Imports "R" Us: Retail Chains as Platforms for Developing-Country Imports

Emek Basker and Van Pham

No 804, Working Papers from Department of Economics, University of Missouri

Abstract: Wal-Mart, Toys "R" Us, and other large retail chains are often identified with cheap imports. We use data from the Census of Retail Trade and the International Trade Commission over the period 1997-2002 to test whether big chains serve as platforms for imports from LDCs. Using difference-in-difference specifications we show that Chinese and other LDC imports have increased disproportionately in retail sectors with the sharpest consolidation into chains. To quantify the importance of chain growth to import growth we apply a numerical algorithm that generates marginal propensities to import by firm size. The largest retail firms' propensity to import from China is 17 percentage points higher than that of smaller retailers; the corresponding difference in import propensities from LDCs as a whole is 27 points. The disproportionate growth of large retailers between 1997 and 2002 explains 5% of the overall growth in consumer goods imports, 20% of the growth in consumer goods imports from China, and 22% of the growth in consumer goods imports from LDCs..

Keywords: Imports; Retail Chains (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F12 F14 L11 L81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pgs.
Date: 2008-04-23, Revised 2008-08-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-int and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

Published in American Economic Review (Papers and Proceedings) 2010

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Journal Article: Imports "Я" Us: Retail Chains as Platforms for Developing-Country Imports (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:umc:wpaper:0804

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