Three essays on the theory of parallel imports.

摘要

This thesis focuses on the impact of parallel imports on innovation. Parallel imports have concerned manufacturers, distributors and policy makers for many reasons. The root of these concerns is that parallel imports reduce the profits of the manufacturer. It may decrease the manufacturer's incentive to conduct R&D. My dissertation is a theoretical analysis of various aspects of parallel imports.; Chapter two studies a contract problem facing a manufacturer and the distributor concerning the provision of a product. We demonstrate that parallel imports could be resulted from excess supply. This result is complementary to the existing theories on the motivations of parallel imports. We find a sufficient and necessary condition for parallel imports to occur. Also this condition is necessary for parallel trade flowing from a high-priced country to a low priced country.; Chapter three develops a model of cost-reducing innovation in the context of parallel imports. It is shown that the difference between the profits when innovation is successful and when it is not takes a U-shaped curve in terms of the cost of parallel imports. Consistent with the existing intuitive analysis, we find that the distortions associated with parallel imports inhibit cost-reducing innovation. If parallel trade occurs, then banning parallel imports has ambiguous effect on the expected global welfare; However if parallel trade is deterred but there remain price distortions associated with such deterrence, then the policy of restricting parallel trade raises the expected global welfare.; Chapter four develops a theoretical model of product innovation in the context of parallel imports. It is shown that parallel imports of the new product are more harmful to product innovation than those of the existing product. Most importantly, we find that, in contrast to the existing arguments, parallel imports have ambiguous effect on product innovation and may facilitate product innovation.; Chapter five concludes with suggestions for future research.