Collective Reputation in Trade: Evidence from the Chinese Dairy Industry
利用2008年中国乳制品行业丑闻事件，研究一家企业产品质量问题如何通过集体声誉机制影响同一来源国其他企业的出口需求，发现未受污染的企业也遭受了显著的需求下降。
Abstract The existence of collective reputation implies an important externality. Among firms trading internationally, quality shocks about one firm's products could affect the demand of other firms from the same origin country. We study such a reputation spillover in the context of a large-scale scandal that affected the Chinese dairy industry in 2008. Leveraging detailed firm-product level administrative data and official quality inspection reports, we document sizable reputation spillovers on uncontaminated firms. We further investigate potential mechanisms that could mediate the strength of collective reputation, including information accuracy, observability of the supply chain, and prior export experience.