Factors influencing price-cost margins are investigated using a rich panel data base of the Dutch manufacturing sector. Attention is devoted to the intertemporal stability of the relationship explaining price-cost margins and to a comparison with U.S. results. Our results indicate that isolated cross-section analyses can be misleading. Evidence is provided for similarities and dissimilarities between the U.S. and the Netherlands when explaining price-cost margins. Dutch margins are influenced by industry-specific factors such as sales changes, import competition, capital intensity and operating expenses. Domestic seller concentration, aggregate capacity utilization and export intensity play no distinct roles.

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doi.org/10.1007/BF01035659, hdl.handle.net/1765/9669
Review of Industrial Organization
Erasmus School of Economics

Prince, Y., & Thurik, R. (1994). The intertemporal stability of the concentration-margins relationship in Dutch and U.S. manufacturing. Review of Industrial Organization, 9(2), 193–209. doi:10.1007/BF01035659