Private labels and exports: trading variety for volume

Emily Blanchard, Tatyana Chesnokova () and Gerald Willmann ()
Additional contact information
Tatyana Chesnokova: Waseda University
Gerald Willmann: Bielefeld University

Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), 2017, vol. 153, issue 3, No 5, 545-572

Abstract: Abstract This paper explores the role of private label trade intermediation in shaping the range and diversity of exports and imports. Whereas direct sales maintain a firm’s unique product characteristics, or ‘brand equity’, trade through an intermediary often takes the form of ‘private label’ sales, under which multiple firms’ output is pooled and re-sold under a new private label brand created by the intermediary. This paper shows that these private label arrangements result in greater total export and import volumes and lower average prices for consumers, but fewer independent varieties available to consumers in equilibrium. Normative implications are mixed: consumers trade variety for volume, independent exporters face greater competition from the new private label products, and intermediary firms can capture more of the gains from trade. We explore the implications of competition at the intermediary level and trade costs for the equilibrium pattern of private label and direct exporting and importing activities.

Keywords: Private labels; Intermediaries; Heterogeneous firms; International retailers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 E60 F13 F16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10290-017-0284-2 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
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:spr:weltar:v:153:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10290-017-0284-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... cs/journal/10290/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10290-017-0284-2

Access Statistics for this article

Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv) is currently edited by Paul Bergin, Holger Görg, Cédric Tille and Gerald Willmann

More articles in Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv) from Springer, Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().