“格緻·博雅”青年學者論壇（第十八期）

講座主題：Signaling and Quality Upgrading: Evidence from E-commerce Certification in China

主講嘉賓：高恺琳，對外經濟貿易大學國際經濟貿易學院講師，北京大學經濟學博士，耶魯大學訪問學者

時    間：2023年10月18日（周三）16:30-18:00

地    點：伟德平台怎么样沙河校區二教112

主 持 人：鐘騰龍 副教授 國際貿易系主任

點 評 人：段玉婉 副教授 副院長；劉悅 副教授；張龍天 助理教授

主    辦：伟德平台怎么样

講座内容：

E-commerce certification can signal a firm's quality, reducing information frictions and incentivizing quality upgrading. This paper examines the effect of certification on quality upgrading both econometrically and using a novel dynamic structural model. To this end, we collected data from Alibaba.com, one of the world's largest global Business-to-Business platforms, which launched its certification policy, "Gold Supplier," in 2000. We posit that signaling as a Gold Supplier is more costly for lower-quality firms. Combining Alibaba.com data with 2000–2015 Chinese Customs Data, we show that firm export quality increases after becoming a Gold Supplier and the effect is greater for smaller firms. Using the Simulated Method of Moments, we estimate a dynamic structural model that embeds information asymmetry, signaling, and quality upgrading. Counterfactual analysis shows that a 1% reduction in the differential cost of signaling increases total trade by 1.50% and that substantial changes in signaling costs can shift the market equilibrium.

嘉賓簡介：

高恺琳，對外經濟貿易大學國際經濟貿易學院講師，北京大學經濟學博士，耶魯大學訪問學者。研究興趣為數字經濟、國際貿易與國際投資。研究成果發表在《經濟研究》、《管理世界》、《經濟學（季刊）》、China & World Economy等期刊，主持國家自然科學基金青年項目，研究成果入選《世界經濟年鑒》國際投資學2021年最佳中文論文TOP10。