal of Industrial Organization)

The paper shows that taking inventory control out of the hands of competitive or exclusive retailers and assigning it to a manufacturer increases the value of a supply chain especially
for goods whose demand is highly volatile. This is because doing so solves incentive distortions[…]

Attracting FDI in Middle-skilled Supply Chains

15th June 2018
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Authors: Theordore Moran, Holger Görg, Adnan Seric and Christiane Krieger-Boden (Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, 12 (2018-26), 1-9)

While popular opinion often pictures FDI flowing in search of lowest-wage, lowest-skilled activities in emerging markets, actual FDI to such countries increasingly addresses medium to high-skilled manufacturing sectors. Such FDI might be called “Quality FDI” that contributes to the creation of decent and value-adding jobs, enhancing the skill base of host economies, facilitating transfer of technology, knowledge and know-how, boosting competitiveness of domestic firms and enabling their access to world-wide markets[…]

Financial Frictions and Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from Japanese Microdata

5th April 2018
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Authors: Horst Raff, Michael Ryan and Frank Stähler (Journal of International Economics, 2018, 112, 109-122)

Using Japanese microdata for the period 1980 to 2000 we find evidence for two transmission channels from financial shocks to foreign direct investment: a collateral channel, whereby changes in the value of investors’ landholdings affect their borrowing ability; and a lending channel[…]

Markups of Exporters and Importers: Evidence from Hungary

1st March 2018
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Authors: Cecilia Hornok and Balázs Muraközy (Forthcoming, The Scandinavian Journal of Economics)

This paper studies the relationship between different proxies of firm-level markups and trade status using balance sheet information linked to detailed trade data from Hungary between 1995-2003. We find that importing is strongly positively correlated with markup measures both across and within firms. We argue that this correlation can reflect three channels: self-selection, higher physical productivity resulting from access to a larger variety of inputs, and quality upgrading based on high-quality imported intermediate inputs[…]

Environmental Regulation and Sustainable Competitiveness: Evaluating the Role of Firm-Level Green Investments in the Context of the Porter Hypothesis

30th January 2018
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Authors: Jana Stoever and John P. Weche (Environmental and Resource Economics, 2018, 70(2), 429-455)

We investigate the impact of environmental regulation on firm performance and investment behavior. Exploiting the case of a German water withdrawal regulation that is managed on the state level, we analyze firms’ reactions to an increase in the water tax using a regression-adjusted difference-in-differences approach. We analyze the individual firm’s response to a change in environmental regulation, distinguishing between add-on and integrated environmental investments […]

Ethical Products = Less Strong: How Explicit and Implicit Reliance on the Lay Theory Affects Consumption Behaviors

21st December 2017
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Authors: Robert Mai, Stefan Hoffmann, Wassili Lasarov and Arne Buhs (Journal of Business Ethics, 2017, 150(717), 1-19)

Many consumers implicitly associate sustainability with lower product strength. This so-called ethical = less strong intuition (ELSI) poses a major threat for the success of sustainable products. This article explores this pervasive lay theory and examines whether it is a key barrier for sustainable consumption patterns. Even more importantly, little is known about the underlying mechanisms that might operate differently at the implicit[…]