Cross-Country Relative Price Volatility: Effects of Market Structure

Abstract

Using annual data on nine manufacturing sectors of eighteen OECD countries, the article studies the implications of market structure for cross-country relative price variability. It is found that, in accordance with predictions from a standard markup pricing model, reductions in market competition, along with increased nominal exchange rate volatility, are associated with greater variability of cross-country relative prices. The market structure also has similar effects on components of cross-country relative price variability. The empirical findings are robust to the inclusion of various control variables and alternative sample specifications.

Keywords: relative price volatility, market structure, price-cost margin, variance decomposition

JEL Classification: F31, F41