Paper

Relationship Stickiness, International Trade, and Economic Uncertainty

Martin, Julien, Mejean, Isabelle, Parenti, Mathieu

2021

Overview

This paper examines how the degree of stickiness in business relationships influences the real impact of aggregate uncertainty. We first develop a novel index of relationship stickiness (RS) for more than 5,000 HS6 products based on the duration of firm-to-firm trade. The RS measure is derived from a stylized search model in which a higher degree of stickiness implies a lower probability of switching and longer firm-to-firm trade relationships, conditional on match quality. Relationship stickiness shapes the dynamics of firm-to-firm relationships in response to uncertainty shocks. Uncertainty shocks induce a significant and larger decrease in the rate at which new firm-to-firm relationships are formed in high-RS product categories. The relationship between uncertainty and separation rates also varies along the distribution of RS indices, the probability of a trade relationship ending being significantly reduced in sticky-product markets in uncertain times. These results provide evidence that trade of sticky products is characterized by wait-and-see behaviors during uncertainty episodes.

• Publisher: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
• Subject: International trade