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International Buyers' Sourcing and Suppliers' Markups in Bangladeshi Garments

Author

Listed:
  • Grossi, Julia Cajal

    (Graduate Institute, Geneva)

  • Macchiavello, Rocco

    (London School of Economics and CEPR)

  • Noguera, Guillermo

    (Yale University and CAGE)

Abstract

Large international buyers play a key role in global value chains. We exploit detailed transaction-level data on the usage of material inputs to study how Bangladeshi garment suppliers’ markups vary across international buyers. We find substantial dispersion in markups across export orders of a given seller for the same product. Buyer effects explain a significant share of this variation, while destination effects do not. Buyers adopting relational sourcing strategies pay higher markups than non-relational buyers. This pattern holds within seller-product-year combinations, is robust to controlling for the buyer’s size, traded volumes, and quality, and, together with larger volumes, implies higher profits for suppliers dealing with relational buyers.

Suggested Citation

  • Grossi, Julia Cajal & Macchiavello, Rocco & Noguera, Guillermo, 2019. "International Buyers' Sourcing and Suppliers' Markups in Bangladeshi Garments," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 403, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cge:wacage:403
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    Cited by:

    1. Macchiavello, Rocco & Miquel-Florensa, Josepa, 2019. "Buyer-Driven Upgrading in GVCs: The Sustainable Quality Program in Colombia," CEPR Discussion Papers 13935, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
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    4. Achyuta Adhvaryu & Vittorio Bassi & Anant Nyshadham & Jorge A. Tamayo, 2020. "No Line Left Behind: Assortative Matching Inside the Firm," NBER Working Papers 27006, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Ayuma Ken Kikkawa & Yuan Mei & Pablo Robles Santamarina & Ken Kikkawa, 2019. "The Impact of NAFTA on Prices and Competition: Evidence from Mexican Manufacturing Plants," CESifo Working Paper Series 7700, CESifo.
    6. Vanessa Alvariez & Michele Fioretti & Ayumu Ken Kikkawa & Monica Morlacco, 2022. "Two-Sided Market Power in Firm-to-Firm Trade," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03795736, HAL.
    7. Alvaro Garcia-Marin & Santiago Justel & Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr, 2019. "Trade Credit, Markups, and Relationships," CESifo Working Paper Series 7600, CESifo.
    8. Woodruff, Christopher & Macchiavello, Rocco & Menzel, Andreas & Rabbani, Atonu, 2020. "Challenges of Change: An Experiment Promoting Women to Managerial Roles in the Bangladeshi Garment Sector," CEPR Discussion Papers 15085, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Yoshimichi Murakami & Keijiro Otsuka, 2020. "Governance, Information Spillovers, and Productivity of Local Firms: Toward an Integrated Approach to Foreign Direct Investment and Global Value Chains," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 58(2), pages 134-174, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Markups; Sourcing Strategies; Global Buyers; Buyer-Driven Value Chains JEL Classification: L11; L14; D23; F63;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights

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