The Superstar Buyer Penalty during Financial Crises: Evidence from Firm-to-Firm Trade Data

Sergi Basco, Ludovic Panon and Enrico Sette

No 21608, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: This paper documents that firms connected with superstar buyers experience larger real losses when hit by financial shocks. Using Italian loan-level data, we show that firms most affected by the credit crunch induced by the 2011 sovereign debt crisis reduced exports more sharply. Importantly, export declines were larger for exporters connected with foreign superstar buyers prior to the shock. This amplification is explained by superstar buyers disproportionately reallocating purchases away from exposed suppliers, which also experienced lower sales and employment. Partial-equilibrium aggregation implies that this superstar penalty explains around one-third of the aggregate negative effect of the credit supply shock.

Keywords: Exports; Superstars (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 E32 E44 F14 F40 G21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-06
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