Wholesalers and Retailers in U.S. Trade (Long Version)
February 2012
Working Paper Number:
CES-12-03
Abstract
International trade models typically assume that producers in one country trade directly with final consumers in another. In reality, of course, trade can involve long chains of potentially independent actors who move goods through wholesale and retail distribution networks. These networks likely affect the magnitude and nature of trade frictions and hence both the pattern of trade and its welfare gains. To promote further understanding of the means by which goods move across borders, this paper examines the extent to which U.S. exports and imports flow through wholesalers and retailers versus producing and consuming firms.
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market,
sale,
import,
export,
international trade,
good,
exporting,
exporter,
foreign,
retailer,
consumer,
wholesale,
gdp,
retailing,
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retail,
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National Science Foundation,
Longitudinal Business Database,
World Bank,
Research Data Center,
North American Industry Classification System,
Harmonized System,
Longitudinal Firm Trade Transactions Database,
Minnesota Population Center
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