全球智库信息集成服务系统(G2TT): DP8911 Import Prices, Income, and Inequality

G2TT

来源类型	Discussion paper
规范类型	论文
来源ID	DP8911
	DP8911 Import Prices, Income, and Inequality
	Joseph Francois; Miriam Manchin; Eddy Bekkers
发表日期	2012-03-01
出版年	2012
语种	英语
摘要	We compare three theoretical explanations for the positive empirical relationship between importer income per capita and traded goods prices. A first explanation is that consumers with higher incomes demand higher quality goods with higher prices. A second explanation is that wealthier people exhibit an increased willingness to pay for necessary goods as more goods enter the consumption set in a hierarchic demand system, and can thus be charged higher markups. A third explanation is that consumers with higher incomes are more finicky regarding their preferred variety in an ideal variety framework and can thus be charged higher markups. We discriminate between these three theories by focusing on the e↵ect of income inequality on trade prices. Based on a large dataset with bilateral HS6 level data on 1260 final goods categories from more than 100 countries between 2000 and 2004, we find a highly significant negative effect of income inequality on unit values. This contradicts both the demand for quality and finickyness theories, while providing support for the increased willingness to pay theory linked to hierarchic demand. These findings on income inequality do not falsify the quality expansion model and the ideal variety model per se. However, the results do argue for place of importance of hierarchic demand.
主题	International Trade and Regional Economics
关键词	Hierarchic demand Ideal variety Importer characteristics Quality expansion Unit values
URL	https://cepr.org/publications/dp8911
来源智库	Centre for Economic Policy Research (United Kingdom)
资源类型	智库出版物
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.153/handle/2XGU8XDN/537741
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Joseph Francois,Miriam Manchin,Eddy Bekkers. DP8911 Import Prices, Income, and Inequality. 2012.