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Agri-food importing firms amid a global health crisis

Author

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  • Fiankor, Dela-Dem Doe
  • Lartey, Abraham
  • Ritzel, Christian

Abstract

This paper exploits daily customs transaction data on the universe of Swiss agri-food importing firms to assess the response of firms to a global shock. Estimating a linear model that regresses product-level import margins on daily COVID19 shocks and a host of fixed effects, we find that the pandemic had a substantial trade-reducing effect on imports. The trade effects were driven mainly by a reduction in the number of importing firms (i.e., 63% of the total effect), and much less by the number of products imported and the average import value per product per firm. We explore several sources of heterogeneity and show, among others, that larger and incumbent firms were affected more by the trade adjustments. Our results also reveal that the relative contribution of each import margin to the decline in aggregate imports depends on the level of data aggregation (i.e., daily, weekly or monthly). Finally, we validate and confirm our main findings by testing two mechanisms: (i) third-country supply-side effects using insights from structural gravity models and (ii) changes to consumer demand using consumer mobility, and retailer and consumer scanner data.

Suggested Citation

  • Fiankor, Dela-Dem Doe & Lartey, Abraham & Ritzel, Christian, 2023. "Agri-food importing firms amid a global health crisis," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:119:y:2023:i:c:s0306919223001057
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2023.102507
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    Cited by:

    1. Fiankor, Dela-Dem Doe & Dalheimer, Bernhard & Mack, Gabriele, 2024. "Pesticide Regulatory Heterogeneity, Foreign Sourcing, and Global Agricultural Value Chains," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343952, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firms; Agricultural trade; COVID19; Imports; Switzerland;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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