An empirical analysis of market performance in the car industry

This article focuses on the determinants of market performance in the car industry. Trade and market patterns are studied using firm-level international data. Econometric models are developed and evaluated for a sample of firms from the major producing countries for the period 1970-1985. Among the factors responsible for the market shares of the different firms are international differences in unit labor costs, income levels, the European Community (EC) and locally based production scales, and transaction costs in the form of trade barriers.