Reputation Effects and the Limits of Contracting: A Study of the Indian Software Industry*
利用印度定制软件行业230个项目的详细数据，实证检验声誉如何影响契约结果，发现企业声誉特征与事前契约及事后重谈判结果显著相关。
This paper examines evidence of the role that reputation plays in determining contractual outcomes. We conduct an empirical analysis of the Indian customized software industry, using a data set we collected containing detailed information on 230 projects carried out by 125 software firms. We propose a model ofthe industry where reputation determines contractual outcomes. The evidence supports the view that reputation matters. Ex ante contracts, as well as the outcome after ex post renegotiation, vary with firms' characteristics plausibly associated with reputation. This holds after controlling for project, client, and firm characteristics.