| 来源类型 | Working Paper
|
| 规范类型 | 报告
|
| DOI | 10.3386/w30109
|
| 来源ID | Working Paper 30109
|
| Cutting Out the Middleman: The Structure of Chains of Intermediation |
| Matthew Grant; Meredith Startz
|
| 发表日期 | 2022-06-06
|
| 出版年 | 2022
|
| 语种 | 英语
|
| 摘要 | Distribution of goods often involves multiple intermediaries engaged in sequential buying and reselling. Why do these chains of intermediation exist, and what are their implications for consumers? We show that multi-intermediary chains arise in response to internal economies of scale in trade costs. This suggests that chains will be longer on average in developing countries, and can account for empirical patterns in firm size and prices that we document using original data on imported consumer goods in Nigeria. While policy wisdom often calls for shortening chains, we show that this has ambiguous welfare implications. Equilibrium distribution structures are not generally efficient, and policies and technologies that lead to shorter chains will not necessarily benefit consumers, even when intermediaries hold market power. Instead, there is a fundamental trade-off: shorter chains have lower marginal cost but also fewer sellers, which can reduce competition, product availability, and access to retailers. We embed this insight in a quantifiable model of endogenous intermediation chains, which we calibrate for distribution of Chinese-made apparel in Nigeria, and describe changes in chain structure in response to counterfactual changes in regulation and e-commerce technologies. We find that cutting out middlemen has heterogeneous welfare impacts but may harm remote consumers. |
| 主题 | International Economics
; Trade
; Development and Growth
; Development
|
| URL | https://www.nber.org/papers/w30109
|
| 来源智库 | National Bureau of Economic Research (United States)
|
| 引用统计 |
|
| 资源类型 | 智库出版物
|
| 条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.153/handle/2XGU8XDN/587782
|
推荐引用方式
GB/T 7714 |
Matthew Grant,Meredith Startz. Cutting Out the Middleman: The Structure of Chains of Intermediation. 2022.
|
|
文件名：
|
w30109.pdf
|
|
格式：
|
Adobe PDF
|
此文件暂不支持浏览
除非特别说明，本系统中所有内容都受版权保护，并保留所有权利。
