2023 Volume 53 Issue 2 Pages 155-172
Urabe （2019） clarified that a difference in the location of trading companies, whether urban or rural, is not significant to the strengths or profit trends of those exporting firms. However, it is not clear what services rural wholesalers whose exports are smaller than those of urban wholesalers offer, and what methods they use to make profits.
In this paper, we analyze whether wholesaler services and trade characteristics make a difference in profits from exports, and clarify regional differences in services wholesalers can offer to consider ideal indirect export methods for rural areas.
Results of the analyses show that export profit margins are high for wholesalers who can offer “product planning” services. In addition, the highest ratio of wholesalers who can offer “product planning” services to all wholesalers in the region is Hokuriku, and the scope of services that can be offered by wholesalers in urban areas such as Tokyo and Osaka is wider than that of rural wholesalers.
These results indicate that wholesalers with smaller export volumes should obtain and take advantage of information about their export destinations if they want to increase profits.
JEL Classifications:F14, L81, R58
