NAKAMURA Tsuyoshi
   Department   Tokyo Keizai University  , Economics
   Position   Professor
Language English
Publication Date 2019/12
Type paper(other)
Title Linkage of Markups through Transaction
Contribution Type Joint author
Journal RIETI Discussion Paper Series
Volume, Issue, Page 19-E-107
Author and coauthor NAKAMURA, Tsuyoshi and Hiroshi OHASHI
Details This paper analyzes how a firm's markup correlates to its suppliers' markups. Our research targeted more than 40,000 Japanese firms during 2001-16. The dataset is based on the Basic Survey of Japanese Business Structure and Activities, provided by METI, and supplemented by data from financial reports. Transactional relationships between firms are provided by the Firm Relation File, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, and 2014, TSR. Markup values are estimated by the so-called ‘production approach’ proposed by De Loecker and Warzynski (2012). Controlling for firm characteristics and year- and industry-specific factors, a firm's markup has a significantly negative correlation with its suppliers' markups. A firm whose suppliers observe 10% point higher markups has 2% point lower markup on average. This negative correlation is more remarkable for non-manufacturing firms than manufacturing ones. We discuss the factors for variation within Japanese firms' markups that produce these results.