Parallel Imports and Manufacturer Rebates: Evidence from Germany

The Impact of Manufacturer Rebates on Supply Chain Profits

Manufacturer rebates are commonly used as price discount tools for attracting end customers. In this study, we consider a two-stage supply chain with a manufacturer and a retailer, where a single seasonal product faces uncertain and price-sensitive demand. We characterize the impact of a manufacturer rebate on the expected profits of both the manufacturer and the retailer. We show that unless a...

A note on firm age and the margins of imports: first evidence from Germany

Parallel imports and the pricing of pharmaceutical products: evidence from the European Union.

We consider policy issues regarding parallel imports (PIs) of brand-name pharmaceuticals in the European Union, where such trade is permitted. We develop a simple model in which an original manufacturer competes in its home market with PI firms. The model suggests that for small trade costs the original manufacturer will accommodate the import decisions of parallel traders and that the price in...

Wholesale Price Discrimination and Parallel Imports

We develop a model of vertical pricing in which an original manufacturer sets wholesale prices in two markets integrated at the distributor level by parallel imports (PI). In this context we show that if competition policy requires uniform wholesale prices across locations it would push retail prices toward convergence as transportation costs fall. However, these retail prices could be higher t...

Evidence from Germany

In many federations, fiscal equalization schemes soften fiscal imbalances across the member states. Such schemes usually imply that the member states internalize only a small fraction of the additional tax revenue from an expansion of the state-specific tax bases, while the remainder of the additional tax revenue is redistributed horizontally or vertically. We address the question as to which e...