TY - JOUR
T1 - Wholesalers, indirect exports, geography, and economies of scope
T2 - Evidence from firm transaction data in Japan
AU - Ito, Tadashi
AU - Nakamura, Ryohei
AU - Morita, Manabu
N1 - Funding Information:
Ito appreciates invaluable advice from my fellow researchers, especially Toshiyuki Matsuura, Kazunobu Hayakawa, and Hisamitsu Saito. A part of the TFP computation in this paper is financially supported by Japan Society for Promotion of Science KAKENHI grant number 26285058 and17K03707.
Funding Information:
Ito appreciates invaluable advice from my fellow researchers, especially Toshiyuki Matsuura, Kazunobu Hayakawa, and Hisamitsu Saito. A part of the TFP computation in this paper is financially supported by J apan Society for Promotion of Science KAKENHI grant number 26285058 and 17K03707.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - This study examines wholesalers’ roles in manufacturers’ exports in Japan. First, it is shown that, like in the case of manufacturing sector, a productivity sorting on the overseas activities is also present in the case of wholesalers. Namely, only the most productive wholesaler firms can engage in foreign direct investment, and the next productive wholesaler firms can participate in export activities, and the least productive wholesaler firms do domestic transactions only. Second, we investigate how the wholesalers facilitate manufacturers’ export activities in the form of indirect exports. We have found that the wholesalers through which manufacturing firms indirectly export their goods are predominantly located in Tokyo or Osaka. The probability of indirect exports is negatively correlated with distance between manufacturers and wholesalers, but there are certain threshold distances at 300–500 kilometers, over which the chance of indirect exports turns null. Another notable finding is that wholesalers’ productivities have positive correlation with the chances of indirect exports whereas manufacturers’ productivities do not matter. The number of manufacturers from which a wholesaler purchases goods, is found to have a positive correlation with the probability of indirect exports, a type of economies of scope effect.
AB - This study examines wholesalers’ roles in manufacturers’ exports in Japan. First, it is shown that, like in the case of manufacturing sector, a productivity sorting on the overseas activities is also present in the case of wholesalers. Namely, only the most productive wholesaler firms can engage in foreign direct investment, and the next productive wholesaler firms can participate in export activities, and the least productive wholesaler firms do domestic transactions only. Second, we investigate how the wholesalers facilitate manufacturers’ export activities in the form of indirect exports. We have found that the wholesalers through which manufacturing firms indirectly export their goods are predominantly located in Tokyo or Osaka. The probability of indirect exports is negatively correlated with distance between manufacturers and wholesalers, but there are certain threshold distances at 300–500 kilometers, over which the chance of indirect exports turns null. Another notable finding is that wholesalers’ productivities have positive correlation with the chances of indirect exports whereas manufacturers’ productivities do not matter. The number of manufacturers from which a wholesaler purchases goods, is found to have a positive correlation with the probability of indirect exports, a type of economies of scope effect.
KW - Economies of scope
KW - Indirect-exports
KW - Productivity
KW - Regional economies
KW - Wholesalers
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U2 - 10.1016/j.japwor.2021.101055
DO - 10.1016/j.japwor.2021.101055
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85101318248
VL - 58
JO - Japan and the World Economy
JF - Japan and the World Economy
SN - 0922-1425
M1 - 101055
ER -