IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eecrev/v70y2014icp186-196.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Retailers as agents and the limits of parallel trade

Author

Listed:
  • Maskus, Keith E.
  • Stähler, Frank

Abstract

The volume of retail-level parallel trade is surprisingly small despite persistent international price differences. We offer an agency-based explanation by considering competition between an original home manufacturer and a foreign retailer. The model endogenizes the role of the retailer as an agent with private information on the perceived quality of the good in its own market. The manufacturer cannot control the retailer once the latter has ordered its sales quantity but it can limit the initial offer. If parallel trade is permitted, this offer will fall if there is incomplete information, resulting in a small, or zero, volume of parallel trade. This outcome makes both the original producer and foreign consumers worse off, while offering little benefit to home consumers, compared to the case where such trade is banned.

Suggested Citation

  • Maskus, Keith E. & Stähler, Frank, 2014. "Retailers as agents and the limits of parallel trade," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 186-196.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:70:y:2014:i:c:p:186-196
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2014.05.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292114000749
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2014.05.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tommaso M. Valletti & Stefan Szymanski, 2006. "Parallel Trade, International Exhaustion And Intellectual Property Rights: A Welfare Analysis," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 499-526, December.
    2. Li, Changying & Maskus, Keith E., 2006. "The impact of parallel imports on investments in cost-reducing research and development," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 443-455, March.
    3. Yongmin Chen & Keith Maskus, 2005. "Vertical Pricing and Parallel Imports," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18.
    4. Oliver Hart & Jean Tirole, 1990. "Vertical Integration and Market Foreclosure," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 21(1990 Micr), pages 205-286.
    5. Raff, Horst & Schmitt, Nicolas, 2007. "Why parallel trade may raise producers' profits," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 434-447, April.
    6. Martin Richardson, 2017. "An Elementary Proposition Concerning Parallel Imports," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Dimensions of Trade Policy, chapter 14, pages 285-299, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Keith E. Maskus & Yongmin Chen, 2004. "Vertical Price Control and Parallel Imports: Theory and Evidence," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 551-570, September.
    8. Gene M. Grossman & Edwin L.‐C. Lai, 2008. "Parallel imports and price controls," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(2), pages 378-402, June.
    9. Ganslandt, Mattias & Maskus, Keith E., 2007. "Vertical distribution, parallel trade, and price divergence in integrated markets," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 943-970, May.
    10. Laffont, Jean-Jacques & Tirole, Jean, 1988. "The Dynamics of Incentive Contracts," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(5), pages 1153-1175, September.
    11. Changying Li, 2006. "Competition, Parallel Imports And Cost‐Reducing Innovation," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 53(3), pages 377-397, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Reisinger, Markus & Saurí, Lluís & Zenger, Hans, 2019. "Parallel imports, price controls, and innovation," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 163-179.
    2. Kamal Saggi, 2016. "Trade, Intellectual Property Rights, and the World Trade Organization," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 16-00014, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    3. Hans Gersbach & Hans Haller, 2018. "Hierarchical Trade," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1165-1184, April.
    4. Morimura, Fumikazu & Sakagawa, Yuji, 2018. "Information technology use in retail chains: Impact on the standardisation of pricing and promotion strategies and performance," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 81-91.
    5. Olena Ivus & Edwin L.-C. Lai, 2017. "Patent Exhaustion Regime and International Production Sharing: Winner and Losers?," CESifo Working Paper Series 6644, CESifo.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrea Mantovani & Alireza Naghavi, 2010. "Parallel Imports and Innovation in an Emerging Economy," Center for Economic Research (RECent) 038, University of Modena and Reggio E., Dept. of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    2. Ishikawa, Jota & Morita, Hodaka & Mukunoki, Hiroshi, 2020. "Parallel imports and repair services," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 137-160.
    3. Andrea Mantovani & Alireza Naghavi, 2012. "Parallel Imports And Innovation In An Emerging Economy: The Case Of Indian Pharmaceuticals," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(11), pages 1286-1299, November.
    4. Santanu Roy & Kamal Saggi, 2012. "Strategic competition and optimal parallel import policy," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1369-1396, November.
    5. Stähler, Frank & Maskus, Keith, 2013. "Retailers as Agents and the Absence of Parallel Trade," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79737, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Frank Mueller-Langer, 2014. "Copyright and parallel trade," Chapters, in: Richard Watt (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Copyright, chapter 16, pages 287-310, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Santanu Roy & Kamal Saggi, 2023. "Equilibrium parallel import policies and international market structure," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Kamal Saggi (ed.), Technology Transfer, Foreign Direct Investment, and the Protection of Intellectual Property in the Global Economy, chapter 15, pages 349-363, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Raimondos-Møller, Pascalis & Schmitt, Nicolas, 2010. "Commodity taxation and parallel imports," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1-2), pages 153-162, February.
    9. Olena Ivus & Edwin L.-C. Lai, 2017. "Patent Exhaustion Regime and International Production Sharing: Winner and Losers?," CESifo Working Paper Series 6644, CESifo.
    10. Dao-Zhi Zeng & Biyue Zhang, 2020. "Parallel imports in large developing countries," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 65(2), pages 509-525, October.
    11. Kamal Saggi, 2016. "Trade, Intellectual Property Rights, and the World Trade Organization," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 16-00014, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    12. Shen Guo & Bin Hu & Hai Zhong, 2013. "Impact of parallel trade on pharmaceutical firm’s profits: rise or fall?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 14(2), pages 345-355, April.
    13. Frank Mueller‐Langer, 2012. "Parallel Trade and its Ambiguous Effects on Global Welfare," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 177-185, February.
    14. Mueller-Langer, Frank, 2010. "An analysis of the ambiguous welfare effects of parallel trade freedom," MPRA Paper 35704, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Laura Birg, 2015. "Externalities of National Pharmaceutical Policy when Markets are Integrated through Parallel Trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 558-574, August.
    16. Brekke, Kurt R. & Holmås, Tor Helge & Straume, Odd Rune, 2015. "Price regulation and parallel imports of pharmaceuticals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 92-105.
    17. Li, Hai & Shao, Jing & Zhu, Stuart X., 2018. "Parallel importation in a supply Chain: The impact of gray market structure," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 220-241.
    18. Reisinger, Markus & Saurí, Lluís & Zenger, Hans, 2019. "Parallel imports, price controls, and innovation," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 163-179.
    19. Laura Birg, 2023. "Parallel imports under a manufacturer rebate and a price freeze: Evidence from Germany," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 302-323, February.
    20. Frank Müller-Langer, 2009. "Does Parallel Trade Freedom Harm Consumers in Small Markets?," Croatian Economic Survey, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb, vol. 11(1), pages 11-41, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Parallel trade; Trade cost; Incomplete information;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:70:y:2014:i:c:p:186-196. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eer .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.