Determinants of Transaction Partners' Quality: Evidence from the Great East Japan Earthquake

         
Author Name NAKAJIMA Kentaro  (Tohoku University) /TODO Yasuyuki  (Faculty Fellow, RIETI)
Creation Date/NO. May 2013 13-J-024
Research Project Study of the Creation of the Japanese Economy and Trade and Direct Investment
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Abstract

The Great East Japan Earthquake indirectly inflicted damages broadly through severing supply chain network as well as massive direct damages, and it was pointed out that many firms sought new suppliers in response to the severed supply chain network. This paper empirically investigates the firms' seeking of new suppliers in the earthquake. By using RIETI's original survey of manufacturing firms suffering from the disaster in Tohoku, we obtain the following results. First, the levels of satisfaction with new suppliers are lower than those with old suppliers on average. Second, firms' competitive advantages significantly improve the levels of satisfaction with new suppliers. Finally, characteristics of the matching intermediary significantly affect the levels of satisfaction with new suppliers.