Information accessibility and export quality: Evidence from China

Exploiting Google's 2010 withdrawal from mainland China, we examine the causal impact of information accessibility on export quality, and find that export quality decreases after Google's exit. The effect is more pronounced for firms and products facing greater information frictions, for f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inReview of international economics Vol. 32; no. 2; pp. 480 - 509
Main Authors Li, Guangzhong, Ding, Hui, Jia, Fansheng
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2024
Subjects
Access
Capital intensity
Companies
Competitiveness
Google's exit
information accessibility
product quality
trade
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Exploiting Google's 2010 withdrawal from mainland China, we examine the causal impact of information accessibility on export quality, and find that export quality decreases after Google's exit. The effect is more pronounced for firms and products facing greater information frictions, for firms in regions with local web filters, for firms trading with countries with more online information, and for firms facing fiercer product market competition. The more intensively affected firms also become less productive and their capital intensity declines after Google's exit. Overall, these results suggest that limited information accessibility may impair a country's international competitiveness through deteriorating export quality.
Bibliography:Funding information
National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences, Grant/Award Number: 21&ZD143
ISSN:0965-7576
1467-9396
DOI:10.1111/roie.12666