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dc.titleMarket Power, Industry Concentration and Trade Liberalization: Evidence from Costa Rica
dc.contributor.authorCórdoba Solano, Daniela
dc.contributor.authorGomez-Trejos, Felipe
dc.contributor.authorVindas Quesada, Alberto
dc.contributor.orgunitDepartment of Research and Chief Economist
dc.coverageCosta Rica
dc.date.available2025-02-20T00:02:00
dc.date.issue2025-02-20T00:02:00
dc.description.abstractResearch about trade liberalization's impact on markups has focused on manufacturing due to data availability considerations. How do these effects vary across sectors? Which industries become more and less competitive as trade barriers are eliminated? We leverage firm-level tax records from the universe of formal-sector businesses in Costa Rica with the 2009 trade liberalization as a natural experiment to evaluate its industry-specific effects on markups across all industries. We find negative effects on markups in agriculture, mining, electricity, water supply, and business services. Alternatively, the reform led to markup increases in accommodations and food services, information and communications, real estate, finance and insurance, and education, health, and social work. We do not observe statistically significant effects in manufacturing, transportation and storage, construction, and wholesale and retail trade. Our findings represent a more comprehensive evaluation of the potential pro-competitive effects from trade liberalization than existing studies exclusively focusing on manufacturing firms.
dc.format.extent66
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0013429
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Market-Power-Industry-Concentration-and-Trade-Liberalization-Evidence-from-Costa-Rica.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectIndustry
dc.subjectSmall Business
dc.subjectIntegration and Trade
dc.subjectFree Trade
dc.subjectTariff System
dc.subjectExport
dc.subjectManufacturing Industry
dc.subjectLabor Market
dc.subject.jelcodeD22 - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
dc.subject.jelcodeL11 - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure • Size Distribution of Firms
dc.subject.jelcodeF13 - Trade Policy • International Trade Organizations
dc.subject.jelcodeF14 - Empirical Studies of Trade
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-WP-01685
idb.operationRG-K1198
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