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Date: June 4, 2010
Contracting and Efficiency in the Surgical Goods
Cluster of Sialkot, Pakistan
Theresa Thompson Chaudhry
Associate Professor of Economics
Lahore School of Economics
Intersection Main Blvd Phase VI DHA and Burki
Road
Burki (Lahore) 53200 Pakistan
Phone (US): 1-240-486-0936, 1-301-656-8040
Phone (Pakistan): 92-301-842-2700, 92-42-666-
3244
Fax (Pakistan): 92-42-571-4936
Email: [email protected]
1
Acknowledgements: I would like to gratefully acknowledge the
assistance of Ms. Shamyla Chaudry at the Lahore School of
Economics in collecting the data for this research.
2
Contracting and Efficiency in the Surgical Goods
Cluster of Sialkot, Pakistan
Abstract:
This paper provides empirical evidence of the inefficiency
of contracting institutions (measured by high switching costs)
among surgical instrument producers in Sialkot, Pakistan, even
though it is an industrial cluster where manufacturers have
access to a multiplicity of suppliers. Following the methodology
of Johnson, McMillan, and Woodruff (2002), we found that nearly
50% of firms in the sample would reject an untried supplier
offering a lower price. The decision to reject a prospective new
supplier offering a 10% discount was positively related to the
complexity of the input and measures of relational contracting,
and negatively related to a belief in informal contract
enforcement mechanisms. Firms were more likely to switch to the
prospective discount supplier when they were introduced through a
business network. Belief in formal contract enforcement was not
significant in any of the regressions.
3
Keywords: Relational contracting, switching costs, law and
economics, agglomeration, Pakistan
JEL Codes: K0, L14, O13, O17
4
I. Introduction and Literature
The importance of institutions, especially contract
enforcement, has been well established in both theoretical and
empirical economic literature. The absence of strong institutions
has been recognized as a major constraint to economic growth in
developing countries (North, 1990). In the absence of an
effective legal system or formal system of contract enforcement,
individuals and firms must rely on informal means to enforce
agreements. In many cases, long term bilateral relationships or
third party social pressure may either substitute for, or
complement, a legal system in the enforcement of contracts. Firms
may ‘hedge their bets’ by staying in current trading
relationships and avoid entering into agreements with new or
unknown trading partners, thus circumventing defective contract
enforcement system. In this way, firms may choose to stay in
inefficient relationships to avoid switching costs.
More formally, switching costs refer to situations where
trading with a known partner can yield a surplus relative to
trading with a new, unknown partner.1 In other words, a buyer may1 Switching costs may occur within any type of seller/buyer relationship; switching costs may come into play between a retailer (seller) and a consumer (buyer) or between an input supplier (seller) and a manufacturer (buyer). Important contributions in the theoretical literature on switching costs have
5
continue to purchase from a current supplier simply because it
may be costly to switch to another supplier (Farrell and
Klemperer, 2007). In this way, suppliers can exercise monopoly
power over customers facing switching costs by charging prices in
excess of marginal cost, thus creating deadweight loss and
reducing economic efficiency. According to Klemperer (1995),
switching costs can create additional inefficiencies by creating
barriers to entry for new firms and reducing the product variety
offered by firms.
Weak contract enforcement can be a source of switching
costs. Switching costs may arise due to, for example, specific
investments in relationships binding an agent to current trading
partners, transactional costs related to changing partners,
uncertainty regarding alternate partners, and weak contract
enforcement. Trading partner uncertainty as a cause of switching
costs refers to a situation where agents tend to have better
information about their current supplier (including quality,
been made by Klemperer (1987a, b, 1995). The theoretical model of Nilssen (1992) distinguished between two types of switching costs: the costs associated with the act of changing suppliers and the costs associated with learning about a new supplier’s goods. The analysis concluded that switching costs reduce welfare. For additional discussion of the theoretical literature on switching costs, see Farrell and Klemperer (2007).
6
specifications, and reliability), and may have imperfect
information about prospective new partners. Contract enforcement
can become an important issue when an agent is uncertain whether
a new trading partner will uphold agreements.2
There are other reasons why firms stay in relationships, in
particular when the goods provided by the supplier are complex
and/or manufactured to the customer’s specifications, and in
these situations, the decision ‘not to switch’ is not necessarily
inefficient. However, the inputs provided to the firms in our
sample do not appear to be exceedingly complex. In 61 of the 139
supply relationships studied here, the input provided was steel
and/or forging, whereas only 27 suppliers were providing semi-
finished goods.3
As was already mentioned, imperfect contract enforcement can
contribute toward increasing switching costs when a buyer is
uncertain whether a new trading partner will uphold contracts. In
the absence of an effective legal system or formal system of
2 These are not the only sources of switching costs. Klemperer (1995) identified a variety of sources of switching costs, including i) investment incurrent equipment (that an alternate supplier’s goods may be incompatible with) and relationships (for example the cost of closing existing accounts), ii) information problems (learning to use new brands and uncertainty about a new supplier’s quality), iii) artificial transaction costs (such as discounts for repeat transactions), iv) psychological costs (brand loyalty).3 There was no information on the input supplied for 44 of the 139 suppliers.
7
enforcement, individuals and firms in developing countries rely
on informal means to enforce agreements, called relational
contracting. The empirical analysis carried out in our paper
provides evidence on the inefficiency of contracting institutions
(through the existence of switching costs) among Sialkot’s
surgical instrument producers.
The methods of informal enforcement, laid out in the New
Institutional Economics literature (Macaulay, 1963; North, 1990;
Greif, 1994; Kranton, 1996;), consist of agents’ ability to
sanction individuals who have reneged on their agreements. The
three major mechanisms to deal with the lack of formal contract
enforcement through the judicial system are relying on trusted
partners, repeated interaction, and community enforcement. The
first approach is for an agent to only deal with those who are
known to them and can be trusted, in many instances friends and
family members. Secondly, one can deal with the same agent
repeatedly over an extended period of time, using the threat of
breaking off the profitable trading relationship as a means to
prevent the other party from cheating. Finally, informal
enforcement can also be carried out through community
8
enforcement. In this case, if an agent reneges on an agreement,
all members of the community sanction this individual by refusing
to trade with them. For community enforcement to be effective, it
is necessary that knowledge about cheaters be diffused through
the community, and that other members of the community are
willing to refuse to trade with a known cheater; therefore it
often limited to a specific geographic area and/or to agents of a
common cultural/social background. In Sialkot, since all of the
manufacturers are producing similar goods, the threat of an
individual manufacturer (customer) breaking off a trading
relationship with a problematic supplier is unlikely to prevent
cheating or the delivery of shoddy goods by the supplier unless
there is community enforcement.
There have been many contributions, both theoretical and
empirical, on the role of social networks in contracting. Kranton
(1996) developed a theoretical model of the institutions of
reciprocal exchange (also called relational contracting) and
market exchange when agents face search costs (similar to
switching costs) and found that the prevailing system of exchange
to be path dependent and that an economy may not necessarily
9
converge to the most efficient mode of exchange.4 Mookherjee
(1999), in his review of the literature, noted that firms in
developing countries tend to have difficulties in transacting,
and community contractual networks have a special role as an
alternative to vertically integrated enterprises. Ilias (2001)
focused on the role of family labor in Sialkot’s surgical
instrument cluster and the distortionary effects of the decision
to use family versus non-family labor.5 Banerjee and Munshi
(2000) found credit market distortions due to social network
based lending in the Tiruppur knitwear cluster in India.6 In this
paper, we focus on the role of community networks and their
effect on contracting in Sialkot’s surgical instrument
manufacturing cluster.
Johnson et al. (2002) examined the role of formal legal
enforcement in reducing switching costs in Eastern Europe and
found that greater belief in the (formal) judicial system reduced
4 In Kranton’s model, when goods are more (less) substitutable, reciprocal (market) exchange is socially efficient.5 Ilias (2001) concluded that there existed a labor market distortion such that family managers were preferred to non-family and therefore firm output was correlated with family size. 6 Banerjee and Munshi’s (2000) analysis found that the established producers (a caste called the Gounders), with access to cheaper informal credit through a social lending network, had lower output growth but invested more at all levels of experience as compared to migrants.
10
the probability that a firm would reject an untried supplier
offering a lower price.7 In their sample, half of the firms
stated that they would abandon their current supplier for the
discount supplier (while only 15.5 per cent would reject the
discount supplier’s offer), and 76.5 per cent of firms believed
that courts could enforce contracts. However, a much different
picture emerges in Sialkot; only 16 per cent would be willing to
switch exclusively to a prospective discount supplier (whereas
nearly 50 per cent of firms in the sample would reject the
offer), and fewer than 12 per cent of firms believe that the
judicial system can resolve disputes. On the other hand, 37 per
cent of firms believe that other businesses will refuse to deal
with supplier who has been unfair with them, and 44 per cent of
the sample firms believe that the only reliable suppliers are
those owned by relatives. We posit that different set of
contracting institutions must be at work here.
We use a methodology similar to Johnson et al. (2002).
However, our research makes a unique contribution to the
literature since switching costs have not yet been studied
7 Our paper draws heavily on the research conducted by Johnson et al. (2002), and their research will be discussed in more detail in the following sections.
11
empirically in the context of a cluster. We found that the
decision to reject a prospective new supplier offering a 10 per
cent discount was positively related to the complexity of the
input and measures of relational contracting, and negatively
related to a belief in informal contract enforcement mechanisms.
Firms were more likely to switch to the prospective discount
supplier when they were introduced through a business network.
Belief in formal contract enforcement was not significant in any
of the regressions.
II. Description of the Surgical Instrument Cluster in Sialkot,
Pakistan
A cluster of firms consisting of approximately 220 producers
and 1500 subcontracting firms are located in Sialkot, a city in
the Punjab province of Pakistan (see Table 1), which produces
surgical instruments mainly for foreign markets including the
United States and Western Europe, with 75 per cent of instruments
being exported to these two regions (SMEDA, 2001). The cluster’s
output is significant, as verified by the $124 million worth of
goods exported in 2000-2001 (SMEDA, 2001). The firms of the
12
cluster manufacture approximately 10,000 different types of
disposable and re-useable surgical instruments (SMEDA, 2001).
In the cluster, production of the surgical instruments takes
place in stages, including input production, manufacturing, and
complementary services. The large vendor segment consists of
small firms that specialize in one or more stages of the
production process. Except for the largest manufacturers,
production of a final good is not generally carried out in a
single, vertically integrated firm. Nadvi (1999a, b; 2002) has
written extensively about the cluster in Sialkot, in particular
on issues of ‘collective efficiency.’
The cluster also has local business associations, including
the Metal Industries Development Centre, the Sialkot Dry Port
Trust, the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and
the Surgical Instrument Manufacturer’s Association (SIMA).
The cluster has a long and interesting history. Local
blacksmiths began producing surgical instruments around the start
of the twentieth century at the request of the American Mission
Hospital in Sialkot. In the 1930s, the cluster began exporting
regionally to countries such as Egypt and Afghanistan, and it was
13
a vital supplier to both Indian and Allied forces during World
War II. The industry continued to expand in the decades after the
Second World War. Strong pro-labor legislation passed in 1973 led
the industry to shift to extensive subcontracting, referred to as
‘vendorization’ (SMEDA, 2001). At times, the cluster has
experienced problems with quality, which reached a crisis point
in 1994 when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) halted
imports from Pakistan until the firms adopted Good Manufacturing
Practice (GMP) standards.
III. Description of the Survey
For purposes of this study, we designed and commissioned a
survey of the surgical instrument cluster in Sialkot, Pakistan,
based in large part on the survey questionnaire developed by
Johnson et al. (2002) for their study in Eastern Europe and
Russia. Faculty from a local university conducted the survey in
2002. A breakdown of the entire survey sample (before data
cleaning) is provided in Table 2.8 After the sample was cleaned 8 When the interviewer went to the cluster to begin the survey, she found thatonly about 180 of the 220 exporting firms that were listed by SIMA (the local business association) were actually in operation at that time. Of these, 76 firms at least partially answered the survey, leading to a response rate of 43percent. The interviewer then met with 47 vendor firms in the villages surrounding Sialkot, where the cottage industry is located.
14
to ensure a balanced sample for the relevant variables, 139
observations remained representing 76 distinct firms. In the
switching cost section of the survey, firms were asked a series
of questions about their oldest and newest supplier.
In order to assess the existence of switching costs, the survey
asked the following question, in reference to both the firm’s oldest
and newest (current) suppliers:
If another firm you have never purchased from offered to
supply this input for a price 10 per cent less than this
supplier, would you purchase from the new firm instead of
this supplier?
Firms were offered the option to reject the (potential) new
firm offering the discount, buy only from the new firm, and buy
from both the new firm and the current supplier. In addition to
questions about buying from a new supplier, firms were asked
several other questions such as trade credit received from
suppliers, the length of relationships with their oldest and
newest suppliers, and the nature of the relationships with
suppliers. Characteristics of the relationship with suppliers
included questions such as how often they visited (and were
15
visited by) suppliers, how they were introduced to their
suppliers, how difficult it would be to find alternate suppliers,
and contract enforcement. The contract enforcement section
included questions about their belief in the effectiveness of
local courts, and whether informal sanctions existed for reneging
on contracts.9
Johnson et al. (2002) studied relational contracting and
switching costs through a survey conducted in Poland, Slovakia,
Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. When posed the switching cost
question above in regards to buying from a new supplier offering
a 10 per cent discount, half of the firms (from the pooled
sample) stated that they would abandon their current supplier for
the discount supplier, a third responded that they would buy from
both their current and the discount supplier, and only 15.5 per
cent would reject the discount supplier’s offer.10 In the sample 9 We recognize that hypothetical questions, such as those about switching to adiscount supplier and beliefs in courts and informal enforcement mechanisms pose problems; beliefs may be endogenous, correlated with other independent variables, or include measurement error (leading to attenuation bias). However, as Johnson, McMillan and Woodruff (2002) point out, the use of these (courts, or switching suppliers) would be more problematic as regression variables. If the court system is efficient, there is little need to exercise the option; the threat point will be used for an out of court settlement. Likewise for efficient supply relationships, there is no need to switch. In this way, confidence in the ability to use courts, or the ability to switch suppliers become the relevant dimensions.10 However, there were significant differences across countries. Firms in Slovakia were the most likely to reject the discount supplier (21.3%) while
16
of firms in Sialkot, 49 per cent of firms in the cleaned sample
responded that they would reject a new supplier that offered a 10
per cent discount (see Table 3), a much higher rejection rate
than the Eastern European sample. Of the 51 per cent who would be
interested in the new discount supplier, only 16 per cent would
abandon their current supplier, and 35 per cent said that they
would buy from both the current and discount suppliers.
The Eastern European sample had a larger proportion of new
supply relationships that were one year or younger (35%) as
compared to the sample from Sialkot (16%). Likewise, Sialkot had
a larger proportion of long term supply relationships of nine
years or longer (37%) as compared to the sample from Eastern
Europe (2.8%). The relative newness of the supply relationships
in Eastern Europe had mostly to do with the short history of
private enterprise in the region since the fall of Communism.
The complexity of the inputs (as measured in the survey) in
the Sialkot sample is not very different from the Eastern
European sample. In Eastern Europe, 11 per cent of suppliers
Romanian firms were the most likely to leave their current supplier and switchcompletely to the new discount seller (64.5%). In both Russia and Ukraine, firms had a high likelihood of wanting to buy from the discount supplier whilestill maintaining a relationship with their current suppliers (95% and 87.5% respectively).
17
provided a unique input, while in Sialkot, this was the case for
16 per cent of supply relationships studied. Quality
specifications were written 77 per cent of the time in Eastern
Europe, and 60 per cent in Sialkot.11
There were major differences in the belief in formal
contract enforcement between the two samples. An average of 76.5
per cent of firms believed that courts could enforce contracts,
with a low of Russia (42.5%) and a high of Romania (88.5%).
However, among the Sialkot sample, only 11.5 per cent said that
they believed that the judicial system could help in resolving
disputes with suppliers. Given the low trust in formal
enforcement mechanisms, we hypothesize that informal mechanisms,
especially community enforcement, will have a greater impact on
the efficiency of contracts (by way of switching costs) in
Sialkot than the local courts.
11 There are some important differences, however. Of the sampled firms, 32% had no alternate supplier in Eastern Europe, whereas 78% of the Sialkot samplerelied on a single supplier for a particular input. While 20% of suppliers produce goods to order in Eastern Europe, this figure was almost 90% in Sialkot. Given that only 16% of suppliers were providing a unique input, thesetwo measures may be more related to credit constraints or scale of production than complexity.
18
IV. A Simple Framework for Determining the Existence of SwitchingCosts12
The benefit a manufacturer receives from buying an input
from a supplier depends positively on the value of the input and
negatively on the price. The utility from buying from a current
supplier and a prospective new supplier can be denoted as
(respectively):
where:
V=average value of input
= noise parameter of the value of input with mean=0 and
variance σi
Pi = price of input
e refers to an existing supplier
n refers to the untried supplier.
The firm faces some uncertainty about the quality of the
inputs it purchases from any supplier, but has better information
about the quality of the inputs produced by a current supplier
than produced by an unknown supplier, so that the variance of the12 This section is based heavily on Johnson et al. (2002).
19
input’s value will be lower for current suppliers (that is, σe 2<
σn 2). Therefore a manufacturer will likely have a greater
expected utility from buying from a known current supplier than
an unknown supplier if both are offering the input at the same
price. Therefore, a manufacturer would be willing to switch to a
new supplier only if a prospective new supplier offers a
discount. A firm will switch to a new supplier if:
where D is the discount offered by the new potential supplier.
Based on the theoretical discussion above, a firm will
reject the offer from new potential supplier if the switching
costs are greater than the 10 per cent discount:
Therefore, the following regression equation can be
estimated as a limited dependent variable model:
where:
Di= 0,1
0 = Accept the new supplier
1 = Reject the new supplier20
and switching costs are proxied with the following variables:
C is the complexity of the input,
S describes the relationship with existing supplier
E is enforcement of contracts
M represents firm (buyer) characteristics
The complexity of the input should increase the probability
that a new, untried supplier is rejected. The variables that
proxy for the complexity of the input include the following: that
the supplier produces a unique good to the surveyed firm, that
the firm has no alternative supplier for a particular input, and
that quality specifications are written. Each of these variables
taking a value of one represent that the surveyed firm is ‘locked
in’ to the supplier, would have difficulty locating alternate
supply if there are problems with a supplier, and should be
therefore more likely to reject a prospective discount supplier.
The duration of the relationship with current supplier may
proxy the average value of an input from a current supplier. A
relationship with a supplier will tend to last when the supplier
is providing high quality inputs. Therefore, a longer duration of
21
relationship with current supplier thus would increase the
probability that a new, untried supplier is rejected.
Firms will also engage in attempts to gather information
about suppliers. Efforts to gather information should be
associated with higher switching costs. These variables include:
introduction to a supplier through business or social networks,
information gathering through the trade association (SIMA),
visits at the start of the trading relationship, and frequency of
delivery (proxied here as visits from the supplier during the
trading relationship).
Belief in the enforcement of contracts should reduce
switching costs, and therefore reduce the likelihood that the
surveyed firm rejects the prospective discount supplier. The
variable representing formal contract enforcement is the belief
that courts can enforce contracts. While a variable based on
beliefs may be criticized for appearing subjective, it is likely
a better measure than experience with courts (as pointed out by
Johnson et al. (2002)) since people are less likely to use the
court system the more effective it is. This is because if the
22
likely outcome can be predicted by both parties, a dispute will
be adjudicated privately rather than incurring legal costs.
As discussed earlier, informal relationships can substitute
for third party enforcement through relational contracting.
Relational contracting and informal enforcement mechanisms
(representing the ability to sanction) should be strong in the
cluster environment, and reduce switching costs. These variables
taking a value of one should be associated with reducing the
likelihood of rejecting a prospective discount supplier. Informal
enforcement is measured as the belief that other firms will
refuse to deal with a supplier who has been unfair. Again, such a
belief is more valid than experience with informal sanctions,
since such measures will only be resorted to when private
adjudication fails. Other relational contracting variables
include: speaking frequently with other manufacturers and the
belief that only relatives can be trusted as reliable suppliers.
Speaking frequently with other manufacturers (which can be a
source of information about other suppliers) should be associated
with a lower probability of rejecting the untried discount
supplier, and belief that only relatives should be trusted as
23
suppliers should decrease the likelihood of trying a new
supplier.
V. Discussion of the Results
The Decision to Switch Completely to the Discount Supplier
For firms that were interested in purchasing from the
hypothetical supplier offering a 10 per cent discount, firms
could choose between buying from the discount supplier (breaking
off their trading relationship with the current supplier) and
buying from both. In Table 4, we present results for the
probability that firms would be willing to abandon their current
supplier and switch completely to purchasing an input from the
prospective supplier offering a 10 per cent discount.
Given the limited belief in the effectiveness of the formal
legal system among the firms in Sialkot, and our hypothesis
(based on the development literature) that informal contract
enforcement mechanisms and relational contracting are likely to
be a significant factors among clustered firms, our main
specifications include variables for these effects. In addition,
we control for the complexity of inputs, duration of the trading 24
relationships with existing suppliers, information gathering
efforts, formal contract enforcement, and firm level controls.
In these regressions, all three complexity variables are
significant and reduce the likelihood of switching to the new
discount supplier, which is consistent with the theoretical
framework. Firms whose trading relationship with a current
supplier was 6-12 months were about 31 per cent more likely to
switch than firms whose relationship with their current supplier
was less than six months. A possible explanation for this result
may be a fear of negative reputation effects from switching
suppliers too often.13 Interestingly, firms with supply
relationships of more than nine years are also more likely to
switch to the new supplier (25%). It may be that firms who expect
to have a longstanding relationship with a supplier are more
willing to invest in a new supplier if the cost savings on inputs
can be maintained over many years. Not surprisingly, firms that
receive trade credit from their current supplier were less likely
to abandon their current suppliers (9-10%).
Another strong effect was being introduced through a
13 This is also the interpretation given by Johnson et al. (2002).25
business network, which positively relates to the probability of
switching suppliers. This effect is large and significant. Firms
that are connected, speaking daily to other producers, are in
some specifications significantly more likely to switch. However,
if a firm was introduced to a current supplier through a social
network, this had a negative effect on the likelihood of
abandoning their current supplier. The magnitude of the social
network’s effect was much smaller than the business network, and
the statistical significance varied by specification.
The two main relational contracting variables, including the
beliefs that ‘family members are the most reliable suppliers’ and
‘businesses will refuse to deal with supplier who has been
unfair’ to the surveyed firm, are insignificant in the regression
for the decision to switch completely to the discount supplier.
Only those firms that fear being cheated, who ‘would never buy
from a supplier heard to have cheated’ are less likely to switch
with statistical significance.
The Decision to Reject the Prospective Discount Supplier
In this section, we study the decision of a firm to reject
the prospective new supplier offering a 10 per cent discount. The26
control variables differ slightly from Table 4 but cover all of
the same categories (complexity of inputs, duration of the
trading relationships with existing suppliers, information
gathering efforts, formal contract enforcement, informal
enforcement, and firm level controls).
Among the complexity variables, not having an alternate
supplier was highly significant and, consistent with the theory,
increased the probability of rejecting the prospective discount
supplier by 24-26 per cent. A relationship of longer duration
between a firm and a supplier increased the probability of
rejection. For relationships of two or more years, the rejection
rate was about 18 per cent higher (Table 5, Column 1). Dropping
the duration variable (Table 5, Column 2) has very little effect
on the size or significance of the estimated marginal effects.
Including the dummy variable for the newest current supplier
causes the duration of relationship variable to lose significance
but has little effect on the rest of the results.
Regarding information gathering efforts, the results were
mixed. On the one hand, an introduction to a supplier through a
social network increased the likelihood of rejecting the discount
27
supplier; this is consistent with the switching cost theory. In
fact, Burnham, Frels and Mahajan (2003), describe ‘relational
switching costs’ as those associated with the loss of personal
relationships and brand relationships when changing suppliers. In
a closely knit community, breaking off business relationships
with suppliers managed by members of one’s social network may be
very difficult. Also, the dummy for firms that speak at least
weekly with other firms had the expected negative sign, although
the estimated marginal effect coefficient just missed
significance at the 10 per cent level. On the other hand,
increased visits to the supplier before the start of the trading
relationship (increasing the cost of information gathering
efforts, which should be associated with a higher rejection
rates) actually decreased the probability of rejecting the
hypothetical 10 per cent discount supplier by 30-31 per cent.
The results with regards to relational contracting and
informal enforcement were statistically significant and consistent
with the theory. The variable for the belief that ‘businesses will
refuse to deal with supplier who has been unfair’ to the surveyed
firm was 17-20 per cent less likely to reject the prospective new
28
supplier, consistent with the theory that informal enforcement
mechanisms can help to reduce transaction costs and therefore
switching costs. Finally, coinciding with the relational
contracting literature, firms that believed that the only reliable
suppliers were family members were 21-22 per cent more likely to
reject the prospective discount supplier.
Comparing the results for the decision to switch completely
to the new discount supplier (Table 4) and the results for the
decision to reject the new supplier (Table 5), it appears to be
the case that firms that feel constrained by social ties to
suppliers are less likely to change suppliers, and firms that do
not feel these constraints (and rely on professional ties through
business networks) are more likely to switch. Being introduced
through a business network has a much stronger effect than a
social network introduction in the regression for the decision to
switch suppliers, but the reverse is the case in the regressions
on the decision to reject the prospective discount supplier. In
addition, the two most important relational contracting
variables, including the beliefs that ‘family members are the
most reliable suppliers’ and ‘businesses will refuse to deal with
29
supplier who has been unfair’ to the surveyed firm, are only
significant in the regression for the decision to reject the
discount supplier.
Additional Robustness Specifications
Additional robustness checks are included in Appendix
Table 1 for the decision to reject the 10 per cent discount
supplier. When different variables for informal enforcement were
included in place of ‘the belief that businesses will refuse to
deal with supplier who has been unfair’, the informal enforcement
variables maintain the correct negative sign, but lose
significance (Appendix Table 1, Columns 1 and 2). In Column 3 of
Appendix Table 1, we take the main specification from Table 5 and
add interaction terms between the relational contracting
variables and the dummy variable for the vendor firms, to see if
these effects differ between the subcontractors and the exporting
firms. None of the interaction effects were significant.
Replicating the Regressions of Johnson et al. (2002): The
Decision to Reject the Prospective Discount Supplier
30
In addition, we replicated (as closely as possible) the
regressions included in Johnson et al. (2002).14 In Eastern
Europe, they found several results supporting the existence of
switching costs, particularly that the complexity of inputs and
information gathering efforts increase switching costs, and
evidence that the court system may help to reduce them. Johnson
et al. (2002) found that the probability of rejecting a new
supplier in Eastern Europe was significant and positively related
to the complexity of the input (supporting the theory) as
measured by the following dummy variables: that the supplier
provided a unique input, the surveyed firm had no alternate
supplier, and that quality specifications were written. In our
replication of their regressions, only the dummy for the surveyed
firm having no alternate supplier was close to significance, and
it was positively related to the probability rejecting a new
discount supplier. 14 These results are given in Appendix Table 2. There were some minor differences in the specifications. For instance, we did not have measures for frequency of delivery, number of visits from supplier before first transaction, and use of courts in recent dispute used in Johnson et al. (2002). For “frequency of delivery” we used frequent visits from the supplier (daily, weekly) as a proxy. For number of visits, we used “four or more visitsto supplier” before first transaction. Instead of first information from business and social networks, we used “introduction” through business and social networks. Instead of trade association services, we used “SIMA providesinformation about supplier reliability.”
31
Johnson et al. (2002) also found that the probability of
rejecting a new supplier was positively related to information
gathering efforts, also supporting the theory of switching costs.
In our replication of their specification, the probability of
rejection was positively related to ‘introduction through social
network’ but negatively related to visits prior to first
transaction.
The study in Eastern Europe showed that switching costs were
negatively related to a belief in the effectiveness of the legal
system in enforcing contracts, reducing the probability that the
surveyed firm would reject the prospective discount supplier.
This concurs with the idea from switching costs theory that
better contract enforcement can help to mitigate transaction
costs, including switching costs. In Sialkot’s surgical goods
cluster, the variable for belief in the courts was insignificant
in all regressions.
The results that Johnson et al. (2002) obtained in Eastern
Europe for the effect of relationship duration did not coincide
with the expected results. According to the theory, a longer
duration of manufacturer/supplier relationship should increase
32
the likelihood that a firm would reject the prospective discount
supplier. This is because the firm has better information about
its current supplier the longer the relationship, and information
about a new supplier is costly to obtain. The results from
Eastern Europe were the opposite; longer duration relationships
were associated with a decreased probability of rejecting the
discount supplier. In Sialkot, the results corresponded better
with the theory, and a longer duration (of two years or more) was
positively related to the likelihood of rejecting the prospective
supplier offering a 10 per cent discount.15
VI. Conclusions
Switching costs are damaging to economic efficiency because
they allow suppliers to charge prices greater than marginal cost
and they discourage firms from starting new trading relationships
with cheaper and possibly better suppliers. Efforts to
standardize inputs should help to reduce switching costs and
improve economic efficiency. 15 There was some concern that the sample selection procedure would bias the results since the surveyed firms were asked questions about their newest and oldest suppliers, particularly if the duration of the relationship is associated with the likelihood of switching to a new supplier. Most of the equations were estimated both with and without duration of the relationship asan explanatory variable, and the impact of removing duration was minimal.
33
The empirical analysis supports the existence of contracting
inefficiencies (through switching costs), even in the environment
of an industrial cluster where there is a multiplicity of
suppliers. Nearly 50 per cent of firms in the sample would reject
an untried supplier offering a lower price, and only 15 per cent
would be willing to abandon their current supplier for a
prospective discount supplier.
Probit regressions for the probability that firms would be
willing to abandon their current input supplier (and switch
completely to a prospective supplier offering a 10 per cent
discount) was negatively related to the complexity of the input
and the receipt of trade credit from suppliers. The decision to
switch suppliers was positively related to information gathering
efforts and introductions through business networks. Following
the methodology of Johnson, McMillan, and Woodruff (2002), we
found that the decision to reject a prospective new supplier
offering a 10 per cent discount was positively related to the
complexity of the input and measures of relational contracting.
The decision to reject the discount supplier was inversely
related to a belief in informal contract enforcement mechanisms,
34
although this result was not robust to the substitution of
alternate measures of community enforcement. Trust in formal
contract enforcement mechanisms (local courts) did not have a
significant impact in any of the specifications.
As mentioned earlier, it is the option to switch, which is
most important for efficiency. When firms are able to switch
easily, then this helps to discipline the firm’s current
suppliers. If firms are satisfied in their current supply
relationships, then infrequent switching will be observed. On the
other hand, lack of desire to switch suppliers might rather be
due to a fear of changing suppliers. Ex ante competition is
especially important when there are high sunk costs needed to
establish working business relationships. In our analysis, those
firms who invested heavily in information gathering at the start
of the relationship, visiting the supplier four or more times
were (unexpectedly) more likely to be willing to try the
prospective discount supplier. This result statistically
significant in both specifications (Table 4 and 5). By indicating
their willingness to switch, they appear to be willing to make
that investment again.
35
Social networks and some relational contracting measures had
stronger and more significant impacts in the decision to reject
the new discount supplier (than the regression for the decision
to switch suppliers), pointing to an interpretation of the
results that firms that feel constrained by social ties to
suppliers are less likely to switch, and firms that do not
experience these constraints (and rely on professional ties
through business networks) are more free to leave their current
suppliers. This lends further supports the conclusions of
Banerjee and Munshi (2000), Ilias (2001), Mookherjee (1999) that
difficulties in transacting often lead firms in developing
countries tend to rely on family members and close knit networks
in their business dealings.
The relative unwillingness of firms in Sialkot to change
suppliers (as compared to Johnson, McMillan, and Woodruff’s
sample in Eastern Europe) remains somewhat of a mystery. There
are two possible interpretations: One, that the information dense
cluster allowed firms to screen suppliers and enforce contracts
with them, so that firms were generally satisfied with their
suppliers; second, that the lack of a reliable court system led
36
firms to be locked in to relationships with suppliers, because
they were forced to rely on an inferior system of informal
enforcement. The first story presents a more optimistic view of
relational contracting. Nonetheless, even if relational
contracting leads to greater satisfaction in supply
relationships, there is a trade off; informal enforcement tends
to be limited to geographic areas or among relatively small
networks, limiting the scope of trade, as in Greif’s model of
Maghribi traders.
As we have seen, relational contracting and informal
contract enforcement mechanisms have positive effects in that
they help to deal with the uncertain contracting environment
faced by many firms in developing countries. However enthusiasm
for these mechanisms should be tempered; while they reduce one
source of inefficiency (imperfect contract enforcement), they
often create others in their place (such as switching costs,
contracting inefficiencies, and labor and credit market
distortions).
37
References
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and Investment: Insiders and Outsiders in Tirupur’s Production
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Burnham, Thomas; Judy Frels; and Vijay Mahajan. 2003. “Consumer
Switching Costs: A Typology, Antecedents, and Consequences.”
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 31, no. 2: 109-126.
Farrell, Joseph, and Paul Klemperer. 2007. “Coordination and
Lock-In: Competition with Switching Costs and Network Effects.”
In Handbook of Industrial Organization, Vol. 3. ed. Mark Armstrong and
Robert Porter, Amsterdam: North-Holland.
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Society: A Historical and Theoretical Reflection on Collectivist
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and Individualist Societies.” Journal of Political Economy, 102, no. 5:
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Ilias, Nauman. 2001. “Families and Firms: Labor Market Distortion
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Pennsylvania.
Johnson, Simon, McMillan, John, and Christopher Woodruff. 2002.
"Courts and Relational Contracts." Journal of Law, Economics and
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Klemperer, Paul. 1987a. “The Competitiveness of Markets with
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Klemperer, Paul. 1987b. “Markets with Consumer Switching Costs.”
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Klemperer, Paul. 1995. “Competition when Consumers have
Switching Costs: An Overview with Applications to Industrial
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Organization, Macroeconomics, and International Trade.” The Review
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Kranton, Rachel. 1996. "Reciprocal Exchange: A Self-Sustaining
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Macauley, Stewart. 1963. “Non-Contractual Relations in Business:
A Preliminary Study.” American Sociological Review, 28, no. 1: 55-69.
Mookherjee Dilip. 1999. “Contractual Constraints on Firm
Performance in Developing Countries.” Working paper # 98,
Institute for Economic Development, Boston University.
Nadvi, Khalid. 1999a. “Collective Efficiency and Collective
Failure: The Response of the Sialkot Surgical Instrument Cluster
to Global Quality Pressures,” World Development, 27, no. 9: 1605-
1626.
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Nadvi, Khalid. 1999b. “The Cutting Edge: Collective Efficiency
and International Competitiveness in Pakistan.” Oxford Development
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Nadvi, Khalid. 2002. “Shifting Ties: Social Networks in the
Surgical Instrument Cluster of Sialkot, Pakistan,” Development and
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Nilssen, Tore. 1992. “Two Kinds of Consumer Switching Costs.” The
RAND Journal of Economics, 23, no. 4: 579-589.
North, Douglass. 1990. Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic
Performance. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA). 2001.
“Surgical Instrument Industry of Pakistan: Issues in Export
Growth and Development Draft Report.” Government of Pakistan.
41
Table 1: Surgical Instrument Firms in PakistanSize of Firm
Number of Firms
Number of Employees
Revenues(Pakistan Rupees)
Capital(Pakistan Rupees)
Large 30 250-400 Rs 60-100 million Rs 50-100 million
Medium
50 100-250 Rs 10-60 million Rs 10-25 million
Small 150 30-50 Rs 1-10 million Rs 1-5 millionVendors
2000 5-20 Rs 1-1.5 million Rs 50,000-1 million
Traders
800-1000 na na na
Source: Board of Investment, Government of Pakistan
42
Table 2: Survey Sample (All firms surveyed)Number of firms
% of sample
Average employment (# of workers)
Average age of firms (years)
Exporters 76 62% 91.8 19.9Vendors 47 38% 15.4 11.7All Firms 123 61.9 16.7
43
Table 3: Sample Statistics
Mean Median Var. Std.Dev.
Min Max NOB
Would reject newsupplier offering 10% discount (0,1)
0.49 0 0.25 0.50 0 1 139
Would switch entirely to new supplier offering 10% discount (0,1)
0.16 0 0.13 0.37 0 1 139
Supplier makes unique product for me (0,1)
0.16 0 0.13 0.37 0 1 139
Have no other supplier of input (0,1)
0.22 0 0.17 0.42 0 1 139
Input quality specifications written (0,1)
0.60 1 0.24 0.49 0 1 139
Duration of relationship with supplier (in years)
7.66 5 62.88
7.93 0.003
40 139
Supplier introduced through businessnetwork (0,1)
0.17 0 0.14 0.38 0 1 139
Supplier introduced through social network (0,1)
0.35 0 0.23 0.48 0 1 139
Visit supplier four or more times before purchase (0,1)
0.30 0 0.21 0.46 0 1 139
SIMA good source 0.21 0 0.17 0.41 0 1 139
Note: (0,1) means that the variable is a dummy variable.44
info. about reliability of potential suppliers (0,1)Supplier visits customer's factory daily (0,1)
0.13 0 0.11 0.34 0 1 139
Supplier visits customer's factory weekly (0,1)
0.58 1 0.24 0.49 0 1 139
Businesses will refuse to deal with supplier unfair with me (0,1)
0.37 0 0.23 0.48 0 1 139
Speak at least weekly with other producers (0,1)
0.55 1 0.25 0.50 0 1 139
Only reliable suppliers are firms owned/managed byrelatives (0,1)
0.44 0 0.25 0.50 0 1 139
Courts importantfor resolving disputes with suppliers (0,1)
0.12 0 0.10 0.32 0 1 139
Receive trade credit from supplier (0,1)
0.70 1 0.21 0.46 0 1 139
Exporter (0,1) 0.55 1 0.25 0.50 0 1 139Ln(Employment) 3.33 3.00 1.34 1.16 1.61 6.37 139Ln(1+Firm Age inyears)
2.61 2.56 0.45 0.67 1.39 3.97 139
45
Table 4: Probit for Rejecting Current Supplier, Switching Exclusively to 10% Discount Supplier Variable (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) ComplexitySupplier makes unique product for me
-0.17***(-4.73)
-0.17***(-4.83)
-0.12**(-2.54)
-0.18***(-5.16)
-0.18***(-5.16)
Have no other suppliers of input
-0.1*(-1.68)
-0.11**(-2)
-0.07(-1.1)
-0.13**(-2.46)
-0.13***(-2.58)
Input quality specifications written
-0.11*(-1.74)
-0.13**(-2.23)
-0.003(-0.04)
-0.12**(-2.13)
-0.14**(-2.38)
Duration (duration<6 monthsexcluded)Relationship with supplier 6-12 months
0.31*(1.91)
0.31**(2.02)
0.29(1.36)
0.31*(1.69)
0.31*(1.75)
Relationship with supplier 13-24 months
0.18(1.13)
0.19(1.2)
0.13(0.71)
0.18(1.07)
0.18(1.05)
Relationship with supplier 2-9 years
0.08(0.7)
0.16(1.16)
0.16(0.91)
0.11(0.83)
0.15(1.08)
Relationship with supplier >9years
0.24*(1.83)
0.39***(2.7)
0.33(1.56)
0.26*(1.86)
0.35**(2.14)
Information GatheringSupplier introduced through businessnetwork
0.42***(2.79)
0.44***(3.18)
0.44***(3.57)
0.45***(3.79)
Supplier -0.08 -0.09* - -0.08 -0.08
Note: Robust z statistics in parentheses, standard errors clustered by firm;***significant at 1%, **significant at 5%, *significant at 10%; y = Pr(Switch to new supplier offering 10% discount); coefficients are average partial effects.
46
introduced through social network
(-1.43) (1.67) 0.15***(-3.2)
(-1.32) (-1.39)
Supplier visits customer's factory daily
-0.13***(-3.2)
-0.13***(3.36)
-0.16***(-4.27)
-0.14***(-3.75)
-0.14**(-3.67)
Speak daily withother producers
0.19(1.63)
0.21*(1.82)
0.27**(1.98)
0.17(1.48)
0.17(1.53)
Visited supplierfour or more times before first purchase
0.19**(2.19)
0.22**(2.35)
0.12(1.51)
0.18*(1.92)
0.19*(1.94)
Formal EnforcementCourts importantfor resolving disputes with suppliers
0.12(1.1)
0.12(1.08)
-0.01(-0.11)
Relational Contracting and Informal EnforcementBusinesses will refuse to deal with supplier unfair with me
0.12(1.18)
0.11(1.11)
Would never purchase from a supplier heard to have cheated
-0.14**(-2.24)
-0.16***(-2.62)
-0.17***(-2.6)
Only reliable suppliers are firms owned/managed byrelatives
0.004(0.06)
0.003(0.04)
0.001(0.01)
-0.04(-0.56)
-0.04(-0.68)
Firm Level Controls (Buyer)Receive trade credit from supplier
-0.1**(-2.03)
-0.09*(-1.77)
-0.09(-1.49)
-0.17***(-3.22)
-0.17***(-3.17)
Exporter (dummy) 0.02 0.04 0.02 0.1 0.147
(0.27) (0.37) (0.15) (0.96) (0.97)Ln(Employment) 0.001
(0.02)0.01
(0.09)0.001(0.02)
-0.01(-0.29)
-0.004(-0.1)
Ln(1+Age in years)
-0.13*(-1.94)
-0.17**(-2.32)
-0.14*(-1.71)
-0.12*(-1.95)
-0.13*(-1.93)
Newest supplier (dummy)
0.13*(1.73)
0.07(0.92)
0.08(1.08)
Pseudo R-squared 0.37 0.38 0.25 0.35 0.35
48
Table 5: Determinants of Decision to Reject 10% Discount Supplier (Probit)
Variable (1) (2) (3)ComplexityHave no other suppliers of input
0.26***(2.57)
0.28***(2.59)
0.24**(2.43)
Input quality specifications written
-0.09(-0.91)
-0.08(-0.76)
-0.07(-0.70)
Duration (Excluded category: <2 years)Relationship with supplier2-9 years
0.18***(2.51)
0.02(0.19)
Relationship with supplier>9 years
0.18**(2.31)
-0.09(-0.81)
Information GatheringSupplier introduced through business network
-0.11(-1.03)
-0.09(-0.74)
-0.1(-0.95)
Supplier introduced through social network
0.29***(3.37)
0.33***(3.64)
0.27***(3.35)
Supplier visits customer's factory daily
-0.08(-0.60)
-0.03(-0.26)
-0.1(-0.81)
Supplier visits customer's factory weekly
0.1(1.09)
0.12(1.31)
0.08(0.93)
Speak at least weekly with other producers
-0.13(-1.49)
-0.14(-1.58)
-0.1(-1.16)
Visited supplier four or more times before first purchase
-0.3***(-4.33)
-0.31***(-4.46)
-0.31***(-4.64)
Formal Contract EnforcementCourts important for resolving disputes with suppliers
-0.03(-0.24)
-0.02(-0.16)
-0.02(-0.18)
Relational Contracting andInformal Enforcement
Note: Robust z statistics in parentheses, ***significant at 1%, **significant at 5%, *significant at 10%; y = Pr(Reject new supplier offering 10% discount); coefficients are average partial effects.
49
Businesses will refuse todeal with supplier who has been unfair with me
-0.2**(-2.46)
-0.19**(-2.33)
-0.17**(-2.15)
Only reliable suppliers are firms owned/managed by relatives
0.21***(2.57)
0.21***(2.58)
0.22***(2.84)
Firm Level Controls (Buyer)Receive trade credit fromsupplier
0.12(1.48)
0.12(1.43)
0.1(1.31)
Exporter 0.05(0.43)
0.04(0.44)
0.04(0.4)
Ln(Employment) 0.08*(1.82)
0.08*(1.88)
0.08*(1.89)
Ln(1+Age in years) -0.08(-1.09)
-0.04(-0.55)
-0.02(-0.31)
Newest supplier -0.28***(-2.96)
Pseudo R-squared 0.37 0.34 0.40Number of Observations 139 139 139
50
Appendix Table 1: Additional Robustness Variable (1) (2) (3)ComplexityHave no other suppliers of input
0.26**(2.36)
0.25**(2.16)
0.22**(2.0)
Input quality specifications written
-0.1(-0.93)
-0.01(-0.96)
-0.103(-0.93)
DurationRelationship with supplier 2-9 years
0.17**(2.27)
0.18***(2.58)
0.17**(2.5)
Relationship with supplier >9 years
0.16**(2.11)
0.16**(2.07)
0.18(2.43)
Information GatheringSupplier introduced throughbusiness network
-0.17(-1.48)
-0.15(-1.29)
-0.09(-0.78)
Supplier introduced throughsocial network
0.28***(3.28)
0.3***(3.33)
0.37***(2.76)
Vender*Social Intro interaction
-0.12(-0.73)
Supplier visits customer's factory daily
-0.07(-0.49)
-0.06(-0.49)
-0.08(-0.61)
Supplier visits customer's factory weekly
0.12(1.33)
0.08(0.84)
0.11(1.33)
Visited supplier four or more times before first purchase
-0.35***(-5.26)
-0.32***(-4.43)
-0.31***(-3.96)
Formal Contract EnforcementCourts important for resolving disputes with suppliers
-0.1(-0.92)
-0.09(-0.93)
-0.05(-0.46)
Relational Contracting and Informal EnforcementWould never purchase from asupplier that heard to havecheated
-0.09(-1.1)
Note: Robust z statistics in parentheses, standard errors clustered by firm;***significant at 1%, **significant at 5%, *significant at 10%; y = Pr(Reject new supplier offering 10% discount), coefficients are average partial effects.
51
If I have dispute with supplier, others would demand larger advanced payment
-0.15(-1.44)
Speak at least weekly with other producers (0,1)
-0.14*(-1.65)
-0.13(-1.44)
-0.12(-1.34)
Businesses will refuse to deal with supplier who has been unfair with me
-0.29**(-2.18)
Vendor*Business refuse interaction
0.1(0.59)
Only reliable suppliers arefirms owned/managed by relatives
0.219***(2.63)
0.191**(2.04)
0.29***
Vendor*Family managed firmsinteraction
-0.17(-1.27)
Firm Level Controls (Buyer)Receive trade credit from supplier
0.13*(1.65)
0.13(1.59)
0.12(1.55)
Exporter (dummy) 0.102(1.03)
0.142(1.39)
-0.074(-0.45)
Ln(Employment) 0.03(0.75)
0.02(0.47)
0.11**(2.21)
Ln(1+Age in years) -0.011(-0.15)
-0.011(-0.15)
-0.112(-1.5)
Pseudo R-squared 0.35 0.34 0.38Number of Observations 139 136 139
52
Appendix Table 2: Replication of (similar to) Johnson et al. (2002)
Variable (1) (2) ComplexitySupplier makes unique product for me
-0.06(-0.53)
-0.05(-0.42)
Have no other suppliers of input
0.17(1.56)
0.19*(1.65)
Input quality specifications written
-0.11(-0.98)
-0.11(-0.9)
DurationRelationship with supplier 13-24 months
0.05(0.38)
Relationship with supplier 2-9 years
0.2**(2.15)
Relationship with supplier >9 years
0.19*(1.86)
Information GatheringSupplier introduced through business network
-0.13(-1.13)
-0.09(-0.78)
Supplier introduced through social network
0.31***(3.11)
0.34***(3.48)
SIMA good source info. about reliability of potential suppliers
-0.04(-0.37)
-0.06(-0.51)
Supplier visits customer's factory daily
-0.08(-0.54)
-0.04(-0.26)
Supplier visits customer's factory weekly
0.12(1.27)
0.15(1.45)
Visited supplier four or more times before first purchase
-0.35***(-4.62)
-0.35***(-4.62)
Formal Contract EnforcementCourts important for resolving disputes with suppliers
-0.07(-0.58)
-0.05(-0.45)
Firm Level Controls (Buyer)Exporter (dummy) 0.13 0.13
Note: Robust z statistics in parentheses, standard errors clustered by firm;***significant at 1%, **significant at 5%, *significant at 10%; y = Pr(Reject new supplier offering 10% discount); coefficients are average partial effects.
53