Quality Screening and Trade Intermediaries: Evidence from China

Sandra Poncet () and Meina Xu

Working Papers from CEPII research center

Abstract: We examine the quality-screening role played by intermediaries in international trade, exploiting export data at the product level for Chinese exporters. We uncover substantial heterogeneity among intermediaries, and distinguish two kinds: generalized and specialized intermediaries. We find strong evidence of a quality-verification role for specialized intermediaries: they are more prevalent in products with greater quality dispersion among local exporters and export goods of higher quality than do generalized intermediaries. Our results suggest that specialized intermediaries have the capacity to reduce the incidence of quality problems.

Keywords: Intermediaries; International Trade; Quality screening; Product differentiation; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F13 F14 O25 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int and nep-tra
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Related works:
Journal Article: Quality screening and trade intermediaries: Evidence from China (2018)
Working Paper: Quality screening and trade intermediaries: Evidence from China (2018)
Working Paper: Quality screening and trade intermediaries: Evidence from China (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cii:cepidt:2015-20

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