DISTRIBUTION KEIRETSU AND RETAILER SERVICES

Distribution Keiretsu, FDI and Import Penetration in Japan

An independent wholesaler with many different upstream suppliers is likely to be better at market coverage than if it were the subsidiary of just one supplier. But where wholesale efforts are focused on resolving externalities (by establishing and administering a directed marketing channel), efforts at expanding market coverage have greater marginal cost and will be commensurately retrenched, s...

Taxes and Horizontal Corporate Group (Keiretsu) Affiliation:

This paper investigates the effect of horizontal corporate group (keiretsu) affiliation on effective tax rates in Japan. After controlling for variables that affect corporate income taxes, keiretsu firms have lower effective tax rates than independent firms. These findings are attributed to political power and the unique corporate governance mechanism of keiretsu groups. Furthermore, horizontal...

Retailer-Driven Product Bundling in a Distribution Channel

Retailer-Driven Product Bundling in a Distribution Channel This paper studies product bundling in a distribution channel where a downstream retailer combines component goods produced by separate manufacturers acting independently. Past literature offers deep insights about bundling by a single firm whose unit costs are not impacted by choice of selling strategy. But, when the retailer bundles g...

Manufacturer-retailer Contracting under an Unknown Demand Distribution

We consider a manufacturer introducing a new product into a distribution channel and examine what wholesale price should be charged. The setting in many ways is simple. The channel is abbreviated with the manufacturer selling directly to the retailer. The contract is also simple, merely a flat wholesale price. Demand is stochastic but independent and identically distributed in each period. Comp...

The Value of Information in a Retailer-Based Distribution Network