Research on trade relationships has documented a high rate of relationship breakup and churning. We use data on Norwegian exports to document two stylized facts about the stability of trade relationships. First, the probability of relationship breakup increases in the deviation of the relationship-specific price from a reference price. Second, relationship hazards follow Zipf's law. We propose a search model with limited information and search frictions to explain these facts. Reference prices provide information on outside trade options that inform optimal breakups, leading to the first stylized fact. Strong heterogeneity in breakup frictions across relationships can explain the Zipf's law hazards.

中文翻译：

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价格分散和贸易稳定性*

对贸易关系的研究表明，关系破裂和破裂的比例很高。我们使用挪威出口数据来记录有关贸易关系稳定性的两个典型事实。首先，关系破裂的可能性随着关系特定价格与参考价格的偏差而增加。其次，关系风险遵循齐普夫定律。我们提出了一种信息有限且搜索摩擦小的搜索模型来解释这些事实。参考价格提供了有关外部交易选项的信息，这些信息为最佳分手提供了信息，从而产生了第一个程式化事实。人际关系中分手摩擦的强烈异质性可以解释齐普夫定律的危险。