Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/105875 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2005
Series/Report no.: 
IMK Working Paper No. 7/2005
Publisher: 
Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Institut für Makroökonomie und Konjunkturforschung (IMK), Düsseldorf
Abstract: 
The article analyses the impact of exchange rate changes on German export and import prices. The analytical framework is a mark-up model which is based on the assumption that the markets under consideration are imperfectly competitive as well as segmented. Hence, firms will no longer set prices at marginal costs, but charge a mark-up on costs to earn above normal profits. The mark-up is not fixed, but can be adjusted in response to demand pressure and competitive pressure in the relevant market. Consequently, firms can practice price discrimination. We find evidence that domestic and foreign producers follow different price setting strategies: German exporters largely pass-through exchange rate changes; i.e. an appreciation of domestic currency is reflected in a significant increase in export prices (expressed in terms of foreign currency) indicating that German exporters have significant market power and/or face a fairly inelastic export demand curve. Foreign exporters to Germany, however, largely follow a pricing-to-market strategy; i.e. they absorb price increases due to an appreciation of foreign currency into their profit margins in order to stabilise export prices (expressed in terms of domestic currency). Thus, they can protect market shares in the highly competitive German market.
Subjects: 
export prices
import prices
exchange rate pass-through
pric- ing to market
error correction model
JEL: 
C51
E31
F31
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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