Input-trade liberalization, export prices and quality upgrading

Maria Bas and Vanessa Strauss-Kahn

Journal of International Economics, 2015, vol. 95, issue 2, 250-262

Abstract: This paper explores the impact of input trade liberalization on imported input and exported product prices. Using Chinese transaction data for 2000–2006, we capture causal effects between exogenous input tariff reductions and within firm changes in HS6-traded product prices. For identification, we make use of a natural control group of firms that are exempted from paying tariffs. Both imported input and export prices rise. The effect on export prices is specific to firms sourcing inputs from developed economies and exporting output to high-income countries. Results are consistent with a scenario within which firms exploit the input tariff cuts to access high-quality inputs in order to quality-upgrade their exports.

Keywords: Imported inputs; Trade liberalization; Export prices; Quality upgrade; Mark-up; Firm-level data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F10 F12 F13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (230)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022199614001500
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
Working Paper: Input-Trade Liberalization, Export Prices and Quality Upgrading (2015)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:inecon:v:95:y:2015:i:2:p:250-262

DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2014.12.005

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of International Economics is currently edited by Gourinchas, Pierre-Olivier and Rodríguez-Clare, Andrés

More articles in Journal of International Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().