Gatekeepers to consumer markets: the role of retailers in international trade

Abstract

This study explores how recent developments in the retail sector affect trade in consumer goods. It focuses on three developments in the retail sector: (i) internationalization; (ii) market structure; and (iii) the growing market share of retailers' private labels. Using gravity model estimation techniques it is found that the foreign operations of a retailer are positively related to imports from the host to the home country of the retailer. Imports are negatively related to ownership concentration, while the market share of private labels is negatively related to imports of food and positively related to imports of non-food consumer goods. For both product categories private labels shift sourcing towards poor countries. The trade response to trade liberalization is higher both at the extensive and intensive margin in countries with lower retail concentration.

International trade and retail market performance and structure: Theory and empirical evidence

“…In Denmark, the number of chains increased from around 700 in 1999 to more than 1,200 in 2008. This is in line with observations in the United States, where large retail chains (with at least 100 establishments) doubled their share of US retail sales from 18.6% in 1967 to 36.9% in 1997 (Jarmin et al, 2009). ports. Smaller retailers, if they have access to imports at all, have to rely on more expensive indirect imports via intermediaries.…”

“…We present information about the balancing property in the Appendix. There, we also present results for the first-stage probit regressions 36. We implement the matching algorithm using the Stata program psmatch2 written by Edwin Leuven and Barbara Sianesi.…”

Re‐Regulation in the Post‐WTO Period? A Case Study of Vietnam's Food Retailing Sector

“…It is within this context that the land‐use zoning, hours of store operation, and building code restrictions previously noted are assessed and incorporated appropriately into the potential STRI. Just the same, we accept that it is no straightforward task to develop this STRI, and that in the context of the heated debates over the consequences of multinational retailer‐driven market transformation and concentration in host economies, we wish to explore the point made by Nordas (: 450) that “enforcement of competition policy in the retail sector may be necessary for trade liberalisation to yield the expected improvement in market access for foreign suppliers of consumer goods and predicted gains to consumers.”…”

Establishing Territorial Embeddedness within Retail Transnational Corporation (TNC) Expansion: The Contribution of Store Development Departments

“…Commonly this involves constructing a centralised base of a (few) preferred suppliers that adopt the (private) standards enforced by the retail TNC (HENSON and REARDON, 2005). Such conditions potentially offer the opportunity for complex evolving geographies of sourcing where embedded local supply chains may be leveraged by the retail TNCs to act as an 'export gateway' for local suppliers to the other markets in which the retailer operates (NORDÅS, 2008;WRIGLEY and LOWE, 2010). …”